Content Brief Generator

Build a brief a writer can run with · Updated October 4, 2026

What needs to be in a content brief so that a writer can take it and run with it? Four decisions at minimum — who the reader is, what the piece must make happen, the angle, and how success will be measured — plus enough about search intent, structure, voice and sources that the writer does not have to guess. Fill in the fields below and the generator assembles a clean brief you can copy into an email, a doc or a project tool.

Fields marked * are the decisions a writer cannot make for you. Everything stays in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.

The minimum viable brief

If you only have five minutes, answer these four questions. Everything else in a brief helps; these four make it usable:

  1. Reader: who exactly is this for, and what do they already know?
  2. Job: what should they think, feel or do after reading?
  3. Angle: what is the single argument or answer?
  4. Success: what will tell you, in three months, that it worked?

When a writer has to invent any of these, the first draft becomes the place where the decision gets made — which is the expensive place to make it.

Who should fill in which field

  • The requester (marketer, founder, product owner): reader, job, angle, call to action, success measure, approver.
  • The SEO or content strategist: primary and supporting queries, the page to beat, format, internal links.
  • The writer: proposes the outline, flags missing sources, and agrees the word range once they have looked at the topic.

Plain-text content brief template

Prefer a static template? Copy this into your own document:

# Content brief: [working title]

## Reader
[Who they are, what they know, what they're trying to do]

## Job-to-be-done
[What should happen because this piece exists]

## Angle
[The one argument or answer]

## Primary query / supporting queries
[Search terms, if search-driven]

## Current ranking page to beat
[URL and what it lacks]

## Word range and format
[e.g. 1,500–2,000 words, how-to guide]

## Must include / avoid
[Sections, examples, data / claims and topics to avoid]

## Voice and tone
[Link to a piece to match]

## Sources and experts
[Documents, data, interview access]

## Call to action and internal links

## Success measure
[How it will be judged in three months]

## AI tool policy, deadlines, approver

For the reasoning behind each field and a worked before-and-after example, read How to write a content brief that gets used.

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