How to Brief a Content Creator for a Live Event Without Ruining Their Content

Most content creator briefs for live events are too prescriptive. They specify the shots the brand wants, the messages the creator should communicate, and the hashtags they should use.

The brief that produces the best creator content from a live event is the brief that specifies the quality of the experience rather than the content the creator should produce from it. Ensure they arrive having been briefed on what the event is and what to expect. Ensure the experience they have is genuinely excellent. Then leave them to create from genuine experience rather than from instruction.

The creator who has been to a genuinely excellent evening creates content from genuine enthusiasm that their audience trusts as unmanufactured. The creator who has been briefed to post at specific times using specific hashtags creates content their audience reads as managed. The difference in audience response is not subtle.

The trust problem with over-briefed creator content is specific to the creator's relationship with their audience rather than to the content's production quality. A creator's audience follows them because they trust their genuine opinions. An over-briefed post does not represent a genuine opinion. The audience detects this at a level that may not be conscious but produces a measurable engagement discount.

The minimal brief that produces excellent creator content from a live event includes: the date, time, and logistics; a genuine explanation of what the event is and why the brand is behind it; any hard legal or brand guidelines (which should be minimal); and an explicit statement that the creator has complete creative freedom to produce content that reflects their genuine experience.

We'd rather invite creators as guests first and content makers second. If the night is good, the content usually takes care of itself.