A brief is a short, structured outline of a piece of content. It tells what the content must cover, who it is for, and how to write it. A brief is not a finished article. In the Content Hub, a brief is the fastest path from an idea to an outline. You can give a brief to a writer, an editor, or an external agency. You can also use it as a structured starting point, and later expand it into a full article.

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Why briefs exist

A complete article is not always the correct first step. Possibly you want to:
  • give the work to an in-house writer or an external agency
  • agree on the direction before you invest in a full draft
  • record the intent quickly, and then continue later
With a brief, you change an idea into a structured specification in one pass. You do not have to write full content to start the discussion.

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What a content brief contains

A brief is a structured document. It contains:
  • Target audience: who the content is for.
  • Tone of voice: how the content must read.
  • Keywords: the terms that the content must rank for and make stronger.
  • Competitors: the brands that the content must position against or show differences from.
  • Scenarios: the user scenarios that the content must address. You can select many scenarios, thus one brief can address many intents at the same time.
  • Additional instructions: more guidance for the writer or for the next step in the workflow.
Together, these fields make a specification that a person or Genezio can act on.

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Make a brief

1

Open the Content Hub

Open Content Hub.
2

Start new content

Click New Content.
3

Select the content type

Select Brief as the content type.
4

Complete the fields

Complete the fields of the brief: audience, tone, keywords, competitors, scenarios, and additional instructions.
5

Generate the brief

Generate the brief.
The New Content entry point had the label New Article in the past. It makes a brief or a full article. The result depends on what you select.

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Refine a brief with the AI writing assistant

A brief opens in the same writing workspace as an article. The AI writing assistant chat is on one side, and the rich text editor is on the other side. To refine the brief, you talk to the assistant. You can ask Genezio to:
  • make specific sections shorter or longer
  • change the tone
  • add or remove competitors and scenarios
  • make the audience targeting more precise
  • change the keywords
This chat operates in the same way as conversational editing for articles. The brief is a working document. You can talk to it until it is ready to give to the writer.

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Briefs and articles together

Briefs are in your Content Hub library together with articles. You can browse, filter, and open them from the same location, and they open in the same workspace. When you are ready to change the outline into a draft, click Generate Article from Brief. This step occurs in the same workspace. You do not export, import again, or use a second entry point. The structure of the brief (audience, tone, keywords, scenarios, instructions) becomes the starting point for the article. Thus, you do not have to enter the context again.

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Templates and briefs

Briefs use Content Hub templates. If you uploaded or selected a template, new briefs get its structure automatically. Templates are useful for teams that make briefs with a consistent shape. An example is a standard brief format that each external agency gets. For more information, see Content templates.

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When to use a brief or an article

The two start from the same New Content entry point. When you are ready, you can change a brief into an article.

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In the API

The public API reads briefs in Briefs.