How to write an influencer brief creators can actually work with

Most bad creator videos start with a bad brief. Either it says almost nothing ("make a video about our new perfume"), or it says everything, down to a script nobody would say out loud. Creators price in the risk of both: vague briefs mean edits and reshoots, scripted ones mean a video that doesn’t sound like them.

A good brief fits on one page. It says what the video should achieve, which facts must be right, what you are buying, and how you will judge it. The rest is the creator’s job.

What goes in a brief

Template

A one-page influencer brief

1. The goalOne sentence: what should a viewer do or understand after watching?
2. Who it is forThe viewer’s situation, not just their age and city.
3. Facts that must be rightProduct name, price, offer, branches, dates, anything you can’t say.
4. What you are buyingPlatform, format, number of videos, posting dates, and whether you can run them as ads.
5. PaymentFee, gift or both, a discount code, and when the creator is paid.
6. ReviewWhen you see a draft and what counts as a fair change.
7. How you will judge itThe code or link, and the insights you want after seven days.

Start with one goal

"We need a video" describes an output, not a goal. Start from what you want the viewer to do: visit the branch this weekend, understand how the product works, use a code before the offer ends. One goal per brief. A video that tries to announce a new branch, explain a product range and push an online offer usually does none of them well.

Meta’s advice on ad objectives starts from the same place: pick the objective that matches the business goal, then build the ad around it. It holds for creator work too.

On Trendly

The campaign starts with the goal

Pick what you want, and Trendly turns your answers into a brief creators see before they apply.

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9:41

Describe the viewer’s situation

"Women 25 to 34 in Riyadh" tells a creator very little. "Someone planning a weekend outing with friends and looking for somewhere new to try" gives them a scene to film. Write one sentence like that.

Stick to what you know. If you haven’t seen a creator’s audience data, say you still need to check that their followers are where your customers are. On Trendly, creators who connect Instagram share their audience’s location, age and gender with brands before you hire.

Separate the facts from the creative

This is where most briefs go wrong. Make two short lists.

Must be exact: the product name, the price and offer, the code and its end date, branch locations and opening hours, anything legally sensitive such as health or results claims, and anything they must not say or show (a competitor’s product, a price you no longer charge).

Up to the creator: the hook, the setting, the words, the order of the story, the music. If you have a reference video you like, add it and say what you like about it ("the way she shows the bottle opening with one hand"), not "copy this."

TikTok’s own advice to advertisers is to keep a natural, not overly polished style and to hook viewers in the first seconds. A creator knows how to do that for their audience better than a script does.

Be exact about what you are buying

Vague deliverables cause most disputes. Write down:

• Platform and format: a TikTok video, Snapchat stories, an Instagram reel, or a video sent to you and not posted.
• How many, and roughly how long.
• Posting dates, and whether the creator can move them.
• Ad use: whether you can run the video as a paid ad, on which platforms and for how long, or boost it as a partnership ad under the creator’s name. Many creators charge for this, so agree it now.
• Tags and disclosure: your account handle, and an ad label where the platform requires one.

Payment and the code

Say how the creator is paid: a fee, a gift plus a smaller fee, or commission. For one paid video, creators with 10,000 to 100,000 TikTok followers asked a median of SAR 600 on Trendly; our price guide has the full table. If you want to track sales, give each creator their own code. Our affiliate guide covers rates and setup.

Say when payment happens. On Trendly, your payment is held until the content is live, and then the creator is paid. Whatever you use, pay on the date you promised. Creators talk.

Agree how review works

Ask to see the video before it goes live, and agree one round of changes for facts and for things the brief asked for. "I would have filmed it differently" is not a reason for a reshoot. Give the creator a date for your feedback and keep it; a brand that takes a week to reply loses the posting date.

Decide how you will judge it

Do this before the video goes live, not after the numbers come in.

What you want to know	What to ask for	What to remember
Did people see it?	Views and reach, from a screenshot of the post’s insights after 7 days	Reach depends on the platform, not only the creator
Did it interest them?	Comments asking where to buy, saves, shares	Likes alone say little
Did they visit?	A tagged link per creator (UTM tags in Google Analytics)	Test the link on a phone before the post goes live
Did they buy?	Orders on the creator’s own discount code	Codes undercount; treat them as a minimum

Compare creators with each other, not with your total sales. Then hire again whoever worked, and write the next brief with what you learned.

Common mistakes

• A brief with three goals.
• A script the creator would never say.
• No word on ad use until after the video performs, when it costs more.
• A price or an offer that changes after filming.
• Feedback that arrives after the posting date.
• Judging a video after one day.

When the brief is ready, post it as a campaign on Trendly. Creators apply with their own price, and you see their past work before you choose. To see what creators in your city already make for brands like yours, browse the creator lists in Trendly Studio.