How to write a creative brief for a video project

Every successful video marketing project starts with a creative brief. And every tip we’ve provided in this article is essentially a form of preparation you’ll want to complete before you begin shooting. Making sure that you have a clear path forward from the very beginning is vital for success. The more preparation and thought that goes into planning, the more efficiently your budget is applied and effective your video will be!

Step 1: Outline the goal and key messaging for the video

At Studio B Films, we guide our clients through the process from script writing and creative concepting through post-production and work hard to get to know our clients’ company stories. So that all of our messaging is in alignment with your brand, we’ve put a great system in place to draw out those stories and it starts with learning all about you and your business.
You’ll want to decide what essential things you want to communicate to your audience and why. It can be as simple as a bulleted list. You don’t need to write the entire script—your video production company will ultimately help you with that. But you should be able to provide answers to the following questions:

• Who is your audience and what do they want to know? Are they brand-new leads or existing customers?
• What do you want them to think or do after watching the video? This can be signing up for your email list, making a purchase, sharing information with their friends and family, etc.
• What are the main takeaways you want them to have from the video? Should they be learning about your brand, your product, meeting your team, etc.?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you and the production company decide on what content to include, what the theme should be, and the overall look and feel of the video. It will also ensure you don't waste time or money investing in a video that doesn't meet your needs and achieve your goals.

One important thing to remember during this process is that branding and product videos don’t need to highlight every feature or detail. Videos are teasers to entice your audience to discover more. This part of the process is designed to determine the most important pieces of information that you need to include.

Finally, before giving your creative agency the green light, make sure all of the stakeholders are aligned on the goals, objectives, and key messaging for the video. When working with a production company, there will be a thorough discovery process. Often during that process, the messaging and best approach changes and evolves. That’s typical. But keep in mind that once you begin production it will be much more expensive to go back and make changes, so we recommend that all of your stakeholders sign off on the creative brief prior to beginning production.

Step 2: Identify the right approach for the video

You have a number of different options when it comes to the type of video you want to produce. It can be animated, live-action, documentary or interview format, scripted with actors, etc. Your production company will work closely with you to help you determine the right style and approach and find your voice, all within your brand. The decision will be largely driven by the type of story you’re telling and what your brand considerations are.

As you make these decisions, it will be helpful to look at a number of different examples. Scour your competitor’s websites and social media channels to see what kind of videos they’re producing. Research what types of videos convert best (your production company should also be able to provide some insight here) and look at your production company’s website for examples of their work.

All of this work will help you define what tone you want your video to have and the best way to communicate it, whether you want it to be fun, serious, educational, or tug at viewers’ heartstrings. You can then plan the video accordingly.

Step 3: Write a creative brief

A creative brief is a detailed document that you’ll share with your production company. Essentially, it will contain all of your initial ideas and planning for the project in written form. This will cover a lot of the topics we discussed in tips 1 & 2, but gives you an opportunity to build them out even farther.

A creative brief should include:

• Company or product overview
• Goals and objectives for the video
• Identify your audience, who are we trying to speak to?
• What is your unique value proposition?
• What are your key messaging points?
• What is your distribution plan? There’s more on this below, but you’ll want to determine if you’ll be offering the video for free or for purchase, where it will be hosted, etc.
• What do you want viewers to do after watching the video?
• Examples of videos you enjoy. These may have the same look and feel you want to achieve, videos you want to emulate, etc.
• Do you have brand guidelines to share? This can be logos, fonts, colors, music, standard messaging, etc.
• Does your team have a budget range for the project? Your production company can share examples of projects with a wide range of budgets to provide guidance and set expectations for what you can afford.

Most importantly, when the brief is complete, be sure to share the creative brief with all internal stakeholders and get their approval and buy-in before sharing with the production company. Remember: this will save time and money in the end!

Video is an incredibly powerful marketing tool. Video gives your business an opportunity to quickly and effectively showcase your products, services, and brand. But it goes beyond just selling. Video engages your audience; it’s visually stimulating, it evokes emotion, it’s memorable, and it impacts consumer buying decisions.

About Us

In our decades of experience, Studio B has found that these steps are an essential guide to kicking your video production off right. Our goal is always to produce compelling videos for our clients, but we want to provide an amazing experience for our clients as well. We’d love to tell you more about our process and how we can help you produce a creative and compelling video! Click here to schedule your free consultation!