How to write a brief for a PPC agency that gets you what you want

The purpose of a brief is to give an agency enough context to understand your business, your goals, and your current situation - so their response is relevant and their recommendations are grounded in your reality rather than generic best practice. Here is what to include.

Business context first

Before any mention of Google Ads, explain your business. What do you sell, to whom, and at what price point? What is your average transaction value and your typical customer lifetime value? What is your gross margin? What are your main competitive advantages and disadvantages? This context determines what success looks like for paid search and what level of investment makes commercial sense.

Current situation

If you already run paid search - what is currently happening? Provide access to your account or at minimum share key metrics: monthly spend, CPA or ROAS, campaign structure, and what you think the main problems are. An agency working with actual data will produce far better recommendations than one working from assumptions. If you are starting from scratch, say so and explain what other marketing you currently do.

Clear objectives

What does success look like in 12 months? Be specific. "Grow the business" is not a brief. "Generate 40 qualified leads per month at under £75 CPA within 6 months" is a brief. The more specific your objective, the more useful the agency's response will be - and the clearer the basis for measuring their performance.

Budget and timeline

Provide your actual budget range - both ad spend and management fee. Agencies price differently and without a budget range they are guessing. Provide both because a serious agency will tell you if your budget is insufficient to achieve your stated objectives, which is useful information. State when you want to start and any important deadlines.

What you do not want

If you have had bad experiences previously - agencies who locked you out of your account, who produced only vanity metrics, who were unresponsive - say so. Setting expectations about what you will not accept is as useful as describing what you want. It filters out agencies who work in ways that do not suit you before you invest time in a proposal process.