.svg){kind=icon}
Getting copy written for your business should be straightforward. You hire someone who knows what they're doing, you tell them what you need, and the words come back sounding exactly right. In reality, a lot of briefs go wrong before a single word gets written - and most of the time, it has nothing to do with the copywriter's ability.
The brief is where good copy starts or where it quietly falls apart.
Whether you've worked with a copywriter before or this is your first time, here's what a genuinely useful brief looks like, what to expect from a professional copywriting team, and how we work with businesses at Encapsulate to make sure the output lands.
Start With the Outcome, Not the Output
One of the most common mistakes in a brief is describing the deliverable without explaining what it needs to achieve.
"We need a homepage rewrite" tells us what you want. It doesn't tell us who the homepage is for, what action you want visitors to take, or what's currently stopping them from taking it. That context is what shapes every decision in the copy - the structure, the tone, the length, where the calls to action sit.
Worth keeping in mind: Google's own research found that users form an opinion about a website in as little as 0.05 seconds. The copy on your homepage isn't decoration - it's doing active work from the moment someone lands on the page. If the message isn't immediately clear, you've already lost them.
Before you start a brief, it's worth asking yourself a few things. Who is reading this? What do they already know about you, and what do they need to understand before they'll take action? What does success actually look like - more enquiries, longer time on page, a specific conversion rate?
The clearer you are on outcomes, the more useful the copy becomes.
Say Who You're Talking To (AKA: Your Target Audience)
Good copy sounds like it was written specifically for the person reading it. That only happens when the copywriter understands the audience.
If you have customer research, buyer personas, or even a rough sense of who your best customers are, share it. If you know the common objections people raise before buying, include those too. If there's a specific segment you're targeting with this piece of copy - a new service, a different geography, a particular industry - say so upfront.
The more we know about your audience's situation, the better we can write to it.
Tone of Voice: The Part Most Briefs Miss
If there's one thing that separates copy that sounds like your business from copy that sounds like it could belong to anyone, it's tone of voice.
As the CIM points out, tone of voice communicates how an organisation feels about its message - and that comes through in everything from your homepage to your email sign-offs. It's not just about the words; it's about how your brand sounds to someone who has never dealt with you before.
Some businesses have a formal tone of voice document with defined guidelines. Others have a rough sense of how they want to sound but haven't written it down. Some have no reference at all and rely on the copywriter to develop something from scratch.
All of those situations are workable - but we need to know which one we're in.
If you have a tone of voice guide
Send it across. We'll read it carefully and write to match it. If your brand has specific words it avoids, phrases it leans on, or a particular personality it's built around, we factor all of that in. The copy should feel like a natural extension of what you've already established - not something grafted on top.
If you don't have a formal guide
Tell us how you want to come across. Adjectives help here: direct, warm, no-nonsense, authoritative, approachable. Give us a sense of who you're not, as well - sometimes knowing that you don't want to sound corporate, or that you're deliberately less formal than your competitors, is just as useful as knowing what you're aiming for.
And if you've seen copy somewhere that you genuinely like - a competitor's website, a brand you admire, even an email that landed well - share it. Examples of what you're drawn to are often more useful than trying to describe a tone in the abstract. The same goes for things you dislike. Knowing what to steer away from is half the battle.
If your brand voice is inconsistent
We can help. Part of what we do at Encapsulate is help businesses develop a clear, documented tone of voice that the whole team can write to. It means your website, your ads, your emails and your sales materials all sound like the same company - which builds the kind of familiarity that earns trust over time. Marketing Week notes that an inconsistent tone of voice can actively damage a brand, creating a disconnect between how a business presents itself in its marketing and how it comes across everywhere else.
Does Your Tone Change Depending on the Platform?
This is worth thinking about before the brief, because the answer varies from business to business - and both approaches are valid.
Some brands keep a completely consistent voice across every channel. Same tone on LinkedIn as on Instagram, same feel in an email as on a service page. The benefit is simplicity: there's one clear voice, it's easy to maintain, and there's no risk of the brand feeling fragmented.
Other businesses adjust their tone slightly depending on where they're showing up. A LinkedIn post might be more considered and business-focused, written for decision-makers in a professional context. An Instagram caption might be warmer and more conversational, aimed at a different segment of the audience who are scrolling casually rather than actively researching a purchase. The audiences are different, and the platform norms are different, so the copy adapts accordingly.
Neither approach is wrong. As Design Week has observed, a brand's tone naturally needs to adapt in the same way a person would across different social situations - but there still needs to be an overarching coherency tying it together. The risk with platform-specific variation is that if it isn't managed carefully, the brand can start to feel inconsistent - like it's trying to be different things to different people rather than communicating naturally across contexts. The reward, when it's done well, is copy that feels native to each channel and resonates better with the specific audience on it.
If you want different tones for different platforms, tell us upfront. We'll write each piece accordingly, while keeping the underlying brand positioning consistent so everything still clearly comes from the same business.
Be Specific About Constraints
Copy doesn't exist in a vacuum. It goes somewhere - a page layout, an email template, a specific ad format - and those contexts carry their own constraints.
If there's a character limit, tell us. If the copy needs to sit within an existing design and a 2,000-word page isn't an option, say so. If there are legal or compliance considerations, we need to know upfront rather than at review stage.
The same goes for SEO. If there are specific keywords or search terms the copy needs to work around, include them in the brief. We write SEO copy that still reads like it was written for a person rather than a search engine, but we need those terms at the start, not as an afterthought.
What Happens Once the Brief Is In
Once we have a clear brief, we get to work - no unnecessary back and forth, no asking for things that should have been in the brief.
We'll come back to you with copy that reflects your audience, your goals and your brand voice. You'll get a review round to flag anything that needs adjusting - whether that's a factual point, a tone shift in a specific section, or a structural change.
What we won't do is write copy in isolation and hope it lands. Good copywriting is a collaborative process. The brief is the foundation, the review is part of the process, and the output should feel like something you're proud to put your name to.
A Copy Brief Worth Writing
The effort you put into a brief directly affects the quality of the copy you get back. A detailed brief means fewer revision rounds, faster turnaround and copy that doesn't need to be substantially reworked before it goes live.
If you're not sure where to start, we can help with that too. A short briefing conversation is often the most efficient way to get everything we need in one place.
Ready to Get Copy That Actually Works for Your Business?
At Encapsulate, we write compelling copy for websites, landing pages, ads, emails, case studies and more - across a wide range of industries, sectors and business sizes. We take the time to understand your audience, your offer and your brand voice before a single word gets written.
Whether you've got a detailed brief ready to go or you're starting from scratch, we'll guide the process and make it as straightforward as possible. No jargon or unnecessary back and forth - just copy built around what your business actually needs to say.
Book a strategy call with the team to get started. We'll review where your current copy is falling short, talk through what good looks like for your specific situation, and give you an honest picture of what we'd recommend.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to hire a copywriter?
Copywriting costs vary depending on the scope, the type of copy and the experience of the team you're working with. A single landing page is a very different project to a full website rewrite or an ongoing content programme. At Encapsulate, we scope each project individually so you know exactly what you're getting and what it costs before anything starts.
How long does copywriting take?
It depends on the project. A single page of copy can turn around quickly once the brief is in place. Larger projects - full website rewrites, email sequences, ad creative across multiple campaigns - take longer and are planned out in stages. We'll give you a realistic timeline at the start of every engagement, so there are no surprises.
Do I need a tone of voice guide before hiring a copywriter?
No. It helps, but it's not a requirement. If you have one, we'll write to it. If you don't, we'll ask the right questions to understand how you want to sound. And if your brand voice needs formalising properly, we can develop a tone of voice framework as part of the engagement.
Can you write copy to match the voice we already have?
Yes. Matching an existing brand voice is a core part of what we do. We'll review your existing materials, identify the patterns in how you communicate, and write new copy that feels consistent with everything else you've put out. Most clients find the output is indistinguishable from copy written in-house - which is the point.
What if I don't know exactly what I need?
That's completely fine. A lot of businesses come to us knowing something isn't working but not sure what needs changing or where to start. A strategy call or copy audit is often the most useful first step - it gives us a clear picture of where the gaps are and lets us recommend the right scope before any writing begins.
Do you write copy for technical or specialist industries?
Yes. We research your sector, your audience and your competitive landscape before writing anything. For highly technical subjects, we work closely with your team to make sure accuracy is maintained throughout. Copy that doesn't reflect a genuine understanding of the subject doesn't build the credibility it needs to convert.
How involved do I need to be in the process?
We keep it as straightforward as possible on your end. We'll need a briefing conversation, access to any existing materials, and a review round before anything goes live. Beyond that, the process is designed to take as little of your time as possible while still producing copy that accurately represents your business.
Can you write copy for multiple platforms in different styles?
Yes. If you want website copy that's authoritative and considered alongside social content that's more conversational, we can write both - keeping the core brand positioning consistent while adapting the tone to suit each channel and audience.
What do I need to prepare before our first conversation?
As much or as little as you have. If you can tell us what you're trying to achieve, who you're trying to reach and what you currently have in place, that's a solid starting point. Any existing materials, brand guidelines or examples of copy you like are useful too - we'll fill in any gaps on the call.
Will the copy be SEO-friendly?
Yes, where that's relevant to the brief. We write SEO copy that reads naturally - built around the right search terms without the keyword stuffing that makes copy feel hollow. If SEO is a priority for the project, let us know upfront and we'll make sure it's factored in from the start.
Casey Mountford
Marketing Assistant & Junior Copywriter · Casey works across content creation, email campaigns, social media, Meta ads and on-site SEO, bringing a sharp eye and proper get-stuck-in energy to every project.