Most disappointing agency work traces back to the brief. The single most common error is briefing outputs instead of outcomes: ask for twelve posts a month and you will get twelve posts a month, whether or not twelve posts were ever going to produce enquiries.

Brief the outcome, not the tactic

Weak brief: "We need twelve posts a month on Facebook and Instagram, plus stories."

Strong brief: "We need fifteen qualified enquiries a month for our Centurion branch. A customer is worth about R8,000 over two years. We currently get four enquiries a month, mostly from referrals."

The second lets an agency tell you that your problem is a website that does not convert, or that paid search would beat organic social for that outcome. The first forecloses all of it.

What every brief should carry

The objective, in numbers. Enquiries, bookings or revenue per month, and where you are now.

Who buys. Not a demographic template, an actual description. Which customers are profitable and which are not.

What a customer is worth. Lifetime value, roughly. This single number determines what any sensible plan can spend.

Your budget range. Share it. Agencies scope to a budget rather than price to your maximum, and withholding it means the proposal is built on a guess.

What you can supply. Product access, premises for shooting, staff who will appear on camera, existing photography. This changes cost significantly.

Who approves. One name. Approval by committee is the most reliable way to slow a programme.

Hard constraints. Compliance rules, things you will not say, competitors you will not be compared against.

What to leave out

Resist specifying the channel mix, the posting frequency and the content formats. Those are the decisions you are hiring expertise to make. If you have already made them, you are hiring production rather than an agency, and should pay production rates.

What you should ask for back

A proposal that states what it expects to achieve, not just what it will do. Who specifically will do the work. What the fee includes and excludes. What reporting looks like, with a sample. Notice period.

Any agency that cannot connect its activity to your stated outcome is worth a second look.

A brief that fits on one page

Business and what you sell. Target customer. Customer lifetime value. Current position in numbers. Objective in numbers. Budget range. What you can supply. Approver. Constraints. Deadline for proposals.

That is enough. Longer briefs rarely produce better proposals, and shorter ones produce guesses.

Juicy Designs is founder-led, so the people reading your brief are the ones doing the work. See social media marketing or the rate card to scope a budget first.

Frequently asked questions

How do I brief a social media agency properly?

Give them the business context rather than the tactics: what you sell, who buys it, what a customer is worth, what you have tried, and what success looks like in enquiries or revenue. Then let them propose the channels. Briefs that specify tactics instead of outcomes get you what you asked for rather than what you needed.

What should a brief always include?

Your objective in numbers, your target customer, your budget range, what you can supply such as photography or product access, who approves work, and any absolute constraints. Budget in particular should be shared, because withholding it produces proposals aimed at the wrong scale.

Should I tell an agency my budget?

Yes. Agencies are not pricing to your maximum, they are scoping to it. Without a range you get a proposal built on a guess, and either an unaffordable plan or one too small to work.

What is the most common briefing mistake?

Asking for outputs instead of outcomes. A brief for twelve posts a month gets you twelve posts. A brief for thirty qualified enquiries a month gets you a plan, which may or may not include twelve posts.

How much detail is too much?

Detail about your business and customers is never too much. Detail about how the work should be executed usually is, because it removes the expertise you are paying for.