How to write a video brief (and why most briefs ask for the wrong thing)

A good video brief tells a production company what you need to achieve, who it's for, where it will be seen and what success looks like. Most briefs only cover the first part. They describe a film. The best briefs describe a library: the questions your customers ask, every place the answers need to live, and how the content will keep working after launch day.

Here's how to write one, with a free template at the end.

Why most video briefs go wrong

In eighteen years of receiving briefs, the most common one we see is a single line: "We need a two-minute video for our website."

That isn't a brief. It's an order for a product. And it leads to the most expensive outcome in video: a film that looks great, is watched at launch, and then sits on a homepage doing very little. It's a car on the drive.

The problem isn't the production company or the budget. It's that the brief asked for one video when the business needed answers.

Start with the questions, not the video

Before you describe what you want to make, write down what your customers are actually asking. Not what you want to tell them: what they want to know.

Ask your sales team for the questions they hear every week. Look at your enquiry emails. Type your topic into ChatGPT or Google and see what questions come up around it.

This matters more than ever, because your customers increasingly put those questions to AI search. The businesses that get recommended are the ones that answer them clearly, in several formats. A brief built around real questions produces content built to be found.

What to include in a video brief

1. The business goal. Not "a video", but what should change because it exists. More qualified enquiries? Shorter sales calls? Faster onboarding? One clear goal beats five vague ones. If you do have 5 goals, write them as separate briefs. A capable production company will organise the work to fulfil each brief.
2. The audience. Who is watching, what do they already know, and what's stopping them from choosing you? Be specific: "operations directors at mid-sized logistics firms" is far more useful than "B2B decision makers".
3. The questions to answer. List the five to ten questions your audience asks most. This becomes the backbone of the content, and often turns one video into a series.
4. Where it will live. Website, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, sales presentations, trade shows, internal channels. Each needs a different length, shape and opening. Knowing this before filming is what makes one shoot cover everything.
5. The formats you need. A hero film, short answer videos, vertical cutdowns, stills, interview clips, a podcast episode, articles and transcripts. Listing them now costs nothing; adding them after the shoot can cost a reshoot.
6. Key messages and proof. The three things you most want people to remember, and the evidence behind them: case studies, data, customers who'll speak on camera.
7. Tone and references. Two or three videos you like, and one you don't, with a line on why. This saves more time than any written description of "style".
8. Practicalities. Locations, people available to film, sign-off process, brand guidelines and any regulatory checks. Tell the company who must approve the work: you, your boss and the board in three stages; or just your boss's wife (it happens).
9. Timeline. When you need it live, and any fixed dates such as a launch, an event or a campaign. Is it a staggered rollout? What elements will need refreshing?
10. Budget. Give a range. It isn't a negotiating weakness; it's how a good production company works out the best way to hit your goal, rather than guessing. There's no need for a juggernaut when you have a delivery bike in mind.
11. Life after launch. How will the content be refreshed, who owns it, and how will you measure whether it worked? This is the question almost every brief leaves out, and it's the one that decides whether the video keeps earning.

The difference a better brief makes

The shoot day itself often costs about the same. Editing extra versions adds some cost, but far less than going back for a second shoot. What changes most is how much you get from it, and how long it keeps working.

How long should a video brief be?

One or two pages is plenty. A brief is the start of a conversation, not a contract. A good production company will come back with questions and ideas; if they simply quote for exactly what you asked for, that tells you something.

Not sure where to start?

That's normal. Most of our best projects started with a half-finished brief and a conversation. Fill in what you can using the template below, and send it to info@littleorchardmedia.com. We'll help you turn it into a plan, whether that's one film or a quarter's worth of premium content.

More questions about the process? See our video production FAQs.

Free video brief template

Fill in what you can. Leave gaps where you're not sure; that's what the first conversation is for.