To create a content brief that hits the mark can feel like trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the instructions—or worse, realizing the screws are missing. That’s where content brief templates come to the rescue!
Whether you’re mapping out a blog post for search engine optimization (SEO), planning internal links for your website, or organizing your marketing team’s strategy, these free content brief templates make it ridiculously simple.
🧠 Fun Fact: The word “brief” comes from the Latin word “brevis,” which means “short” or “concise.”
8 Free Content Brief Templates to Use
- What Are Content Brief Templates?
- What Makes a Good Content Brief Template?
- 8 Free Content Brief Templates
- 1. The ClickUp SEO Content Brief Template
- 2. The ClickUp Content Writing Template
- 3. The ClickUp Writing Guidelines Template
- 4. The ClickUp Campaign Brief Template
- 5. The ClickUp Marketing Campaign Brief Template
- 6. The ClickUp Creative Brief Document Template
- 7. Content Brief Template by The Meta Blog
- 8. Content Brief Template by Frase
- Streamline Your Content Writing Projects with Content Brief Templates
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Are Content Brief Templates?
Content brief templates are structured guides designed to help organize and communicate the essential details of a piece of content. They typically outline crucial information like a piece’s target audience, tone, and objectives.
A solid template highlights crucial content aspects like the primary and secondary keywords, helping writers focus on the right topics. It also includes instructions on addressing search intent, ensuring the content meets readers’ needs.
By referencing competitor articles as examples or recommended internal links, briefs also provide extra context without overloading writers.
A good content brief template bridges strategy and execution, streamlining the content creation process. It provides writers with clear instructions while cutting down on guesswork, making delivering impactful, high-quality content easier.
👀 Did You Know? According to a study by the Content Marketing Institute, only 37% of the most successful B2B marketers follow a documented content strategy. That strategy almost always starts with a well-crafted content brief. It’s like the blueprint for content success!
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Makes a Good Content Brief Template?
Creating a good content brief template is essential for crafting focused and compelling content. A solid template sets clear expectations, saves time, and ensures alignment with your goals.
Here are some of the key aspects to include in your brief template:
- Target audience: Define the target audience clearly. Include details like demographics, job titles, and pain points to guide content creation
- Content goal: Add a section to specify the content’s goal. Whether it’s generating leads or raising brand awareness, the objective should be clear because it directly impacts the handling of the subject
- SEO keywords: List target keywords, including both short-tail and long-tail keywords that align with the content’s intent
- Content structure: Outline the format and sections. Specify whether it’s an article, guide, or case study, and include structural elements like headings or subheadings
- Tone and voice: Indicate if the content should be formal, casual, or conversational, depending on the audience
- Call to action [CTA]: Include a clear CTA that guides the audience on the next step, such as signing up, downloading, or getting in touch
- Content distribution channels: Outline where the content will be shared, such as social media, email campaigns, or your website
- References and resources: Include space for relevant sources, links, case studies, or data points to support the content
- Deadlines and milestones: Set deadlines for drafts and final versions and include milestones to keep the content process on track
💡Pro Tip: Add headings and subheads to your content brief to give it a structure or an outline. This neatly breaks your brief into sections and makes it easier for the writers to follow!
Summarize this article for me please8 Free Content Brief Templates
If you’re not using content briefs—or skipping them now and then—it’s time to make them a staple in your content writing process. To help you hit the ground running, these eight templates from ClickUp [and other sources] will guide you in crafting top-notch content from the beginning.
1. The ClickUp SEO Content Brief Template
👀 Did You Know? 75% of people never scroll past the first page of search results. That’s why creating SEO-friendly content is more important than ever!
The ClickUp SEO Content Brief Template is a great place to start creating a flawless brief. It’s equipped with all the tools your writers need to understand the scope of work, including subsections for primary and secondary keywords, a section for adding internal links, and another one for competitor articles.
Built on ClickUp Docs, the template is beginner-friendly, so everyone from seasoned writers to interns can take a crack at the brief. Its fill-in-the-blanks format makes it easy to reuse or save as a template for quick usage later.
🌟Ideal for: SEO specialists, content managers, and marketing teams focused on driving organic traffic. This template is great for professionals who need to create SEO-friendly content and align writers with clear goals
2. The ClickUp Content Writing Template
What if you could write whatever you needed to, whenever you needed to, without dreading writer’s block?
The ClickUp Content Writing Template streamlines the process of creating engaging content that supports your branding, drives sales, and generates more leads—blocks notwithstanding. It not only provides writers with the outline to get started with a blog post or press release immediately, but also structures their thought process with neatly demarcated sections for tracking details like the launch date for the content, the headline, and the brand logo, etc.
You can also specify the project’s start and end dates, published links for when your content goes live, and the goals you expect to achieve from your content.
To make the process even more efficient, you can pair the template with ClickUp’s native AI assistant, ClickUp Brain. Let the AI help you
- find topics to write about
- brainstorm angles to fill content gaps
- generate keyword ideas to optimize your content for search engines
- come up with content strategies and ways to achieve higher rankings
🌟Ideal for: Bloggers, freelance writers, and content creators who need a quick start. It’s also great for marketing teams producing diverse content types, such as blog posts, case studies, and landing pages
3. The ClickUp Writing Guidelines Template
No one likes inconsistent formatting, tone, and grammar across their content. It makes the work look unprofessional and gives clients the wrong impression. Keep your content writing team on the same page with the ClickUp Writing Guidelines Template.
This template is a must-have for your marketing team. It offers clear instructions to help writers craft content that meets the mark. Using it, you can standardize the writing process, maintain accuracy, and set clear expectations for your team.
The template starts with an introduction outlining the importance of writing guidelines. Then, you can define specifics like brand voice, tone, grammar, and style.
Once you’ve set it up, share the template with your content team and relevant stakeholders. They can access it anytime, provide feedback, and suggest improvements. You can even use an AI content generator together with the template to help create content faster and maintain consistency.
🌟Ideal for: Editors, content managers, and branding teams who need to maintain consistency in tone, voice, and formatting across all written materials
4. The ClickUp Campaign Brief Template
Creative campaign briefs require more effort than standard project plans. They need input and collaboration across departments to drive results. Campaigns often involve multiple smaller projects working toward a larger goal, making coordination essential.
The ClickUp Campaign Brief Template simplifies this process for project managers by clearly breaking down campaign elements and organizing everything.
This five-page template begins with an advertising campaign overview, covering the goal, intended audience, budget, deliverables, and required resources in detail. Each section prompts you to define specifics, ensuring your campaign is well-structured from the start.
Pre-built subpages are baked in to plan individual creative assets and elements., providing clarity on each part of the campaign. This structure keeps your campaign focused, manageable, and ready for success.
🌟Ideal for: Managers, creative directors, and campaign leads coordinating multiple projects within a larger marketing strategy
🧠 Fun Fact: The “reverse brief” is an emerging trend. Some companies now ask their writers to create one before starting a project. Essentially, it’s a quick summary of the post’s key goals and strategies, helping ensure everyone’s on the same page. It’s a great way to catch any potential misunderstandings and align expectations quickly.
5. The ClickUp Marketing Campaign Brief Template
Running a successful marketing campaign requires careful planning, and the ClickUp Marketing Campaign Brief Template simplifies the process considerably.
This template helps you build a unified plan that encourages collaboration across your team. It also makes budgeting easy by clearly identifying campaign costs, letting you optimize your budget.
With clearly defined roles and responsibilities, your team can stay informed and prepared throughout the process. You can also track progress and adjust plans as priorities shift.
It’s designed for smoother content management and keeps your marketing efforts organized and efficient. If you aim for a strong content marketing strategy that delivers results, this template is your go-to solution to help you plan smarter and launch faster.
🌟Ideal for: Marketing managers and team leads aiming to plan and execute unified campaigns while keeping budgets, roles, and timelines clearly defined
6. The ClickUp Creative Brief Document Template
Clear communication can be a strong base for a successful design project, and the ClickUp Creative Brief Document Template is here to help!
Start by outlining the project’s goals, timeline, and scope in ClickUp. Get your team involved to set clear objectives and track progress with tasks. Use Custom Fields to track demographics, budget, and milestones as you move forward. This will keep your project organized and flowing smoothly.
You can quickly review and revise the creative brief throughout the process, ensuring everything stays on track with ClickUp’s Recurring Tasks.
🌟Ideal for: Designers, creative teams, and project managers working on design-heavy projects that require clear communication and collaboration
7. Content Brief Template by The Meta Blog
Generating detailed content briefs can be time-consuming, but The Meta Blog’s Content Brief Template simplifies the process. The template allows you to outline the topic clearly, giving the writer a solid direction on what to focus on. If you have a specific angle or title, you can include those, along with any helpful links. Add a crystal clear content goal or business objective—whether you’re driving sign-ups or improving search engine rankings.
You can define your target audience, their buyer journey stage, and what you want them to take away from the content.
The template also lets you specify the content format—like a blog post or landing page—and word count to keep things consistent. Once you add your subheads, internal and external links, and any special instructions, you’re on your way to crafting your perfect content brief!
🌟Ideal for: Freelance writers, content strategists, and small business owners looking for a streamlined way to organize ideas and content objectives
8. Content Brief Template by Frase
The Content Brief Template by Frase helps speed up the content creation process by organizing SEO-focused elements like your target keyword, headings, and calls to action. It also has dedicated areas for researching your topic and competing articles to craft the best possible title and content structure.
The template includes sections for a well-crafted introduction, detailed headings in the body copy, and a persuasive conclusion to guide the writer effectively.
You can customize the template using Frase’s tools to automate keyword research, create content outlines, and conduct SERP research, making content creation scalable and efficient.
🌟Ideal for: Content marketers and teams juggling data-driven content creation, SEO, and competitor analysis
Summarize this article for me pleaseStreamline Your Content Writing Projects with Content Brief Templates
Juggling multiple content projects can sometimes feel like spinning plates, but it doesn’t have to be as chaotic. You can keep everything organized and moving smoothly with the right, and often free, content brief template.
ClickUp’s Template Library is packed with multiple readymade templates to have you hit the ground running with your brief creation process.
Plus, with ClickUp’s robust project management tools, managing content becomes more effortless, whether you’re collaborating or tracking deadlines.
Sign up for a ClickUp account today to create briefs that drive publish-ready content.!
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
