Marketing templates · 15-minute exercise

Campaign brief template for ecommerce agencies

Use this campaign brief worksheet to align audience, offer, creative and measurement before launching a campaign. It is written for ecommerce agencies and starts with an illustrative offer: a store conversion and merchandising review. Replace the assumptions with evidence from your own business before using the result.

NEXT MBA EditorialPublished Example + editable working sheet
What you will work towards

Leave with a complete campaign brief with operational responsibilities.

Start with a real buying situation

For the worked example, the audience is the owner of an online store. Their problem is that customers hesitate at product selection or checkout. The desired practical outcome is a prioritised set of customer-journey improvements.

The example is deliberately bounded: changes must preserve payment, inventory and fulfilment integrations. That condition should influence the promise, scope and next step rather than disappear from the marketing copy.

Illustrative offera store conversion and merchandising review
Buyer questionWhere does a customer need information that the store does not provide?
Possible evidencea recorded walkthrough with observed friction and a testable hypothesis
Useful asseta product-page and checkout review checklist

How to complete your campaign brief

  1. Define the audience and buying situation.
  2. Choose one offer and the action it invites.
  3. Specify the claim and the evidence supporting it.
  4. Agree the channel, landing experience and follow-up owner.
  5. Set an approved budget, review date and decision criteria.

Worked example

These entries are illustrative planning material, not research findings or customer results. Keep the structure and replace the content with verified details.

Audience and buying triggerthe owner of an online store; investigate a recent example of the problem: customers hesitate at product selection or checkout.
Offer and call to actiona store conversion and merchandising review. Intended practical result: a prioritised set of customer-journey improvements. Next action: review one product category and one checkout journey.
Claim and evidenceUse the practical claim a prioritised set of customer-journey improvements only as an intended outcome. Evidence: a recorded walkthrough with observed friction and a testable hypothesis.
Channel, destination and follow-upan ecommerce founder clinic; send readers to a page that explains the offer and lets them request the relevant next step. Assign follow-up ownership.
Budget owner and review decisionRecord an approved cap, currency, period and owner. Review the fit of enquiries and checkout completion for a defined audience and period; do not assume ad-platform attribution proves causality.

Review before using it

A useful operational measure in this example is checkout completion for a defined audience and period. That does not automatically make it a marketing attribution metric. Define the source, period and owner before drawing conclusions.

  • Can the campaign owner trace the path from first contact to a qualified next step?
  • Check the delivery assumptions: Define platform access, implementation, measurement and rollback responsibility.
  • Use evidence rather than promises. A heuristic review does not prove a conversion uplift.
  • Discuss the draft with someone who understands the buying situation. Start with: “Where does a customer need information that the store does not provide?”
  • If the next step is a trial, define its purpose. One possible starting point is to review one product category and one checkout journey.

Common mistakes and a better review

Do not fill a missing fact with an impressive-sounding number. Mark it as an assumption, explain how you will check it and give that check an owner. A short, honest document is easier to use than an elaborate plan built on unknowns.

Watch forCreative approval alone does not confirm that tracking, destination and follow-up work.
A real buyer concernWe only want more traffic.
Useful response directionMore traffic may help, but let us first check whether visitors can choose the product and complete checkout without avoidable friction.
Evidence to collectThe buyer’s own account, a recorded walkthrough with observed friction and a testable hypothesis, and records relevant to checkout completion for a defined audience and period.

Your working sheet

Write your own version below. Notes are saved on this browser when local storage is available. Use Download to keep a separate copy; avoid adding confidential information on a shared device.

Example: the owner of an online store; investigate a recent example of the problem: customers hesitate at product selection or checkout.

Example: a store conversion and merchandising review. Intended practical result: a prioritised set of customer-journey improvements. Next action: review one product category and one checkout journey.

Example: Use the practical claim a prioritised set of customer-journey improvements only as an intended outcome. Evidence: a recorded walkthrough with observed friction and a testable hypothesis.

Example: an ecommerce founder clinic; send readers to a page that explains the offer and lets them request the relevant next step. Assign follow-up ownership.

Example: Record an approved cap, currency, period and owner. Review the fit of enquiries and checkout completion for a defined audience and period; do not assume ad-platform attribution proves causality.

Review your work

Tick only what you can support with your answer or practice. This is a reflection checklist, not an automated assessment.

Questions about this resource

How do I adapt this for my ecommerce agencies business?

Replace the audience, offer and evidence with your actual information. Begin with a recent buyer conversation about why customers hesitate at product selection or checkout, then check which assumptions match your business.

Is the filled example ready to publish?

No. It is a working example. Verify claims, permissions, prices, current capabilities and any customer information before using it externally. A heuristic review does not prove a conversion uplift.

What should I do after completing the worksheet?

Use it to make one decision or have one focused conversation. The intended output is a complete campaign brief with operational responsibilities. Set a review date and update it when the evidence changes.

Illustrative business worksheet. No customer results, market rates, traffic volumes or performance benchmarks are implied. About these resources.