We get it. You are looking to hire an agency because you are willing to pay for the agency's expertise in helping you with marketing your company's product/service. From the agency perspective though, we have no idea what a client wants unless they tell us. Think of it as you would when you are choosing what to eat at a restaurant.
Bad brief:
You tell the agency that you want an online marketing campaign in a particular market, i.e Thailand, but you don't know your budget, you don't know your target audience, you don't know the duration of your campaign, you don't know what you are aiming to achieve. It's like going to a restaurant and only telling the server that you want to have dinner.
Good brief:
You tell the agency what service you want, the market, the target audience, the budget, the duration and what you hope to achieve with the campaign. Then the agency has enough information to ask good questions and to help propose a strategy to achieve the goals. It's like telling the server at a restaurant that you want a light vegetarian appetizer, followed by fish for the main, and a sorbet as dessert. For drinks you would like white wine with the main. In this case the server can ask good questions to ensure you receive what you want. In the bad brief, the server has nowhere to start.
Given the analogy of a restaurant, you are right in thinking that a restaurant has a menu, thus if an agency had a menu it would be easier to be able to tell the agency what you want to order. But like in a restaurant, too much choice can lead to confusion and indecision. Thus it is best if before contacting an agency, you know what you want and then let the agency help with detailed specifics.
Here is a list of questions that you can answer to help you brief an agency:
- Company name and industry
- What service do you need?
- By when do you want to begin working with an agency?
- What is your expectation for results?
- For how long do you need the services?
- Who is your target audience?
- How will you evaluate success?
- What is your budget for this project?
- How many other agencies are you talking to?
- What is the most important factor in choosing an agency for your project?
If you can answer these 10 questions then it helps the agency come back to you with more detailed questions to fill in any gaps in building a proposal. This is how you will get the highest value out of working with an agency. Keep in mind that an agency fields dozens of inquiries every month and needs to be judicious in choosing which inquiries to respond to. The better the brief, the more interested the agency will be in preparing a proposal.
