The short answer
A good brief fits on one page: who buys, why they buy, what makes them hesitate and what you want them to do next. Here's a template to copy.
You don't need to know anything about AI to get a good AI ad made. The AI part is the easy bit now. What makes an ad work is the same as it's always been: knowing who you're talking to, what they want, and what stops them buying. That lives in your head, not in any tool. A brief is how you get it out and onto one page.
Here's what a useful brief covers, why each part matters, and a template you can copy.
1. The product, in one sentence
Describe it the way you'd explain it to a stranger at a market stall. Not "a premium sustainable hydration solution" but "a steel water bottle that keeps drinks cold for a day and folds flat in a bag". If you can't say it in one sentence, the ad will struggle too, because a social ad has about fifteen seconds.
2. Who buys it
Be specific. "Women 25 to 45" tells a scriptwriter very little. "Nurses on long shifts who never get time to refill a bottle" tells them exactly how to open the ad. If you have two or three quite different kinds of buyer, list them. Each can get their own version of the ad.
3. Why they buy
Go and read your reviews and your customer messages. What do people say when they're happy? Those are your best lines, because they're in your customers' own words. "Finally a bottle that doesn't leak in my bag" is worth more than any benefit you'd write yourself.
4. What makes them hesitate
This is the part most briefs leave out, and it's often where the best ads come from. Why do people look at your product and not buy? Too expensive? Not sure it'll fit? Tried something similar that broke? An ad that answers the doubt in the first few seconds ("I know, another water bottle. But this one...") usually beats one that lists features.
5. What you want them to do
One action. Buy now, visit the shop, use a code, book a call. If there's an offer, include the exact details and the end date. Ads that end with a clear, specific next step convert better than ones that just fade out on the logo.
6. The feel
Tell us what the ad should feel like, and the easiest way is examples. Save two or three ads you like (from any brand, any industry) and one you don't, and say why. Mention anything about the presenter that matters: age range, setting, energy, accent. "Calm and practical, like a friend who's a nurse" is a perfectly good direction.
7. The facts we must get right
- Claims you can prove, and claims you can't make. Health, money and environmental claims especially.
- Words or phrases your brand never uses.
- Prices, sizes, colours and anything else that must be accurate.
- Where the ads will run: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube Shorts. This decides the sizes and the length.
Keeping ads truthful isn't only good manners. Ad platforms reject misleading claims, and consumer rules in many countries treat an ad's claims as your claims, whoever or whatever says them. We cover the AI-specific rules in what are AI UGC ads?.
8. Your product in shot
Send the best photos you have, ideally on a plain background and from several angles, plus any photos of it in use. If you can send the product itself, even better. The more we have, the more natural the product looks in the finished ad.
A template to copy
- Product in one sentence:
- Who buys it (one to three types of buyer):
- Why they buy it, in their own words (five or six real phrases):
- Why they hesitate:
- What we want them to do, and any offer with its end date:
- Ads we like, ads we don't, and why:
- Presenter notes (age, setting, tone):
- Claims we can make, and claims we can't:
- Where the ads will run:
- Product photos attached: yes or no
That's it. A brief like this usually takes an hour to fill in, and it's the most valuable hour in the whole process. If some of the answers are "I'm not sure", that's fine. Working them out together is part of what we do on the first call.
A filled-in example
Here's roughly what a good brief looks like for a made-up travel water bottle brand.
- Product: a steel bottle that keeps drinks cold all day and folds flat when empty.
- Buyers: nurses and carers on long shifts, and frequent flyers who hate buying water at the airport.
- Why they buy (from reviews): "doesn't leak in my bag", "actually fits in the cup holder", "still cold at the end of a 12-hour shift".
- Why they hesitate: it costs more than a supermarket bottle, and they've had "leak-proof" bottles leak before.
- What we want: buy on the website with code SHIFT15 for 15% off, ending 30 November.
- Feel: calm, practical, a bit funny. Like a colleague recommending something in the break room. Not glossy.
- Presenter: late 20s to 40s, in a staff room or an airport, not in a studio.
- Claims: we can say it's cold for 24 hours (tested). We can't say it's the best on the market, or make any health claims.
- Where: Instagram Reels and TikTok, 15 to 25 seconds.
From that, the hooks almost write themselves: "Twelve-hour shift, still cold", "This bottle survived my handbag", "Stop buying $5 airport water". Each becomes its own version of the ad.
Mistakes that make ads worse
- Listing every feature. Pick the one or two that matter most to the buyer and leave the rest for the product page.
- Writing for everyone. An ad aimed at "anyone who drinks water" speaks to no one.
- Leaving out the doubt. If you don't know why people hesitate, ask a few customers before briefing.
- No clear ending. "Check us out" is weaker than "15% off with code SHIFT15 until Sunday".
What happens next
With a brief like this, we write a few scripts with different hooks, have them performed by a choice of AI presenters with your product in shot, then edit them for each platform. You see them, ask for changes, and get final files ready to upload. If you're weighing up whether it's worth doing at all, read are AI-generated ads worth it? first, or go straight to our AI UGC ads service.
