Building a custom brief template in ATIYO

ATIYO product documentation · Briefs · 5 min read

Every creative team briefs a little differently. Some live and die by the hook, others need a breakthrough memo for every concept, and some want a tight five-field brief so editors aren't buried in text. ATIYO's custom brief builder lets you shape the brief form to match how your team actually works by adding, removing, and reordering fields. This guide walks through building a template that becomes your default.

The custom brief builder is available on Growth and Team plans. You can check your plan or upgrade in Settings.

What you can customize

A standard ATIYO brief already includes the fields most DTC teams care about. With the custom builder you control which of these appear, what order they show in, and can add your own. The core brief fields include:

Avatar (pulled from your Brand Bible)
Hook
Core desire
Marketing angle
Breakthrough memo
Awareness level
Ad type
Promo
Funnel stage
Inspiration link or upload
Notes

Because the avatar, core desire, angle, and ad type fields connect to your Brand Bible, keeping them in your template means every brief stays anchored to the customer research your team already agreed on.

How to build a custom brief template

Confirm you're on a Growth or Team plan in Settings.
Start a new brief and open the custom brief builder.
Reorder fields by dragging them into the sequence your team reads top to bottom, usually starting with the avatar and hook.
Remove any fields you never use so the form stays fast to fill out.
Add custom fields for anything specific to your workflow, such as a landing page URL, offer notes, or a legal or compliance check.
Save your layout so it becomes the structure for new briefs.

Designing a template your team will actually fill out

The best template is the one people complete without complaining. A few principles help:

Lead with the fields that drive the creative, the avatar, hook, and angle, so the strategy is clear before anyone reads the fine print.
Keep required thinking near the top and reference material near the bottom.
Cut fields you rarely use. A shorter brief that gets filled in beats a thorough one that gets skipped.
Name custom fields in plain language your editors understand, not internal jargon.

Pro tip: build one lightweight template for high-volume iterations and a fuller one for net-new concepts. You can reorder and hide fields per brief, so you're never locked into a single layout.

Custom fields vs. uploading a document

If your brief structure barely changes from week to week, a custom template is the right call because it enforces consistency and keeps every field searchable. If a brief is a one-off or came from outside your team, uploading a PDF or DOCX is faster. Many teams use both: a standard template for in-house work and uploads for client- or freelancer-authored briefs.

Ideas for custom fields

The core fields cover strategy, but most teams add a few of their own to capture the practical details that keep production moving. Useful custom fields to consider:

Landing page URL, so the ad and the destination stay aligned.
Offer or discount details that don't fit the standard promo field.
Aspect ratios or placements you need delivered (feed, story, reels).
Legal or compliance sign-off, especially for supplements, beauty, and health claims.
Reference timestamp or note pointing editors to a specific moment in an inspiration video stored in the Vault.

Add only the fields your team will actually use. Every extra field is a small tax on the person filling out the brief, so prune anything that's decorative rather than decision-driving.

Keeping templates consistent across the team

Once you've settled on a layout, treat it as your house style. When you brief new creatives from the Creative Roadmap, start from the same structure so editors always know where to find the hook and the angle. Consistent briefs mean fewer clarifying questions, faster turnarounds, and cleaner data when you look at your win rate in Insights. It also makes onboarding easier, because a new strategist or freelancer can look at one brief and immediately understand how your team thinks.

Next steps

With your template built, try hiding and showing brief fields on individual briefs to fine-tune each one, and browse creative brief examples and templates for field-by-field inspiration. If you need to standardize an externally written brief, see our guide on uploading a PDF or DOCX brief.