An influencer brief goes to people who don't work for you, and whose audience trusts them because they don't sound like ads. So it has to be clear about the idea and the rules, and loose about the words.
Below is a full example for a made-up company, written in the eleven sections of a one-page creative brief. The shaded notes are the places a influencer campaign brief needs something a standard brief doesn't. If it's close to what you're working on, you can start from this example and change it.
Daybreak everyday SPF creator program
Daybreak makes a mineral sunscreen that doesn't leave a white cast. It sells well with people who already wear sunscreen every day. It barely registers with people who only wear it at the beach, which is most people.
People think daily sunscreen is a skincare step for other people, not a normal part of getting ready.
Daybreak stays a favorite with skincare fans and never reaches anyone else. Bigger brands take everyday sunscreen with bigger budgets.
People in their twenties and thirties who follow a few creators they trust about what to buy, but don't have a skincare routine. They'll try something if someone they watch uses it without making a big deal of it.
“Sunscreen is for the beach. The everyday stuff is greasy and makes me look like a ghost.”
“It's just the thing I put on before I leave. You can't even tell.”
Sunscreen you forget you're wearing.
No white cast, shown on camera in daylight. It dries in under a minute and works under makeup. It's fragrance free.
Every post labeled as a paid partnership with the platform's own tool. No medical or anti-aging claims. Creators show the product on their own skin in natural light, with no skin filters.
Eight creators from fashion, fitness and everyday life, not skincare. Each makes one short video and two stories showing sunscreen as part of leaving the house. 90 days of rights to run the videos as paid ads. No script. Creators use their own words.
Kickoff 1 October, creator shortlist 9 October, contracts signed 20 October, content in 3 November, feedback within 48 hours, posts live 10 to 21 November.
The One-Page Brief is free and there's no sign-up. It checks your brief for the usual problems, and you send it as a link so people can comment on the section they mean and approve it with their name.
Need it as a file?
The One-Page Strategy Kit has the creative brief, the messaging framework and the measurement plan as fillable PDFs and Word files, for when a client wants a document. It's $19.
Get the filesFrom the same desk
A weekly note on account planning for agency strategists. One thing that changed, the tension in it, and what I'd do Monday. The first part of every issue is free.
Written by Cody Simmonds. I also write The Rationale, a weekly note for agency strategists.