Content brief

A content brief is a short structured document specifying everything needed to produce a single piece of content: hook, key message, format, channel, intent, target audience, and rationale.

A good brief is the difference between briefing AI well and briefing it badly. Vague briefs ("write a post about pricing") produce generic AI output; specific briefs ("LinkedIn carousel for founders, hook: ‘pricing the way most SaaS does it is broken’, key message: tier structure should reflect customer value not seat count, format: 8-slide carousel, close: invite comments on alternative pricing models") produce shippable drafts.

Briefs can be written manually, generated from a strategy plan, or generated from a content gap analysis. The best AI tools generate briefs in batches (a week or month at a time) so the human can review and adjust before any drafts are written.

The brief is where most of the editorial value is added. A well-briefed AI produces better drafts than a poorly-briefed human; a poorly-briefed AI produces worse drafts than nothing.