# Creative brief — B2B SaaS

The creative brief with three columns a subscription business needs: which slice of the ideal customer profile the asset speaks to, which objection it answers, and what proof it carries that survives being forwarded to somebody who never saw the ad.

Everything else is the general creative brief, unchanged. One row per asset, a hook written as what happens, one message with a proof beside it, the specs up front and an honest must-avoid.

## How to use it

1. Copy this file, or the CSV version if you would rather work in a sheet.
2. Write one row per asset, not one per campaign.
3. Write the hook specifically enough that two people would build roughly the same thing.
4. Name one message per asset. A second message is a second row.
5. Fill Specs before the work starts, including the safe areas and text limits.
6. Write Must avoid honestly, because that is where rework comes from.
7. Set the due date earlier than the run date, with room for review and re-edit.

## The columns

**Asset ID** (Text). A short stable identifier that goes on the file, the ad name and the test row, so an asset that produced accepted leads can be found a quarter later when the cohort has matured.

**Concept** (Text). The idea this asset expresses: the objection answered, the cost named, the workflow demonstrated, the customer telling it. Assets sharing a concept are judged together rather than one at a time.

**Format** (Text). What is being made, and in this category it is frequently a document rather than a film: a report, a benchmark, a one-page comparison, a calculator, a static with twelve words on it.

**Placement and aspect** (Text). Where it runs and at what ratio, including the placement's own text limits, because this category writes long and a block of sixty words renders as something nobody reads.

**Hook** (Text). What happens in the first line, written specifically: the hours lost to manual reconciliation named as a number. Not a topic and not an adjective.

**Message** (Text). The one thing the reader has to believe, in a sentence that still works when a champion forwards it to somebody who never saw the ad.

**Proof** (Text). What makes it credible to a stranger: a number with its method stated, a document that stands alone, a calculator the reader runs on their own figures. Anything relying on existing trust dies in the forward.

**Call to action** (Text). What the reader is asked to do, in the words the landing page uses, and honest about what is gated: a promised open summary that turns out to need a form loses the reader for good.

**Specs** (Text). Dimensions, file type, and a word limit, which in this category is the specification that does the most work. Where the argument needs length, the length belongs on the page rather than in the ad.

**Must include** (Text). Anything that has to appear: the report name, the calculator named, the segment made obvious enough that the right reader recognises themselves.

**Must avoid** (Text). Anything that must not appear, with the reason: no stock photography of people in meetings, no time-saved claim the calculator cannot reproduce, no customer name without written permission, no real customer data in a screenshot.

**Due date** (Date (YYYY-MM-DD)). The day the finished asset is needed, which for a document is earlier than for an ad, because a report goes through more review than a static ever does.

**Owner** (Text). The person who commissions this asset, reviews it against this row, and checks that any product screen it shows still exists.

**ICP segment** (Text). The slice of the ideal customer profile this asset speaks to. The objection, the language and the proof all change with it, so one asset cannot serve two segments.

**Objection answered** (Text). The specific reason this reader has not acted, which the asset addresses: cost, risk, effort, timing, a competitor already in place. One per asset.

**Forwardable proof** (Text). What survives being sent to somebody who never saw the ad: a number with a source, a document, a demonstration. The champion forwards, and the forward is where most assets die.

## The creative brief

| Asset ID | Concept | Format | Placement and aspect | Hook | Message | Proof | Call to action | Specs | Must include | Must avoid | Due date | Owner | ICP segment | Objection answered | Forwardable proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## Before you commit it

- There is one row per asset, and every row names one ICP segment.
- Every row names one objection the asset answers.
- Every asset carries proof that survives being forwarded.
- No asset demonstrates a screen or a feature that has changed.
- Specs include text limits, because this category over-writes.
- Must avoid names the stock imagery and unverifiable claims that are out.
- Every due date leaves room for review and a re-edit before the run date.