Content Brief Template

Why do I need a Content Brief?

As a part of Merrative's offerings, we help brands and creators hire writers, editors, translators, etc for their publishing projects.

Many times, we work with brands or creators who are just starting out with their content marketing efforts. They do not have the resources to hire content managers.

Hence, when they run their content operations, we notice how there is a gap in what the brand/creator expects from an article versus what the writer actually delivers.

One goes through several meetings, calls and Google Doc comments repeating the same thing again and again to various writers. This isn't productive use for your or your writer's time!

What is a Content Brief?

To reduce this communication gap, writing a Content Brief is a great way to communicate your objectives of writing a blog piece to your writer.

A good writer will use this document as a direction to deliver great content that is well aligned with your business goals.

Who can use this Content Brief Template?

Both client and writer can use this Content Brief Template as follows:

• If you're a brand, creator or publisher, then fill up this document and send it to your writers to adhere to.

• If you're a writer, use this document to get the information about what your client expects from you with the writing task. This document is handy for clients who simply give you the blog topic and then make you go through rounds of revision.

What does this template contain?

The Content Brief Template includes:

• Sections to add your brand guidelines
• Sections to add SEO keywords and instructions
• Sections to share the objection and angle of your article
• Content hygiene checklist
• SEO checklist
• Editorial checklist

Feel free to improve on the above as per your business's needs.

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For any queries, contact content@merrative.com or connect with us on Twitter DMs:

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About Merrative

At Merrative, we aim to build a collective of writers, analysts, scholars, and journalists to create and discuss thought-provoking content.

We aim to create a one-stop place to access human expertise to publish thought leadership content — starting with newsletters.

Based on your content strategy, we can help you publish below 4 types of newsletter formats:

• Case Studies Newsletter – Breaks down real wins and success stories to demonstrate authority.
• Data Stories Newsletter – Turns industry data and trends into clear, actionable insights.
• Industry Expert Interview Newsletter – Extracts frameworks and lessons from expert conversations.
• Content Curation Newsletter – Curates the most important ideas with takeaways and links so readers don’t have to.

Check our portfolio newsletters for samples

We can pull this off, because we ourselves run a portfolio of newsletters for these formats:

Media First Brand:

Type: Case Studies Newsletter shared twice a month

Join 1400+ content marketers and founders learning from our content strategy case studies and content asset examples across the internet.

Read Media First Brand

AppliedAI Trends:

Type: Data Stories and Trend Analysis Newsletter shared twice a month

Get one-pager AI trends intelligence reports on AI-impacted jobs roles, AI tools adoption trends, AI-first business ideas materialized, and noteworthy benchmarks.

Read AppliedAI Trends

Founder Leverage:

Type: Industry Expert Interview Newsletter shared once a month

Monthly briefs on how capital, ownership, and structure quietly shape business outcomes.

Read Founder Leverage

ReadTreats:

Type: Content Curation Newsletter shared every week

Join 6000+ readers receiving books, articles, films, videos, podcasts, and anime recommendations based on theme of the week

Read ReadTreats

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We can build end-to-end newsletter system based on original data and insights that get recommended by your target audience.