A creator brief is the single most underinvested document in Indian influencer marketing. Brands spend weeks selecting creators, negotiating rates, and building campaign strategies — then hand over a brief that was assembled in 20 minutes from last year's template. The result: content that's technically correct but creatively dead. Posts that get approved but never get saved. Campaigns that hit deliverable counts but miss audiences entirely.
After 2080+ campaigns across 90+ brands, the pattern is unmistakable: the quality of the brief predicts the quality of the content with near-perfect consistency. Brands that invest in their briefs get content they're proud to amplify. Brands that don't get content they have to accept.
This guide covers everything about writing creator briefs that produce exceptional content — the structure, the templates, the do's and don'ts, and the specific elements that distinguish briefs Indian creators respond to from the ones they fulfill minimally.
of creators surveyed say they produce better content when given creative freedom within clear brand guardrails — versus brands who provide detailed scripts or shot-by-shot direction
The Fundamental Philosophy: Direction, Not Script
The most common brief-writing mistake in India is confusing direction with scripting. Brands that have been burned by off-brand creator content respond by writing increasingly detailed briefs — specific words to use, shots to include, facial expressions to display, exact durations for each section. This approach doesn't produce better content. It produces more controlled content that feels exactly as scripted as it is.
Audiences can identify scripted influencer content within seconds. The unnatural rhythm, the forced enthusiasm, the product-first framing that no real person would use when genuinely recommending something they love — it reads as advertisement dressed in creator clothing. And Indian audiences, increasingly sophisticated about influencer marketing, scroll past it without engagement.
The right framework: A brief should define the destination (what we want the audience to feel or do after seeing this content) and the guardrails (what the brand must and must never communicate), while leaving the route entirely to the creator. The creator knows their audience. They know what content their community responds to. Trusting that knowledge is not giving up control — it's giving up the illusion of control for actual creative quality.
The Complete Influencer Brief Template
Creator Brief Template — Exif Media Framework
Section-by-Section Guide: What to Write and Why
Campaign Objective (The Most Important Element)
Most briefs list multiple objectives — awareness AND consideration AND conversion AND brand love. This is not a brief; it's a wish list. A single campaign cannot optimally serve multiple conflicting objectives. Choose one. If your objective is app downloads, every other element of the brief should serve that objective. If your objective is brand awareness, the content brief looks completely different from a download-focused campaign. Creators who receive multi-objective briefs default to whatever they can most easily check off — which is rarely what the brand actually needs.
Key Message (One Sentence, Always)
The key message is what you want the audience to believe or do after seeing the content — distilled into one sentence. "Understand that Brand X's travel insurance covers adventure sports in India" is a key message. "Know that Brand X exists and is good and trustworthy and affordable and easy to buy" is not. If your key message requires more than one sentence, you have multiple key messages, which means your brief is asking the creator to do too much in one piece of content.
Must Include vs. Must Not Include
These are the non-negotiable guardrails. Must includes should be minimal — the fewer non-negotiables you have, the more creative space you give the creator and the better the content. Must not includes are equally important: competitor mentions, specific medical or efficacy claims your brand cannot support, topics that conflict with brand values, or cultural references inappropriate for your brand's positioning. Be specific about restrictions — "avoid negative content" is not actionable; "do not use footage of roads or traffic" is.
Creative Direction (Tone, Not Script)
Creative direction should describe the feeling of the content, not the structure. "Warm, conversational, feels like advice from a knowledgeable friend" is useful creative direction. "Start with a 15-second hook showing the product, then 30 seconds explaining three features, then a CTA" is a script. Reference the creator's existing content style — "content in the style of your [specific video/post]" is the most effective creative direction you can provide, because it tells the creator to do what they already do well.
Common Brief Mistakes and How to Fix Them
✅ DO
Write one clear campaign objective
Include the product facts, not the script
Trust the creator's aesthetic judgment
Leave caption writing to the creator
Specify ASCI disclosure text explicitly
Set a revision limit (max 2 rounds)
Send the brief 2+ weeks before publish date
❌ DON'T
List 4–5 campaign objectives
Write word-for-word script "suggestions"
Request specific camera angles or filters
Ask creators to copy competitor's content style
Require approval of content before creator posts their own organic content
Send brief 3 days before publish deadline
Use the same brief for every creator on a campaign
Customizing Briefs for Different Creator Tiers
| Creator Tier | Brief Length | Creative Latitude | Key Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nano (under 10K) | Half page | Maximum (gifting-style) | Product use, authenticity, disclosure |
| Micro (10K–100K) | 1 page | High | Key message + 2–3 brand facts + CTA |
| Mid-tier (100K–500K) | 1–1.5 pages | Moderate | Message + creative direction + usage rights |
| Macro (500K+) | 1.5–2 pages | Guided | Full brief + concept alignment call before content |
The Brief for Indian Regional Campaigns
Campaigns targeting regional Indian audiences require briefs that account for cultural specificity that generic national-market briefs miss. A brief for a Tamil Nadu campaign should reference Tamil cultural touchpoints, appropriate festival timing, and local consumer behavior nuances. It should not simply translate a Hindi-market brief into Tamil. The key message that resonates for a Punjabi audience in Amritsar may be completely different from what works for a Malayali audience in Kochi, even for the same product.
At Exif Media, where our 120+ creators span every Indian state, we build region-specific brief variants as a standard practice — not as an afterthought. The cultural fit that our brief-writing process builds in is a significant part of why campaigns for national brands through our network outperform generic pan-India campaigns that treat India as a single homogeneous market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a creator brief include?
Campaign objective, brand background, specific deliverables, key message (one sentence), must-include and must-not-include guardrails, ASCI disclosure requirements, approval timeline, usage rights, and payment terms. The brief should be directional, not prescriptive.
How long should a creator brief be?
Maximum 1–2 pages. Briefs longer than 3 pages signal a brand trying to script rather than collaborate — and are rarely read in full. Conciseness reflects clear brand thinking. Nano creator briefs can be half a page.
Should I write a script for the creator?
No. Scripts produce scripted content that audiences identify and dismiss instantly. Provide the key message and brand facts; let the creator determine how to communicate them authentically to their specific audience. This produces better content every time.
How far in advance should a brief be sent to a creator?
Minimum 2 weeks before the publish date for micro and mid-tier creators. Macro creators should receive briefs 3–4 weeks in advance, as they often schedule content 2–3 weeks out. Sending briefs 3 days before publish creates time pressure that produces lower quality content and strained creator relationships.
Related Reading
Want Briefs Written and Managed by a Team That's Done It 2080+ Times?
Exif Media handles everything from creator matching and brief writing to content approval and campaign reporting — across 120+ creators in every Indian geography. Let's build something your audience actually responds to.
Get Started