On the first call the client says: “Just make it look good, you’re the pro.” A month later you find out that “good” meant leads, not pastel carousels. That the word “cheap” is banned in posts. And that every post needs sign-off from a business partner who hasn’t said a word so far. A month of work goes in the bin.
A brief exists so these surprises surface before you start, not after the first invoice. It’s not paperwork: the client’s written answers are your spec, the base of the content plan and your argument when someone says “that’s not what we agreed”.
Below: a 30-question template in 7 blocks, how to run the kickoff, answers that should set off alarms, and how to turn the questionnaire into a strategy in one evening.
Why a brief when you could just get on a call
A conversation is forgotten within a week, and everyone remembers their own version. A brief puts agreements in writing. A three-step process that works:
- Questionnaire before the call. Send the questions as a Google Form or a doc 2–3 days ahead. The client needs 30–40 minutes to answer properly, not on the go.
- A 45–60 minute call. Don’t read the questionnaire back. Dig into short and vague answers. “Women aged 25–45” becomes “moms of two from the suburbs who book weekend appointments”.
- A one-page summary. Within 24 hours, send the client the takeaways: goals, metrics, audience, limits, scope. Ask them to reply “confirmed” — that’s your starting line.
Don’t send 80 questions: people abandon long forms halfway or fill them with one-word answers. 25–35 questions is a sensible maximum; cover the rest on the call.
Brief template: 30 questions in 7 blocks
Copy the questions into your own form and adapt them to the niche: add a question about stylists for a salon, or about sales cycle length for B2B.
1. Business and product
- What does the company do — in one sentence, the way you’d explain it to a customer?
- Which 2–3 products bring in the most money, and which do you want to push on social?
- Average order value and margin: where does one sale pay off best?
- How are you different from your three closest competitors — according to customers, not you?
- Is there seasonality: peak months and dead months?
2. Goals and metrics
- Why social media now: leads, awareness, hiring, customer support?
- How will you know in 3 months that it worked? Name a number.
- Where do customers come from today, and which channel brings the most?
- Who handles inquiries from DMs, and how: response time, script, CRM?
3. Audience
- Who is your typical buyer: age, city, occupation, income?
- What problem are they solving when they come to you?
- What questions and doubts do they have before buying?
- Why do customers leave or not come back?
- Where does your audience spend time: Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, elsewhere?
Answers here are often shallow. If the client knows little about their buyers, run a target audience analysis on reviews and DM conversations.
4. Competitors and references
- Three competitors whose accounts you follow: what do you like and dislike?
- 2–3 accounts outside your niche whose style feels right to you.
- What do you never want to see on your accounts?
5. Tone and limits
- Formal or casual? Humor, slang, emoji — yes or no?
- Off-limit topics: politics, religion, competitors, prices?
- Industry restrictions: healthcare, finance, alcohol, ads aimed at kids?
- Have you had a crisis or a wave of negativity on social, and how did you respond?
- Is there a brand book: logo, colors, fonts?
This block feeds your brand tone of voice — a short document with “we write like this / not like this” examples.
6. Resources and access
- Which accounts already exist, who owns them and who has the passwords?
- Are there photos and videos, who can shoot on site, and who’s willing to be on camera?
- Is there an ad account and an ad history?
- What’s ready already: website, price list, reviews, case studies, FAQ?
7. Budget, timing and approvals
- Monthly budget for management, and separately for ads?
- When do you need to start, and are there hard dates: an opening, a sale, a season?
- Who approves posts, and within how many hours do they reply?
- How often and in what format do you want reports?
Red flags in the answers
| Client’s answer | What’s behind it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| ”The goal is sales”, no numbers | No expectations, or unrealistic ones | Agree on a metric: DM inquiries per month |
| ”Our audience is everyone” | The product isn’t segmented | Start with the single most profitable segment |
| ”We have no competitors” | They haven’t looked at the market | Show them 3 accounts and ask how they’re better |
| ”Make it like [big brand]“ | They like the look, not the strategy | Ask what exactly they like and name the budget for that production |
| ”No photos, just come up with something” | All content lands on you | Put a shoot in the quote or drop visual formats |
| ”Me, my partner and my wife approve” | Three rounds of edits per post | One approver and a 24-hour response time in the contract |
| ”Ads can wait” | They expect fast organic growth | Say honestly that organic reach grows slowly in the first months |
One flag is a reason to ask more. Three or four are a reason to rethink the price or walk away: these clients eat more time than they pay for.
How to turn a brief into a strategy in one evening
- Write down one main goal and one metric. For example: 40 bookings from DMs per month by the end of month three.
- Pull 3–4 content pillars from the product and audience answers: pre-purchase questions become “explainers”, doubts become “cases and reviews”, seasonality becomes the promo calendar.
- Assign platforms based on question 14: LinkedIn for expertise, Instagram Reels and Stories for reach.
- Build the first month of the content plan and show it to the client together with the brief summary.
- Store the brief where the whole team sees it — designer, copywriter and AI assistant. How to set that up is covered in our guide to a brand knowledge base.
Reread the brief every quarter. In six months the client will have new services, prices and priorities, and without an update you’ll be promoting things they no longer care about.
Common mistakes and when a brief won’t save you
- A brief for show. If the questionnaire is filled in and forgotten, it does nothing. Refer to it in every report: “the brief goal is 40 bookings, we’re at 28”.
- The wrong person filled it in. An intern answered, but the owner makes the decisions. Ask that the “Goals” and “Budget” blocks come from whoever pays.
- No summary. Without a confirmed recap, a brief is a set of answers, not an agreement.
- The business isn’t ready for social. No clear product, no website, nobody to answer inquiries. The brief will show it but won’t fix it — better to say so honestly before you start.
A good brief also sells: the client sees you dig deeper than other candidates. The other steps — offer, channels, the first message — are in our guide on how to find social media clients.
In Repost21 you can connect the brief to the brand knowledge base straight from Google Docs or Notion: Luna uses it when drafting posts, and edits to the document sync live. Try it free.