Writing a PR brief can be tough. Our briefing bot can help

By Pat Southwell:

Let’s face it, briefing a PR agency can be hard. Knowing exactly what you want from a partner and how to articulate it in a way someone outside the business will get, isn’t easy.

There are common challenges. The biggest of which is being clear about strategic business goals and how PR supports them. It’s about linking comms activity to tangible commercial outcomes rather than focussing on the tactics of where coverage should appear and what messages it should carry. Essentially, is explaining why a business needs PR in the first place so it becomes a strategic asset instead of a luxury.  

Then there are factors like being too close to a business. When you’re in the thick of it, it’s hard to take an objective view and understand what an agency needs to know. It’s the curse of knowledge. Having learnt everything about a brand, it’s difficult to remember what outsiders don’t know, or might interpret differently.

Politics and approvals can also be tough to navigate. Sometimes an initially great brief might need to be signed off by multiple stakeholders. Some of which might not understand comms. I’m looking at you, legal, compliance and procurement… This can weaken or confuse things.

Not to mention the simple fact that writing a brief needs time and attention, which are often in short supply. In-house PR teams have a full-time job juggling crises, launches, deadlines and stakeholders.

Or there may be confusion over messaging and how it might translate into creative stories that will grab an audience’s attention. There may even be pressure from others within a business to focus on products and services rather than thinking about how a business might be positioned.

In short, getting a PR brief right means translating complex internal knowledge, company politics and business objectives into something clear and actionable. It’s about balancing a wide range of factors, some of which might be in constant flux.

Which is why we’re keen to offer a solution with our new AI briefing bot. Because we know that no one sets out to create a less than perfect brief. And no agency means to look at one with a grimace. We want to bridge the gap, so we all benefit. 

The briefing bot, which some of the team are now referring to as Briefy McBriefFace, will ask all the right questions. It’ll reflect on the answers given and how they could be improved. Briefy’s like a coach, making the process simple and probing for the best responses. And once a user has added all the details, it’ll create a Word document so it can be refined, shared and used.

For those people lucky enough to have a paid ChatGPT account, there is a full version of Briefy that allows a bit more time to delve into the briefing process. For anyone using a free account, there’s an express version that gets to the point so you’re less likely to be left hanging by the number of interactions you can have with ChatGPT in a day.

Of course, there are some things AI can’t do. Which is where we come in. Our team can add the uniquely human element once the bot has done the leg work.

If you’re not a ChatGPT user, we’ve also created some simple tips and advice about writing a brief, which can be downloaded here. We’re an inclusive bunch.

And if you would like to speak to us about a brief or want further help writing one, please get in touch via hello@fivenot10.co.uk or on social.