# How to brief creative from Slack

> Turn a Slack thread about an ad idea into a creative brief your designer can act on. The eight things to capture, the steps, and a filled example.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-11-07
- **Category**: Slack
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-guides/how-to-brief-creative-from-slack

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To brief creative from Slack, let the idea start in a thread, then have one person pull eight things out of it into a short brief: goal, audience, angle, references, format, must-say lines, deadline and owner. Post the brief link back in the thread so the talk and the brief stay together.

## Why threads lose ideas

A good idea in Slack often looks like this: a competitor ad, six replies, three emoji, and "let's do something like this". A week later nobody knows who was making what, by when. The thread holds opinions. A brief holds decisions. Someone has to turn one into the other.

## What to capture

| Field | Question it answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | What should this ad do? | More enquiries for monsoon Goa trips |
| Audience | Who is it for? | Couples in Mumbai and Pune, 25 to 40 |
| Angle | Why should they care? | Monsoon is quieter and cheaper |
| References | What should it feel like? | Links to 3 saved ads and the moodboard |
| Format and size | What are we making? | 1 reel, 9:16, 20 to 30 seconds |
| Must say / never say | What lines are fixed? | Say "from INR 7,200". Never say "cheapest" |
| Deadline | When is it due? | First cut Thursday 6 pm |
| Owner | Who makes it, who approves? | Maker: Karan. Approver: Priya |

Karan and Priya are example names. If a field is blank after the thread, the brief is not ready. Ask in the thread before anyone starts.

## The steps

1. **Start the thread under the source.** Reply under the competitor ad, the trend or the alert that sparked the idea, so the reason stays attached.
2. **Name a brief owner in the first reply.** "Priya will brief this by Wednesday."
3. **Let people add for a day.** Opinions, extra references and limits from the media buyer.
4. **Owner writes the brief** in your team's brief doc, using the eight fields.
5. **Post the link back in the thread** with one line: "Brief is up. Karan making, Priya approving, first cut Thursday."
6. **Close the loop.** When the ad goes live, reply in the same thread with its name. Anyone reading later sees the whole story.

For the brief itself, the [UGC brief template](/templates/ugc-brief-template) and the [video editor brief template](/templates/video-editor-brief-template) are ready to copy. For creator shoots, read [how to brief UGC creators](/guides/how-to-brief-ugc-creators).

## Getting facts into the thread

Briefs go wrong when the thread runs on guesses, such as "our monsoon ads never work". Check before you brief. In a client's Slack channel, you can mention **@Marxx** with a question about that client's ads, competitors, keywords or trends, and it answers in the thread. We make Marxx. See the [Marxx in Slack page](/features/slack).

## Common mistakes

- **Briefing in Slack itself.** A brief buried at reply 14 gets missed. Write it in a doc and link it.
- **Three owners.** One person writes the brief. Others comment.
- **References with no notes.** Say what to take from each: "the light", "the first line", "the pace".

## FAQ

### Should the brief live in Slack or a doc?

In a doc, linked from Slack. Slack is where you discuss it. The doc is what the maker works from.

### How long should a creative brief be?

One page. If it needs more, the idea is not clear yet.

### Who should write the brief?

The person who will judge the result, usually the strategist or account lead. The maker should not have to write their own brief.

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