Crafting effective PR brief documents

When I was little, I remember my mum saying to me, "if you don't ask the right question, you won't get the right answer."  

I don't even remember in what context, although I can say almost for certain that it wasn’t anything to do with putting together a PR brief document! Nevertheless, I learned something from that remark that I still apply to my work today.  

It took a while for the penny to drop, but eventually, I understood what my mum meant; the quality of the input will impact the quality of the output.  

I could say that this lesson stuck with me and has influenced my approach to many aspects of life... and maybe it did. But the honest truth is that it just popped back into my head recently when thinking of PR briefs.  

Late summer to early autumn is a crucial period for many organisations who begin planning objectives and challenges for the year ahead.  

PR agencies like Firefly start to receive increased amounts of briefs and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for PR programmes kicking off the following year. It's such an exciting time that gets our creative juices flowing and our brains whirring, particularly when dealing with new and unusual reputational challenges. 

The quality of these brief documents varies greatly, and it's a big discussion point in the PR agency world currently. The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) in the UK is conducting focus groups, while PR Week publishes insights from agency leaders, all with the objective of improving briefs, and thus improving our responses to them.  

Some revelations have been striking, with project briefs ranging from exhaustive 50-page documents to, more commonly, briefs with no project budget indication whatsoever. 

A well-crafted brief document is crucial for a successful PR strategy, so if you want some strong PR recommendations, I promise it's worth the effort to take the time on a thorough and well thought out brief. 

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Here’s my guidance on what makes a solid brief: 

SMART objectives 

And I don't mean smart as in clever, but specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. So, thinking of a classic objective of increasing awareness – there needs to be more thought put into the shift you want from PR. Going from what to what? How can it be measured and over what period of time? And the biggie, what does success look like? 

Clear tie back to the business 

Ensure there is a strong connection to business goals and that the business is fully on board with the objectives. This is so important for the wider context, and also to have leaders and key stakeholders engaged with the PR strategy, because ultimately it helps them.  

A clear timeline and process 

Everyone should know what they’re working towards, with sufficient time allocated for the agency to gather their thoughts and develop a robust strategy. Sometimes it can get messy if different agencies have different levels of information, then delivering to a different project timeline, which may end up dragging.  

Audience understanding 

Include as much detail as possible about your audience – their interests, strengths, weaknesses, subject matter expertise etc. This helps agencies determine so many things and makes for much more strategic recommendations. Like, if the job is about visibility with a time-poor executive or an educational initiative with a department leader researching new technology or innovation. 

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Focus and priorities 

Trying to achieve too much in a scattered way often fails to make the desired impact. It's better to tackle challenges in a prioritised manner, dedicating the right amount of resource to prompt meaningful change. 

Room for imagination 

If you’re looking for some agency inspiration, allow an agency to ask questions, give room for some elasticity and imagination. If a brief is too descriptive and prescriptive, it becomes more of an instruction manual rather than an invitation to suggest ideas and solutions to comms challenges. 

In conclusion, my mum’s advice about investing the right amount of time and thought to the question, will help get you a better answer. A well-thought-out brief better guides an agency to provide the best possible recommendation, leading to successful outcomes. 

Charlotte Stoel is group director at pan-European communications and PR agency Firefly Communications, where this blog was first published.