How to write a creator brief, with a free template

A brief is the document a creator reads before they film. A good one gets you content that sounds like the creator and sells like an ad. A bad one gets you a stiff read that their audience scrolls past, or a funny video that never names your product. Most of the difference comes from what you leave out.

What is a creator brief?

A creator brief is a short document that tells a creator what to make for a sponsorship and what it must include. It covers the creative side: the goal, the message, the must-haves, and the dates. The contract covers the legal and money side. Keep them separate, but make sure the deliverables and dates match in both.

Write the brief after the creator agrees to the deal in principle and before they start planning. If you send it too early, before you know their format and audience, you will end up rewriting it.

What goes in a creator sponsorship brief?

A creator sponsorship brief needs about a dozen short sections, and most of them fit in two or three lines. This table lists each one and what to write.

One goal matters more than people think. A brief that asks for awareness, sign-ups, and sales at once gets a video that does none of them well. If you want sales, say so, and the creator will build the integration around the code.

Should you give a creator talking points or a script?

Give a creator talking points, not a script. Creators know how their audience talks, what makes them laugh, and what makes them skip. A script written by your marketing team will sound like your marketing team, and viewers can tell within a sentence.

Talking points are facts and benefits the creator can say in their own words. "Ships in two days" is a talking point. A paragraph of copy about "fast, reliable delivery you can count on" is a script.

The exception is wording that carries legal risk. If you sell a supplement, a financial product, or anything with health claims, give exact approved lines for those specific claims and mark them as word-for-word. Leave everything else to the creator. You can also offer a sample script as inspiration, clearly labeled as optional, for creators new to sponsorships.

Which items should be mandatory, and what should be left to the creator?

Make mandatory only the items that protect you legally or make the deal measurable. Leave everything else to the creator. A short mandatory list gets followed. A long one gets skimmed.

Disclosure belongs at the top of the mandatory list, because the FTC expects brands to tell creators how to disclose. Its endorsement guidance says advertisers should instruct creators on their disclosure responsibilities, "including exactly how you want them to make the disclosures." The FTC also says a video disclosure should be in the video itself, not only in the description, and that live streams should repeat it. In the UK, the CMA's guidance for creators recommends clear labels like "ad" placed upfront. Our guide to disclosure rules covers the details.

Ask for the platform's own label too. YouTube asks creators to tick a paid promotion box, which adds a disclosure label at the start of the video. Instagram's branded content policies require creators to post branded content with its branded content tool and tag the brand partner. TikTok has a commercial content disclosure setting that shows a "Paid partnership" label. The FTC warns that a platform tool alone may not be enough, so require both.

Leave the hook, the setting, the jokes, the format, and where the integration sits in the video to the creator. If placement matters to you, set a limit such as "within the first third of the video" and stop there.

How do you keep product claims accurate?

Keep claims accurate by listing the claims the creator may make and the ones they must not. The FTC's endorsement guidance addresses what happens when someone in a brand's network "says something false about our product," and it expects brands to have a reasonable training, monitoring, and compliance program. A short approved-claims list in the brief is the simplest part of that program.

Write each approved claim the way you can prove it. "Lasts up to 30 washes in our testing" is provable if you have the test. "The best sock on the market" is not. Then add a short avoid list: medical claims, comparisons to named competitors, and anything about results you cannot back up.

Review the draft for these items and nothing else. Your job in review is accuracy and compliance, not taste.

What does a creator brief template look like?

A creator brief template is a fill-in document with each section from the table above. Copy this one, replace the brackets, and delete any line that does not apply.

CREATOR BRIEF: [Brand] x [Creator name]

Contact: [name], [email], [phone]
Contract reference: [contract name or date]

1. ABOUT US
[One paragraph: what you sell, who buys it, price range, link]

2. GOAL
[One goal: awareness, sign-ups, sales, or installs]

3. AUDIENCE
[Who you want to reach, described the way the creator would describe them]

4. KEY MESSAGE
[The one thing a viewer should remember]

5. TALKING POINTS
- [Point 1]
- [Point 2]
- [Point 3]
Say these in your own words.

6. MANDATORY
- Say "ad" or "sponsored" at the start of the integration, out loud and on screen
- Turn on the platform's paid partnership or paid promotion label and tag [Brand]
- Say the product name as "[exact product name]"
- Include [link] in [location] and mention code [CODE]
- Approved claims, word for word: [claim 1], [claim 2]

7. PLEASE AVOID
- [Claims you cannot support]
- [Competitor names]
- [Topics that are off-limits]

8. DELIVERABLES
- [Number] x [format] on [platform], [length]
- [Any extras, such as a story or pinned comment]

9. TIMELINE
- Product arrives by: [date]
- Draft due: [date]
- Our feedback within: [number] business days
- Live date: [date]

10. REVIEW
One round of feedback, limited to factual accuracy and the mandatory items above.

11. USAGE
[Organic only] or [We may run this as a paid ad from [date] to [date], as agreed in the contract]

12. LINKS
[Product photos, logo, brand basics, FAQ for common questions]

What does a filled-in creator brief look like?

Here is the template filled in for Kettlewren Tea, a made-up loose-leaf tea brand, and a made-up YouTube creator. Every detail below is invented for illustration.

CREATOR BRIEF: Kettlewren Tea x Sam Rivera

Contact: Priya Shah, priya@kettlewrentea.example, 555-0142
Contract reference: Sponsorship agreement dated March 3

1. ABOUT US
Kettlewren Tea sells loose-leaf tea by subscription. Most customers are
25 to 45, work from home, and drink three or more cups a day.
Subscriptions start at $18 a month. kettlewrentea.example

2. GOAL
New subscriptions.

3. AUDIENCE
Your viewers who make coffee and tea at home and care about what
they drink while working.

4. KEY MESSAGE
Better tea than tea bags, delivered monthly, and easy to cancel.

5. TALKING POINTS
- A new tea arrives every month, picked by a tea buyer
- One tin makes about 40 cups
- Pause or cancel any time from your account page
Say these in your own words.

6. MANDATORY
- Say "this video is sponsored by Kettlewren Tea" at the start of the
  integration, and show "Ad" on screen
- Tick YouTube's paid promotion box
- Say the name as "Kettlewren Tea," not "Kettlewren"
- Link kettlewrentea.example/sam in the first line of the description
  and mention code SAM20 for 20% off the first month
- Approved claim, word for word: "one tin makes about 40 cups"

7. PLEASE AVOID
- Health claims of any kind, including caffeine or sleep effects
- Naming other tea brands

8. DELIVERABLES
- 1 x 60 to 90 second integration in a long-form YouTube video
- 1 x pinned comment with the link and code

9. TIMELINE
- Product arrives by: April 1
- Draft due: April 10
- Our feedback within: 2 business days
- Live date: April 15 to April 18

10. REVIEW
One round of feedback, limited to factual accuracy and the
mandatory items above.

11. USAGE
Organic only.

12. LINKS
Photos and logo: kettlewrentea.example/press

Notice what the example does not include. There is no script, no required joke, and no instruction on where to film. Sam decides all of that.

How do you send the brief and run the review?

Send the brief with the contract, then hold a 15-minute call so the creator can ask questions before they plan anything. Ask them to describe the idea back to you in a few sentences. If what they say does not match the goal, fix it now, not after filming.

When the draft arrives, reply within the window you promised. Check the mandatory items and the claims, then send one consolidated list of changes. If the content is accurate and complete but not what you pictured, approve it. The creator knows their audience better than you do, and that is what you paid for.

After the post goes live, save the link, the code, and the date in one place so you can measure it. Our guides on usage rights and measuring sponsorship ROI cover what to do next, and the contract guide covers what the brief should never contradict.