Template
Campaigns
Both
A complete influencer and UGC campaign brief covers 31 sections across four blocks: what the campaign is, what the creator makes, the commercial terms, and the operational details. The full template is below, copy-paste ready, with a one-line note on each field explaining what belongs there and what not to over-specify. There is no download and no email required — copy it and adapt it to your brand.
A good influencer brief removes ambiguity without removing the creator's judgement. Too little and you get off-message content; too much and you get a stiff read-out of your bullet points that underperforms. The template below is the full thing — 31 sections, copy-paste ready, no download and no email required. Copy it, delete what doesn't apply, and keep it short wherever you safely can.
1. Brand. One or two lines on who you are and what you stand for. Don't paste your full brand book.
2. Product. The exact item, variant and price. Link to it. Avoid listing every SKU you sell.
3. Campaign objective. One primary goal — first purchases, launch awareness, or ad assets. Naming three goals equally means none gets served well.
4. Target audience. Who should feel spoken to and the problem they have. Don't over-define with ten personas; one is enough for a creator.
5. Creator's role. State whether you're buying reach, content or performance — it changes everything downstream. See how to combine UGC, reach and performance.
6. Core message. The single thing a viewer should remember, in one sentence. If you can't get it to one, the brief isn't ready.
7. Mandatory product facts. The few things that must be accurate — key ingredient, sizing, price, a genuine differentiator. Keep it to what's non-negotiable.
8. Claims the creator must NOT make. Off-limits claims (health, superiority, anything unsubstantiated). This protects both sides and is worth being specific about.
9. Deliverables. Exact counts and types. This is the one place to be precise — vague deliverables cause most disputes.
10. Formats. Aspect ratio, length, resolution, and "leave headroom for captions." Specify the technical frame, not the artistic choices.
11. Content angles. Optional suggestions, clearly labelled optional. Don't present them as a required script.
12. Hook ideas. Two or three openers they may use or ignore. The creator usually knows their own audience's stop-scroll better than you — see UGC hooks for ecommerce ads.
13. Creative freedom. Name explicitly what they get to decide — setting, wording, structure. Making this generous is usually what makes the content perform.
14. Mandatory elements. What must literally appear: the product in use, an on-screen price, the code, the CTA. Keep the list short so it doesn't crowd out their voice.
15. Deadline. When you need the content in hand — separate from when it goes live.
16. Publication window. The date range for posting. A range beats a single day and lets you stagger creators.
17. Approval workflow. Who reviews, in what tool, and the turnaround you promise. Slow approvals are the top cause of missed launch dates.
18. Revision limits. Cap the rounds (usually one) and scope them to claims and brand accuracy, not personal taste.
19. Tracking link. A unique URL per creator so clicks and sales attribute correctly — see tracking performance.
20. Discount code. A unique, memorable code per creator; it catches sales the link misses.
21. Commission. The rate and the attribution window, stated together with the AOV — a percentage is unjudgeable without them.
22. Upfront payment. The guaranteed fee, if any, and what it buys — see when an upfront is worth paying.
23. UGC deliverables. Raw, unwatermarked assets, how many and in what spec, listed separately from the posts.
24. Usage rights. Which channels and for how long, with an agreed extension price. See UGC usage rights explained.
25. Paid social rights. Whether you can run the content as ads, and for how long — a different and pricier permission than organic reuse.
26. Whitelisting / partnership ads. Whether you can run ads through the creator's own handle. Only ask if you'll use it.
27. Exclusivity. Any category exclusivity and its duration. It's expensive and limits their income, so request it narrowly and pay for it.
28. Advertising disclosure. State that the collaboration must be disclosed as advertising in line with the rules that apply in your market and on the platform. Influencer marketing is regulated as advertising in many countries and platforms provide their own disclosure tools — point to the specific local rules rather than inventing a universal label, and don't leave disclosure to the creator's discretion.
29. Reporting. Exactly what to send and when — story screenshots before they expire, final metrics after a set number of days.
30. Payment timing. When and how you pay, including the commission cycle. Clear timing prevents most follow-up friction.
31. Contact person. One named person and one channel for questions. A single point of contact keeps a live campaign from stalling.
Match the brief's length to the creator's role and experience. A short brief — objective, core message, mandatory facts, deliverables, terms and disclosure — suits experienced creators you're buying reach or authentic content from. A detailed brief — adding angles, hooks, mandatory on-screen elements and tighter formats — suits paid-ads content where consistency and claim accuracy matter more than spontaneity. When in doubt, be strict on facts, terms and disclosure, and loose on creative.
Give more freedom when you're buying authenticity, when the creator has a distinctive voice their audience follows them for, or when the content is for organic feed rather than paid ads. Hold tighter when there are real claim or compliance constraints, when the asset must match a running ad set, or when a specific offer has to be communicated exactly. The failure mode to avoid is over-briefing a strong creator into producing something that reads like an ad — which is precisely the content that underperforms. For the raw-asset version of this, see the UGC brief template, and for aligning expectations before you start, how to set expectations before a collaboration.
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