Campaign Brief Template

What's in the template

**Campaign name and owner.** One line: what this campaign is called internally and who is accountable for the outcome. Not a committee — one person.

**Objective (one sentence).** What this campaign is supposed to do, in measurable terms. Slot: 'Generate [X] [leads / trials / signups / revenue] from [audience] by [date].' If you can't fill this slot, you're not ready to brief.

**Target audience.** Primary audience (ICP segment this campaign focuses on) and secondary audience (if any). Include: job title, company size, current awareness level (problem-aware, solution-aware, or brand-aware), and the single biggest objection they have to buying right now.

**Core message.** The one thing this campaign must communicate. Not a tagline — the argument. Slot: '[Audience] can [achieve outcome] without [tradeoff] because [reason to believe].' Every piece of creative gets judged against this message.

**Offer or hook.** What you're offering in exchange for attention or action — a free trial, a guide, a discount, a demo, a webinar. Be specific. 'Learn more' is not an offer.

**Creative direction.** Tone (2–3 adjectives), visual feel (reference images or a mood board link), copy length guide (long-form, short-form, or both), and one creative constraint ('no stock photos of handshakes', 'lead with the number, not the name').

**Channel plan.** List every channel this campaign runs on, the format per channel (video / static / email / paid / organic), and the role each channel plays (awareness, nurture, or conversion). Include estimated reach or send size per channel.

**Budget breakdown.** Total campaign budget, split by channel (paid media, production, tools, contractor fees). Flag which line items are fixed and which are flexible if the campaign overperforms.

**Timeline.** Kickoff date, creative review date, launch date, and campaign end date. Add one milestone per phase: brief approved, creative delivered, live, and results read-out.

**Success metrics.** 2–3 KPIs with targets. Primary metric (the one that determines success or failure), secondary metric (a leading indicator), and one guardrail metric (a number you must not go below — e.g., CPA cap, unsubscribe rate ceiling).

How to use it

1. Fill in the objective and audience sections before any creative conversation happens. Creative without a clear objective is decoration. If stakeholders want to talk about colors before the objective is locked, redirect them.

2. Write the core message in one sentence and share it with three people who are not on the marketing team. If they can't tell you back what the campaign is offering after reading that sentence, rewrite it.

3. Complete the channel plan only after the objective is set — the objective determines the channel mix, not the other way around. A brand awareness campaign and a demand-gen campaign use different channels even for the same product.

4. Share the brief with every team that will touch the campaign — design, copy, paid, analytics, and sales (if there's a lead handoff) — before production starts. Get explicit sign-off, not just 'looks good'. Undiscovered misalignment discovered during production is the single biggest source of campaign delay.

5. Run a post-campaign read-out against the exact metrics in the brief. Don't add new metrics after the fact. If the primary metric missed, the brief's objective section is where you look first — often the failure is a targeting or offer problem, not a creative problem.

**CoMo generates campaign briefs automatically.** Give CoMo a campaign goal and target audience and its agents will produce a complete brief — message, creative direction, channel plan, and KPIs — aligned to your brand guidelines and past performance data. Reviewable in minutes, not days.

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