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THE CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK · 01

A campaign brief
you can actually use.

A campaign brief is the shared decision about who you want to reach, what you want them to understand and what they should do next. Write it before you make the creative.

For founders planning their own marketing. A practical method from SCENE, with a fictional example you can adapt.

Download the free template ↓

Markdown file. No email or account required.

Start with one audience and one action.

“Promote the product” leaves too many decisions open. Name the person, the situation they are in and one useful next step. A campaign asking someone to try a demo needs different evidence from a campaign asking them to buy.

Use this sentence: Help [specific audience] understand [one useful outcome], so they [one next action]. If you need three audiences or several unrelated actions, split the brief.

Write the seven decisions.

  1. Audience and moment. Who is this for, and what is happening when the problem matters? Use words from real conversations when you have them. Mark assumptions until you can check them.
  2. Next action. Pick one destination: a useful guide, a working demo, an enquiry or an access request. Open the link yourself before using it.
  3. Message. State one benefit in plain language. Explain what the product does today and separate anything still being built.
  4. Evidence. Link each claim to a demonstration, source or approved customer example. Label fictional work. Remove numbers you cannot support.
  5. Creative. Name the format, the first thing someone sees and the supporting detail. Keep references and tool prompts with each version.
  6. Review. Name the reviewer and what they must check: the exact media, caption, destination, claims, rights and accessibility. A changed version needs a fresh decision.
  7. Learning. Choose a question the campaign can answer. Decide what you will count, where that evidence comes from and when you will review it.

FICTIONAL EXAMPLE · NOT CUSTOMER RESULTS

A founder launching a meal-planning app.

Audience
People cooking for one who regularly throw away unused ingredients.
Action
Try a sample three-day plan without creating an account.
Message
See how one shopping list can cover three different dinners.
Evidence
A working sample plan with the actual ingredients and quantities. No unsupported savings claim.
Creative
A carousel: the shopping list, each dinner, then a link to the sample plan. Save the source photography and caption with the version.
Review
The founder checks the recipe quantities, image rights, readable text and destination before approving the final version.
Learning
Do visitors open the sample plan, and what do they ask about it? Link views alone cannot establish that people cooked the meals.

Keep the brief connected to the work.

Give each creative version a clear name. Keep its prompt, source material, caption and review decision together. When you change the creative, record what changed and why. This makes it possible to learn from a particular version instead of guessing which file went out.

SCENE is being built around that workflow. Explore the fictional campaign demo to see the brief, versions and review in context. Check current integration availability before planning connected publishing.

Before you call it ready.

  • Can someone identify the audience, message and action without you explaining them?
  • Does every factual claim have evidence?
  • Does the destination match the promise in the creative?
  • Has the exact final version been reviewed?
  • Can you explain what the results will—and will not—tell you?

Start with a manageable campaign and keep your first review focused on what you learned. You can expand the next brief using evidence from this one.