Prepared with AI assistance and reviewed against our product and the sources below. Examples are illustrative, not customer results.
Write a brief that settles the questions approval depends on
A client content approval brief should establish the purpose of the batch, its audience, the facts you may use and who can make the final decision. It should also define what the approval covers. Use it before drafting so the client is not deciding the campaign strategy while reviewing finished captions.
Keep the brief small enough for the client to complete. A useful field changes a writing or review decision. If the answer would not affect either, leave it out of the initial brief. Collect additional detail when a particular campaign needs it.
The seven decisions to settle
Start with the intended action, not a vague instruction to increase engagement. “Help existing customers find the workshop booking page” gives the writer a clearer destination than “make people excited.” Audience and voice follow from that task, rather than existing as disconnected adjectives.
- Goal: the one action or understanding this batch should support.
- Audience: who needs the message and what they already know.
- Scope: channels, number of text drafts, and whether visuals have a separate review.
- Facts: the source of prices, dates, product details and permitted claims.
- Voice: two concrete reference examples and any wording to avoid.
- Decision: the final reviewer, backup contact and facts each must confirm.
- Timing: first review, revisions and handoff, including what happens when information is late.
Editable approval brief
Use “unknown” when a fact is missing. An empty field can look accidentally omitted; an explicit unknown can receive an owner and a deadline. Keep source references specific enough that the writer can find the actual material.
Worksheet or example — select and copy
BATCH NAME: BUSINESS / CONTACT: 1. Desired reader action or understanding: 2. Intended audience and what they already know: 3. Channels and number of text drafts: 4. Text approval covers: 5. Separate asset or publishing review is owned by: 6. Confirmed facts and source references: Fact | Source / date | Client owner 7. Unknown facts: Question | Person to answer | Needed by 8. Voice examples we want to resemble: 9. Words, claims or offers we must avoid: 10. Destination / next step for the reader: 11. Final text decision maker: 12. Backup contact if unavailable: 13. First review deadline and time zone: 14. Time reserved for revisions and another decision: 15. Publishing handoff date: 16. If facts or approval are missing, we will: Brief confirmed by / date: Any change in goal or offer after confirmation should be raised before drafting continues.
A fictional completed brief
The following is a fictional example for Willow Workshop, not a real client engagement. The source references describe documents in the example; they are not external evidence for an actual event.
Worksheet or example — select and copy
Batch: Autumn workshop introduction Goal: Help local beginners understand the session and find booking information. Audience: People familiar with Willow’s furniture, but new to its classes. Scope: Ten social text drafts. Image selection is reviewed separately by Mira. Text review covers: descriptions, dates, reader action and tone. Confirmed facts: session date and time from “Autumn session brief, v2”; materials included from Mira’s confirmed inventory note. Unknown: accessibility details for the room. Mira will confirm before any accessibility wording is drafted. Voice: practical and welcoming; use the short sentences in the client-supplied studio introduction. Avoid: “perfect results,” invented participant quotes, and unconfirmed scarcity claims. Reader action: visit the agreed booking destination. Final decision: Mira. Backup: named by Mira before review begins. Review: Thursday 8 October, 16:00 IST. Revisions: Friday morning, with another decision by 15:00 IST. Handoff: Friday 16:00 IST. Missing facts or decisions: hold the affected draft and agree an alternative plan.
Use the brief to resolve disagreements
Suppose the client rejects a caption because it targets experienced makers. The brief says the audience is beginners, so the next action is a correction to the draft. Suppose the client now wants to attract experienced makers instead. That is a changed audience decision; update the brief and assess the affected drafts before rewriting.
The distinction is practical, not a rule about fees or contracts. It helps both people understand whether the text missed an agreed target or the target moved. Record the changed decision and who confirmed it. Do not let two incompatible briefs circulate at once.
Bring only the necessary context into review
The reviewer does not need the entire intake conversation next to every caption. A short batch note can state the goal, the facts requiring attention and the location of the source brief. Keep detailed source material in an appropriate private place, especially if it contains information not intended for publication.
PostRoom handles text drafts and client decisions; this brief is a separate planning artifact, not a built-in strategy questionnaire. Once the brief is agreed, use a room for the actual captions and ask for approval of the current text. If the goal changes later, revisit the brief before treating existing approvals as sufficient.