Briefs

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

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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Approve the plan before Genezio writes the brief

Genezio does not write the brief at once. First, the AI writing assistant gives you a plan in one message. The plan has the direction, the audience, the sections, and the query fan-outs that it kept. Then it asks if you agree.

• To approve the plan, select the first option, or answer in words.
• To change the plan, tell the assistant what to change. It changes the plan and asks again.

Genezio writes the brief only after you approve. Thus, you see the direction before the text exists, and you do not have to repair a brief that went the wrong way.

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Query fan-outs in a brief

A brief has a section named Query fan-outs. The fan-outs are the searches that AI assistants run to answer a question. The section lists each fan-out word for word, in groups by pattern. For each pattern, the brief says what the assistants look for and what the content must hold. The assistant searches the fan-outs for you, and it keeps only the ones that the content serves. It says why. When you generate an article from the brief, Genezio does not search the fan-outs again, unless you ask. An agency that gets the brief also gets the searches that the article must answer.

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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 the generate button of the brief. The button names the content type that the brief plans. For example, it says Generate Blog post from Brief. A brief with no content type says Generate Content 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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A brief plans one content type

Each brief plans one type of content, for example a blog post, a product description, or a social media post. The type shows on the card of the brief in your library, next to the Brief badge. Thus, you can find the briefs for one type quickly. When you generate the content, the dialog offers only the templates for that type. A brief for a social media post offers the templates of that platform. The template that you select is the template that Genezio uses for the draft. A brief with no content type offers all templates.

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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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Related pages

• Content Hub
• Edit articles
• From data to content strategy

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In the API

The public API reads briefs in Briefs.