Give the writer a clear audience, a proposition they can prove and one action the reader can take.
“Send something to our candidates about the new roles” leaves almost every important decision open. Which candidates? Which roles are still available? What can you say about the client, and what should someone do after reading?
An email campaign brief should settle those questions before anyone spends time polishing a subject line. For an agency marketer, it is the connection between a desk's recruitment need and a campaign that has a defensible audience and useful message.
The template below is a working document for that decision. It covers what the campaign should achieve and the evidence behind it. The separate recruitment message approval guide covers how to test the sending workflow.
Start with the reader's next decision
Write the desired action before the campaign theme. “Candidates can review an approved vacancy brief and decide whether to discuss it” gives the writer a different job from “clients can ask for our market update”. A campaign that asks for both may need separate audiences and messages.
Then name the audience in terms another person could apply to the records. “Good candidates” is an opinion. “People who have asked for permanent accounting vacancies in the approved location, whose contact conditions permit this campaign” is a rule someone can review. It still needs evidence behind each condition.
Keep three questions separate: is this person on file, is the proposition relevant to them, and may you send this campaign to them? A saved email address answers only the first. The brief should show who checked the other two and what information they used.
Copy this campaign brief
Use the blank version for one campaign. The fields are suggested working controls, not a statutory form. Assign an owner to unresolved decisions rather than letting the writer fill gaps with plausible copy.
Purpose and audience
| Field | Complete before production |
|---|---|
| Campaign name and owner | Internal reference, accountable marketer and desk contact |
| Reader's situation | What the intended recipient already knows or needs to decide |
| One desired action | The action and why it is relevant to that reader |
| Audience inclusion | Specific record conditions and the source/date of the evidence |
| Exclusions | Opt-outs, incompatible preferences, irrelevant records and other campaign-specific exclusions |
| Basis for this contact | Permission or other applicable basis, supporting record and reviewer; escalate uncertainty |
| Audience snapshot | Where the reviewed recipient selection is recorded, when it was checked and who owns changes |
The audience snapshot is a reference to your approved system or controlled record. Don't attach an unnecessary copy of everyone's personal details to the brief. Where Australia's Privacy Act applies, OAIC APP 3 guidance calls for a data minimisation approach. Include what the team needs for the decision, with access appropriate to the task.
Proposition and evidence
| Field | Complete before production |
|---|---|
| Main proposition | The useful, accurate reason to read this email now |
| Evidence for each claim | Source record or document, owner, checked date and approved wording |
| Vacancy facts | Current status, role reference, approved responsibilities, employment type and shareable pay/conditions |
| Facts that expire | What must be rechecked before sending, and who checks it |
| Disclosure limits | Client naming permission; candidate information or commercial detail that must stay out |
| What the email must not imply | Unconfirmed availability, guaranteed outcomes, invented urgency or unsupported endorsement |
| Primary call to action | Exact destination, what the reader will find and who handles the response |
For a vacancy campaign, distinguish “the desk is recruiting for this role” from “the client will interview you”. The first can be supported by an approved brief. The second requires a separate decision about the person. Keep the email within the proposition you can establish.
If the campaign includes candidate information for clients, a fact being true does not by itself make disclosure appropriate. OAIC APP 6 guidance addresses collection purpose and exceptions for secondary use or disclosure. Have the responsible person resolve what may be shared, rather than asking the copywriter to infer it.
Production and acceptance
| Field | Complete before production |
|---|---|
| Tone and format | How the email should sound and any required brand/template constraints |
| Required sender details | Accurate sender identity, reply route and applicable unsubscribe mechanism |
| Timing | Proposed send date, timezone and any genuine closing date |
| Reviewer and approver | Who verifies role facts, who reviews the campaign and who holds the applicable sending authority |
| Success measure | Defined action, data source, observation window and exclusions |
| Open decisions | Missing evidence, named owner, next step and the condition that prevents sending |
| Version accepted | Brief version/date, linked campaign version and evidence of the review decision |
For commercial electronic messages covered by Australia's spam rules, ACMA guidance requires consent, sender identification and contact details, and an easy way to unsubscribe. It also calls for records of express consent. A campaign brief organises those checks; it does not establish permission by itself. OAIC APP 7 guidance explains its relationship with the Spam Act, so don't treat the two as identical rules applying to every recruitment message.
Give the writer a proof grid they can use
The evidence field becomes more useful when it points to a particular claim. Copy this row for each statement that could go stale or disclose something sensitive:
| Proposed statement | Exact source and date | Approved for this audience? | Recheck trigger | Fact owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Wording proposed for the email] | [Record/document reference and checked date] | [Decision and basis] | [Vacancy closes, terms change or another specified event] | [Named person] |
An instruction such as “sell the flexibility” is incomplete if nobody has established which working arrangements the client approved. Ask for the fact first, then write the benefit within it. If the arrangement is still being negotiated, hold that claim or describe only what is confirmed.
The same applies to urgency. A client would like applications promptly does not necessarily establish a closing date. Use an actual deadline where one exists; leave out the countdown when it doesn't.
Hypothetical example: the audience changes after copy review
Suppose a marketer prepares an email about approved permanent accounting vacancies for people who requested that kind of work in one location. The desk checks the role facts, and the copy is reviewed against that audience. Before sending, someone proposes adding a second location and contract candidates.
The old brief does not answer whether the expanded group wants this proposition or may receive this campaign. Return those audience decisions to the owner. Ask whether the role facts still support the message, update the exclusions and document the revised selection. If the message or destination changes, review those changes too.
Only then take the actual campaign through its applicable sending approval. An approval of the earlier copy is not evidence that the new recipients were assessed. Keep the content brief and the live sending decision connected without pretending they are the same decision.
Measure the action you asked for
If the campaign asks readers to review a vacancy brief, define the response you will examine. A link click, an enquiry, confirmed interest and an authorised submission are different events. Choose the one relevant to the brief and name its denominator and observation window.
You can record the others as supporting activity without reporting them as the same outcome. Don't set a response target by copying a benchmark for a different audience or channel. Keep opt-outs and unsuitable enquiries visible alongside the action count so activity alone does not decide whether to repeat the campaign.
If the real task is an ongoing relationship between vacancies, the candidate nurture guide handles that broader programme. This brief stays with one proposition, audience and decision.
Turn the agreed brief into a reviewable draft
FluxHire's Global AI Centre prepares a complete email campaign draft, including the template, campaign and audience, and never sends it. That gives the marketer something concrete to inspect against the brief rather than starting with an empty campaign. The recruitment email marketing tools also include a drag-and-drop editor for hands-on changes.
Review the prepared audience and every role claim against your evidence. A campaign at or above your team's recipient threshold needs approval from someone holding the approver role, and editing re-opens approval. That does not mean approval must always come from another person. Keep the actual authority and final campaign review explicit.
Request early access if you want to evaluate this brief-to-draft workflow. Bring one campaign with an agreed proposition, audience conditions and fact owner. Supported records, integrations and review steps are confirmed with each team; the evaluation is whether the prepared draft gives your team a useful starting point for review.