How to Brief a Social Media Agency (Free Template)

We plan social media for brands in Dubai; below is what any agency needs to know before it can plan a month.

What a brief is for

A brief does two jobs. It gives every agency the same facts, so their proposals can be compared line by line. And it makes you decide now what would otherwise be decided in month two: the goal, the budget and who approves posts.

The brief, section by section

The template has eleven sections, in this order:

1. The business in two lines. What you sell, where, and since when, with your website and handles.
2. What sells, and at what price. Your three best sellers, the price range, and what you want to sell more of.
3. Who buys. Cities and countries, languages, age range, and whether they are new or returning customers. The top cities and countries in your Instagram Insights are a good start.
4. One goal for the next three months. More bookings, more orders, a launch, a new market: pick one, put a number on it, and say how you count it today, for example messages, WhatsApp chats or orders.
5. Where the accounts stand. Handles, screenshots of the last 90 days of Insights, what has worked, what has not, and what you have already tried.
6. Voice and language. Arabic, English or both, which Arabic (Gulf, Levantine or Modern Standard), words you never use, three accounts whose tone you like, and the competitors you watch.
7. What the agency will work with. Products and samples, your location, people who can appear on camera, existing photos and video, and the logo, fonts and colours with the three brand rules that matter most.
8. Rules and approvals. Industry rules, claims you cannot make, who signs off on your side and how fast.
9. Access and ownership. The accounts and the ad account in your name, the agency added as a partner rather than given a password, and who keeps the content and the raw files.
10. Budget and dates. A range for the monthly fee and the ad budget as a separate line, the start date, and the launches and seasons in the next six months.
11. What you want back, and by when. The format of the reply, the deadline, and who decides.

A few of these deserve more than a line.

The goal: one, with a number

A brief with five goals gets a plan with none. Choose the one that matters for the next three months and say how you will count it. If you cannot count it yet, say that too: setting up the count is then part of the job.

The accounts: send screenshots, not adjectives

Instagram's Insights only show the last 90 days unless the account pays for Meta One Advanced or a higher plan, so take the screenshots before you write the brief: views, viewers (accounts reached), interactions, and the top cities and countries. They tell an agency more than a paragraph about the brand. Our Instagram audit checklist shows what to look at first.

Rules and approvals: say who signs off

If your industry has rules, put them in the brief. A DHA-licensed clinic in Dubai posts under the DHA standard for social media advertising, where the medical director approves posts that name the facility; our guide to the standard covers the rest. Any creator who promotes you needs an Advertiser Permit.

Then name the person who approves posts on your side, and how much notice they need. A plan that arrives the night before it goes live leaves no room for a real approval.

Budget: a range, in two lines

Give a range for the agency fee and a separate line for the ad budget. Without a range, every proposal is pitched at a different size and none of them can be compared. The fee pays for the work; the ad budget goes to the platforms, and you should see exactly how much of it was spent.

List the dates that will shape the next six months as well. Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin around 8 February, which puts the content shoot for it in November and December 2026.

What to leave out

• The full brand book. Send the logo, fonts and colours, and the three rules that matter most.
• Every competitor. Three you watch, with what you like or dislike about each, are enough.
• Goals without a number. "Go viral" cannot be planned for, and neither can "more engagement" until it has a number.
• Your password. Add the agency as a partner through Meta's business tools when you sign, so the account stays in your name.

Sending it and comparing the replies

Send the same brief to two or three agencies with the same deadline. Then read each reply against the brief: does the plan answer your goal, does the month come in numbers, does the price list what is extra? A good reply usually asks questions back.

Ask each agency on your shortlist our 12 questions to ask before you sign, and ask each for a sample report. The monthly report template is the other half of the brief: the brief says what you want, and the report shows whether you got it.

The free template

Download the social media brief template. It is a Word file with the eleven sections above, a line on why each is asked, and space for your answers. Google Docs opens it through File, Open, Upload, and Pages opens it as it is.

What happens after the brief, with us

If you send the brief to us, the next steps are the ones on our social media management page: a free content audit, a 30-day plan, a content day in our studio in Al Quoz, posting, and a monthly report. If you would rather start smaller, send your handle for a free Instagram audit.