You are reading contentfolks—a fortnightly blend of sticky notes, big content ideas, and small practical examples. Thank you for being here! ~fio
Hey there 👋
Did you know there are over 300 known species of hummingbirds out there? All of them look more or less hummingbird-like, but each has unique traits that makes it unique and different from all the others—for example, Ensifera ensifera’s beak is practically a sword that’s longer than the rest of its whole body, Ocreatus underwoodii looks like it has cotton balls for feet, and Chalcostigma herrani could legit be an LGBTQ+ icon given its rainbow-coloured gorget (beard).1
Likewise, there are probably over 300 known types of content brief templates out there. They all look more or less brief-like, but each has unique elements that makes it unique and different from all the others. For example, my version is organised into four blocks:
• Audience → the people you’re creating your content for • Brand → the company and product behind the piece • Context → piece-specific instructions (e.g. keywords or internal links) • Details → useful information for planning and building the piece
…which very conveniently spells ABCD. (Content briefus ABCDiferus?)
I’m sharing it here with an example so you can take a look, take what you need, and evolve it into your unique hummingbird, erm, brief template 🐤
The ABCD content brief template
This content brief is for content marketers, managers, or strategists who need to share relevant information and instructions with a writer. It helps clarify a piece’s overall direction and focus, giving the writer enough information to know what to aim for without overwhelming them with detail—it’s called a brief for a reason!
👇 How to use this template: copy the structure, keep the headings, and replace all my “List” placeholders with your instructions. If you’re on Notion, you can also go and get the template over there instead.
1. Audience
All briefs should start from the audience since they are the reason you’re creating something in the first place. This version begins by summarising who the audience is, their jobs-to-be-done, and what they should take away from the piece.
Who is this piece for?
List…
List…
Audience jobs to be done (JTBD)
List…
List…
Takeaways & next steps
List…
List…
2. Brand
Each new piece must fit within the larger narrative of the company behind it. This brief clearly illustrates the company’s goal for the piece, its unique take on the topic, and how the company itself and its products/services fit into the story.
Goal(s)
List…
List…
Our unique angle or take
List…
List…
Additional data/insight
List…
List…
How [company/product] fits in
List…
List…
3. Context
No piece exists in a vacuum, so a brief must offer practical contextual information. The info required changes depending on format—for example, what a writer needs to create an ebook is different from what they need to produce a video script. If you’re briefing a keyword-based piece, this section would include primary and secondary keywords, search intent, and a list of internal links to and from other relevant content.
Primary keyword
List…
Secondary keywords
List…
List…
Search intent
List…
List…
Competing content
List…
List…
Add internal links to
List…
List…
Build links to this piece from
List…
List…
4. Details
Finally, the brief lists the details that will come in handy when planning, building, and publishing the piece, including: author and reviewer name, draft and publication date, plus SEO elements like URL, <title>, and meta description.
Author name: Reviewer name: Draft due date: Publication date: URL: <title>: Meta description: H1:
💡 A practical example 💡
Below is an example based on this piece I briefed, outlined, and wrote at Postmark in December 2022, which was still ranking #1 for its intended keywords as of August 2023.
1. Audience
Who is this for?
Individual developers or DevOps teams who are already somewhat familiar with key email concepts including deliverability, retention, transactional vs bulk, APIs, shared and dedicated IP addresses.
Note: it’s likely that some less technical folks (e.g. marketers or first-time business owners) will also reach the page, since SendGrid is likely a company they’ve heard of—so the piece will need to remain accessible to them as well.
Audience jobs to be done (JTBD)
Research alternatives to their existing email infrastructure to secure better deliverability / more thorough documentation / more responsive customer support (or a combination of the above) for the business
Feel in control of (and not overwhelmed by) the selection process
Takeaways & next steps
After reading, they’ll have a clearer picture of which service(s) to investigate further and potentially switch to + they’ll be able to sign up for a free Postmark account they can immediately play with.
Proposed CTA → Why don't you give this SendGrid alternative a try? Join thousands of businesses that already trust their email delivery to Postmark.
2. Brand
Goal(s)
Showcase Postmark and demonstrate where we are better than the competition
Build trust and brand affinity by being transparent about who can benefit from our product vs. who should give one of the alternatives a try instead
Drive free signups
Our unique angle or take
Most listicles are boring AF and extremely biased, so in true ‘weird & helpful’ Postmark style we’ll have some fun playing with the format. For example:
Start from a slightly unexpected title (e.g. ”5 SendGrid alternatives, recommended by... a SendGrid competitor?!”)
Acknowledge the elephant in the room, aka our very biased opinion, within the first two paragraphs (e.g. since ours is the only email delivery service we know inside out, it’s the only one we can recommend with absolute confidence)
Since we have decades of experience in the field, let’s also share some of our strongest opinions and email pet peeves—e.g. other providers insisting dedicated IPs are the only way to achieve great deliverability. Not true!
Additional data/insight
We’ll attach a handy spreadsheet to help folks compare SendGrid and its main alternatives on data points like pricing, documentation, and customer support. It’s a very effective at-a-glance comparison tool, and none of the competing listicles are going this extra step.
How Postmark fits in
Postmark is the ideal SendGrid alternative for the vast majority of people who will land on this page, so let’s thoroughly showcase our unique points—e.g. we are the only provider who has separate transactional/bulk infrastructure, shares delivery times publicly, and has adjustable 7-to-365-days retention; we also have stellar support that is always already included in all plans, etc.
We’ll link out to as much public documentation and resources as possible, making it easier for someone thinking about the switch to quickly understand why they should go with us
Finally, we should add a picture of the team to showcase the humans behind the product—something that people might appreciate as it gives an extra layer of authority and trustworthiness to the piece
3. Context
Primary keyword
Sendgrid alternative(s)
Search intent
The main results are blog listicles with the occasional aggregator (G2). Some of the existing results go the 9, 10, or 11 alternative tools route but they seem quite shallow, so focusing on just 5 but going into a lot of depth might work in our favour.
Author name: fio Reviewer name: also fio Draft due date: December 5, 2022 Publication date: December 8, 2022 URL: /blog/sendgrid-alternatives <title>: 5 SendGrid Alternatives for 2023 (Devs + Marketers) 💌 | Postmark Meta description: A handy guide & comparison spreadsheet that help you compare SendGrid and its main alternatives and competitors on data points like pricing, documentation, and customer support. H1: 5 SendGrid alternatives, recommended by... a SendGrid competitor?!
Steal away and re-use as you need. Until next time,
This info is brought to you courtesy of a video about the evolution of hummingbirds I randomly stumbled upon on Monday, which then led me down an hour-long hummingbird hole. You’re welcome.
Hi Fio. Thank you for the post and for sharing your template! To be honest, I try most of the time to start from this type of template but I always tend to quickly go in another direction. I believed it was due to a lack of research, that I was starting to write too early in the process. But even though I research a lot the topic I always end going into another direction.
Thanks for sharing your content brief, Fio! I loved the insights in the 'Brand' section.
I have a quick question: How would you recommend approaching SMEs within one's company to solicit expert opinions, especially if they believe AI-generated content with less editing is enough?" I care about creating content that adds unique value. I believe that every content should exist because the source has something to say, not just because it has to say something to redirect some traffic.
Hi Fio. Thank you for the post and for sharing your template! To be honest, I try most of the time to start from this type of template but I always tend to quickly go in another direction. I believed it was due to a lack of research, that I was starting to write too early in the process. But even though I research a lot the topic I always end going into another direction.
Thanks for sharing your content brief, Fio! I loved the insights in the 'Brand' section.
I have a quick question: How would you recommend approaching SMEs within one's company to solicit expert opinions, especially if they believe AI-generated content with less editing is enough?" I care about creating content that adds unique value. I believe that every content should exist because the source has something to say, not just because it has to say something to redirect some traffic.