Whether you are instructing your agency to create a brand identity and integrated communications for a new residential or commercial development, or you require a new property brochure or maybe a new website for your construction or property company, the brief you provide your supplier will be key to the successful delivery of the project – Get the brief right and you will save yourself plenty of time AND money!

Here are our 7 steps to the perfect property marketing brief:

1. Project Summary – In one sentence what is the requirement? What must it ‘be’ and ‘do’ to meet your needs and objectives for this particular project?

2. Deadline/Timeframe – It is essential that a timeframe with key milestones is determined at the outset of any property marketing project.

3. The Detail – What are the specifics for the project? This is where you need to include any specific restrictions for the project such as budget restraints, required format, ‘must fit in X sized envelope’ or ‘must conform to an existing ‘design style’.

4. References – It is always beneficial to provide your suppliers with references to assist in the progression of your requirement. If you love the format of a development brochure you’ve seen, show this to your supplier. If you love the style of some competitor sites then ensure you tell your agency what specifically you ‘love’ about these sites.

This all helps your property marketing agency understand your specific tastes and requirements as quickly as possible.

5. Content – You are asking a lot of your agency if you expect them to design a property website or layouts for a development brochure or other communications without supplying them with at least an outline of the required content.

Putting the effort in to progress draft content at the outset will save a lot of time, effort and of course budget further down the project timeframe.

6. Provide a verbal and written brief – It is always beneficial to provide both a verbal and a written brief for any project. Discussing the project prior to commencing work allows the agency to ask any questions they may have and also provides the opportunity for both parties to ensure they are on the same wavelength. A written brief provides a basis for referral throughout the project process…

7. Refer back to the brief – If the marketing is to match the property then the objectives need to be met. Both the property marketing agency and the client should use the written brief as a point of referral to ensure the final deliverable meets the original requirements and objectives. By referring to the brief at key points you are able to keep a project on track and avoid any unwelcome surprises later down the line.

At Elevation we’re only interested in delivering high quality, well-considered communications for clients across property and construction industry sectors.