The template
The structure to copy and adapt
- Brand + product (one paragraph)RequiredWhat you sell, in 1-2 sentences. Tight enough that a stranger gets it on first read. Examples below show how each industry compresses to a single line.
- Audience (behavioral, not demographic)RequiredSpecific behavior, current alternatives, communities they live in. 'People who train 5+ hours/week and currently use Liquid IV.' Beats 'males 25-45' every time.
- Goal (one outcome, measurable)RequiredAcquisition, retention, launch, reactivation - pick one. The examples show how each goal type produces a different brief downstream.
- Angle (one sentence)RequiredThe single sharp lens. Not a feature list. The one thing that, if a creator made one ad about, would resonate. Examples show what 'one sentence' actually looks like.
- Hook archetype (1-2 max)RequiredProblem→solution, day-in-the-life, transformation, founder-to-camera, testimonial, comparison, demo, unboxing. Examples show industry-fit pairings.
- Do-nots (5-7 explicit)RequiredNegative space generates distinctive work. Examples show how do-nots prevent category clichés - 'no founder-to-camera' or 'no transformation language' depending on category.
- References (5-10 ad links)Reference ads from competitors or adjacent categories. Compresses 500 words of description into 5 links. Examples reference specific brands.
- Deliverables + ratiosWhat ships. '10 variants in 4:5 and 9:16, 15s and 30s cuts.' Concrete; lets the receiver scope. Examples show ratio + length combinations per platform.
- TimelineBrief → first review days, first review → finals days, finals → launch days. Real timelines. Examples below show 2-week vs 8-week campaign cadences.
Filled-in examples
See the template in use
DTC supplement - cold acquisition (Meta) · DTC ecommerce
- Brand + productGreenline Supplements - premium electrolyte powder with 3x the sodium of mainstream alternatives, third-party tested, no artificial dyes.
- AudienceEndurance athletes 28-45 training 5+ hours/week, currently using Liquid IV, LMNT, or store-brand electrolytes. Active in cycling, running, triathlon communities.
- GoalCold acquisition. Drive trial purchases of the $45 starter bundle. Target CAC < $32 over 30 days.
- AngleHigher sodium ratio (1g+ per serving) vs mainstream category at 250-500mg. Built for actual endurance use, not casual hydration.
- Hook archetypeProblem→solution. Open on a specific moment of audience pain (mile 18 of a long ride). Cut to product by second 4.
- Do-notsNo price-led hook. No bottle-only static. No founder-to-camera. No 'hydration is important' generic copy. No discount as the lede. No before/after framing.
- Deliverables12 variants in 4:5 and 9:16, 15s and 30s cuts. 4 static + 4 motion + 4 carousel.
Shuttergen
Skip the template - generate the brief.
Shuttergen reads your brand and competitive set, then generates a ready-to-use ad brief pre-filled with audience, angle, archetype, and do-nots specific to your category. Faster than starting from an example.
How to use the template + examples together
Pick the example closest to your format and funnel stage, not your industry. Industry copy is easy to replace. Structural choices (audience tightness, angle compression, hook archetype, do-nots) are what carry. The DTC example fits any direct-response paid social. The B2B SaaS example fits any long-cycle B2B. The beauty example fits any creator-led TikTok strategy. The B2B services example fits any retention or expansion play. The influencer example fits any multi-creator launch.
Read all five before writing your own. The point of multiple examples is calibration. Reading just one anchors you to that example's defaults. Reading five shows you the range - what changes by category, what stays the same. The do-nots field looks different in DTC vs B2B for a reason; the audience field looks different in cold acquisition vs retention for a reason.
Treat the examples as anti-boilerplate. Don't lift sentences. Lift the level of specificity. 'VPs of RevOps at B2B SaaS $5M-50M ARR currently using 3+ point tools' is the bar. Your audience field should be that specific to your business; the words will be different.
Skip the template - generate the brief. Shuttergen reads your brand and competitive set, then generates a ready-to-use ad brief pre-filled with audience, angle, archetype, and do-nots specific to your category. Faster than starting from an example.
What changes by industry, what stays the same
Stays the same across all five examples: the eight section headers, the requirement to compress the angle to one sentence, the requirement for 5-7 explicit do-nots, the rejection of demographic-only audience definitions.
Changes by industry: the hook archetype (problem→solution for DTC, thought-leader for B2B SaaS, day-in-the-life for TikTok creator, data-narrative for B2B retention, documentary for influencer launches), the deliverables (Meta vs LinkedIn vs TikTok vs email vs organic multi-creator), the goal phrasing (acquisition CAC, lead-gen MQLs, attributed conversion, retention rate, awareness lift).
Changes by funnel stage: cold acquisition briefs lean on the problem→solution hook and tight audience; retention briefs lean on account-level personalization and data narratives; awareness briefs lean on documentary and creator-led formats. Funnel stage shapes archetype more than industry does.
Where examples typically fail
Failure 1: copy-pasting the wrong example. Teams grab the B2B SaaS example for their DTC launch because it's the first one they see. The structure is the same; the substance is wrong. Pick by format + funnel stage, not by which example you saw first.
Failure 2: skipping the do-nots field because the example has it. The do-nots in the examples are specific to those brands. Your do-nots need to be specific to yours. 'No transformation language' makes sense for a beauty brand in a regulated category; it might be irrelevant for B2B SaaS where the do-nots are about voice and CTA placement.
Failure 3: copying the audience field verbatim. Audience is the load-bearing field. Skip the work of writing your own and the brief produces generic creative. Look at how specific each example is; write yours to the same level.
Internal: creative brief template, creative brief examples, creative design brief example.
FAQ
Frequently asked
How many examples do I need to look at before writing my own brief?
Can I download the template + examples?
Which example should I use as a starting point?
Are these real briefs from real campaigns?
Why does each example have different deliverables?
Should every brief have all eight sections?
What's the most common mistake when working from examples?
Related
Keep reading
Resource
Creative brief template
The base template, fewer examples.
Resource
Creative brief examples
More worked examples.
Resource
Creative design brief example
Filled-in design brief.
Resource
Advertising creative brief example
Ad-specific worked example.
Research
Creative Brief Builder
The Shuttergen brief workflow.
Skip the template - generate the brief.
Shuttergen reads your brand and competitive set, then generates a ready-to-use ad brief pre-filled with audience, angle, archetype, and do-nots specific to your category. Faster than starting from an example.