How to write a brief an agency can actually act on

Most briefs we receive from prospects look the same. A list of features. A list of competitors to copy. A budget hidden behind "depends what you propose". A timeline of "ASAP".

These briefs aren't bad because the founder is lazy. They're bad because nobody told them what a useful brief looks like.

The four questions a good brief answers

1. What's the actual job to be done? Not "build a website". The job behind the website. We need 30 qualified demo requests a month from inbound search. That's a job.

2. What's the constraint that makes this hard? Every problem worth solving has a constraint. We can't increase the paid budget, so the answer has to come from organic. Now we know what we're actually solving for.

3. What does success look like — measurably? Pipeline, signups, revenue, retention. A number, a date, and a definition of "good".

4. What have you already tried? Saves both of us six weeks. If you tried Facebook ads and they tanked, we won't pitch you Facebook ads.

The thing nobody puts in a brief but should

The political situation. Who internally wants this project to succeed, who's skeptical, and who can kill it. We've watched perfectly-executed projects die in month four because nobody mapped the stakeholder geography.

If you're writing us a brief: tell us who you'll need to convince along the way. We'll write our recommendations differently.

Have a brief you'd like a second pair of eyes on? Send it to info@digitallegates.com. No pitch, no obligation — just an honest read.