Good copywriters spend a lot of time talking. Sharing thoughts and ideas, making bad grammar jokes and, most importantly, asking their clients lots of challenging questions. So if you brief a copywriter and are met with silence, beware. It’s their responsibility to make sure they fully understand the intricacies of your charity’s project and the subtleties of your tone of voice. To keep their chatter to a minimum, give them a clear brief that clearly explains what you need – and why you need it.
Here are five things to think about when you’re putting one together.
1) Answer the key questions
Your copywriting brief needs to combine the wider context with the finer details of your communication. Start your brief with these key questions:
– What is it? It’s easy to forget the basics, like the format and length.
– Why are you producing it? Is it a follow up to a previous campaign? Has some recent market research highlighted the need for it? Give your copywriter a bit of relevant background.
– What is it aiming to do? Make sure you can give one clear, concise answer to this question. For example, ‘to persuade at least 1,000 people to take part in our charity’s flagship fundraising event’ or ‘to raise £500,000 for a new information centre’.
Then you can expand and include:
– What you want people to think/feel/do when they’ve read it? Avoid empty phrases here like ‘engage the audience’ – every communication should do that. Do you want your reader to:
- feel so moved by a story they want to visit your charity’s website to find out more?
- identify with your storyteller and know they can call your helpline if they’re in a similar situation?
- learn a key, myth-busting fact about homelessness? Go to their doctor if they have a certain medical symptom?
– Are there any issues/barriers that might stop people taking that action? If your copywriter knows what these are, they can help the reader overcome them.
2) Remember who you’re talking to
Help your copywriter get to know their reader. You can keep it short and simple – a paragraph will do – but describe someone they can picture. You might include answers to questions like:
– How old are they?
– What job do they do?
– What newspapers and websites do they read?
– What attitudes do they hold about your charity and your cause? Include any that may affect their response to this communication.
3) Don’t forget the detail
Think about how and when you want your copywriter involved in this project – and make sure you include each stage in your schedule.
– Do you want them to come along to any initial creative meetings?
– How many rounds of copy amends/ feedback do you expect there to be?
– Will you still want their input at the design/layout stages? Will you need them to subedit and proofread?
– Have you included word counts? (Even a rough range is helpful.)
4) Include some background reading
If your copywriter hasn’t worked for your charity before, don’t forget to give them:
– Your brand guidelines – particularly anything that describes your tone of voice
– Your house style guide
– Examples of previous communications
You could also consider giving examples from other organisations that use the tone you’re looking for. And some that don’t. Bad examples can be as useful as good ones, as long as you can explain what’s wrong with them.
5) Have a conversation
Taking the time to talk to your copywriter before the project starts will improve the odds of you getting what you’re looking for first time round. Give them a chance to digest all the information and then arrange a conversation. Face-to-face meetings are great, especially for bigger projects, but a phone call will help too. Remember, if you’ve missed any of the key information, a good writer should be quick to point this out.