CRM Briefing FrameworkFill in, save, and print — everything stays in your browser

Interactive CRM brief templates across three tiers: Snapshot for quick campaigns, Journey for connected sequences, and Architecture for full lifecycle design. Fill in the fields, and your work saves automatically to your browser. Create as many briefs as you need and switch between them from the sidebar.

Tier 1

For quick campaigns, promotions, and time-sensitive messages. Six fields. Five minutes. If it takes longer, you are overthinking it.

Campaign name
1. Who is this for?

Not a segment name. A person. What are they doing right now?

2. What do you want them to do?

One action. Could you watch someone do it? If not, it is too abstract.

3. Why should they care?

The answer has to be about them, not about you.

4. Why now?

What is happening in this person's life or journey when they receive this?

5. Where does this reach them?

Which channel(s)? And why those channels for this moment?

6. How do you know it worked?

One number. The number that tells you whether this worked.

If you cannot explain why this campaign exists in one sentence, it probably should not exist yet. Simplify the thinking. Then send it.

Tier 2

For connected sequences: onboarding, activation, win-back, feature adoption. The engine room where most CRM work lives.

Every journey works across five layers: outcome, behaviour, experience, delivery, and measurement. The sections below walk you through each.

01 — Outcome

Start here. Always. What measurable result does this journey need to produce?

Campaign name
The outcome we are driving
Current baseline
Target we are aiming for

02 — Behaviour

Outcomes are produced by behaviours. What do you need this person to do differently, and why aren't they doing it already?

What they actually do today
What we need them to do differently
Root cause of the gap

Why aren't they doing it? Awareness (they don't know), motivation (they don't see the value), friction (it's too hard), or timing (wrong moment). Each requires a different response.

Test your behaviour statement: could you watch someone do it? If not, it is too abstract. “Feel more engaged” is invisible. “Open the Workspace feature and create their first project” is something you can see, measure, and design for.

03 — Audience

Describe a person, not a segment. Segments are useful for targeting. But designing a journey requires empathy.

Who is this person?
What are they actually trying to get done?
What's getting in their way right now?
Where are they in their journey with you?

04 — Entry, Exit, and Re-entry

Before designing any messages, define the boundaries of the journey. Who gets in, who gets out, and what happens if they qualify again later.

Entry trigger

What specific event starts this journey? Be precise: "signs up" is different from "signs up and confirms email."

Entry requirements

What else must be true about them at the point of entry? The trigger gets them to the door — requirements decide if they walk through.

Exclusions

Who should not enter even if they match? Already in a conflicting journey? Recent support complaint? Already converted?

Success exit

They did the thing. Stop messaging them about it.

Graceful exit

They didn't do the thing, but continuing would be annoying rather than helpful. Let them go.

Re-entry rules

Is re-entry allowed? Does the sequence still make sense the second time? What is the cooldown period before they can re-enter?

05 — Journey Map

Walk through the experience from the customer's perspective. For each stage: what are they thinking? What is the friction? Where is the opening?

Stage What they're thinking The friction The opening
Awareness
Consideration
Action
Reinforcement

06 — Touchpoints

Every touchpoint must earn its place. If you cannot say why a particular channel belongs in this journey, remove it.

Timing Channel What it does Why this channel Emotional tone

07 — Creative Direction

Tell creative teams the emotion, the energy, the world this journey lives inside.

Tone of voice
The story we are telling
What this should feel like

Try this: describe the journey as if it were a scene in a film. Where is the character? What just happened? What do they need to hear next?

08 — System Triggers and Dependencies

What must exist in the system for this journey to run?

Events that trigger this journey
Segmentation logic
Suppression rules (who should not enter)
Dependencies (features, data, integrations)

09 — Measurement

A journey without measurement is just a sequence of messages. Define leading vs. lagging indicators, your testing strategy, and feedback loops.

Primary metric
Supporting signals
What will you test?
Review cadence
If this doesn't work, then what?

10 — Sanity Checks

Step back and pressure-test the whole journey before it launches.

How much is too much?

Count the maximum messages if they never act. Is that number reasonable?

What else are they hearing from you?

What does their inbox look like when you add all active journeys and campaigns together?

Who owns this journey?

If no one owns it, no one will fix it when it breaks.

Who else needs to know?

Tier 3

The full blueprint. Used when designing the system itself — how all CRM communications work together across the lifecycle. This tier extends Tier 2: where Tier 2 designs one journey, Tier 3 designs the system all journeys live inside.

01 — Campaign Overview

Why does this initiative exist? What business context created the need?

Campaign name
Business context

02 — Desired Outcome

Success metrics with baselines and targets, measurement timeline, and connection to broader strategy.

Business outcome
Customer outcome
Baseline and target
Measurement timeline
Connection to broader strategy

03 — Customer Behaviour

Behaviour mapping: current vs desired, root cause diagnosis, frequency patterns, and triggers.

Current behaviour
Desired behaviour
Root cause of the gap

For each behaviour gap: is it awareness (they don't know), motivation (they don't see the value), friction (it's too hard), or timing (wrong moment)?

Frequency patterns and triggers

04 — Audience Definition

Lifecycle stage, emotional state, previous touchpoint history, full context of use.

Who is this person?
Lifecycle stage
Emotional state and context
Previous touchpoint history

05 — Customer Journey Architecture

Map every stage from discovery through retention. Customer mindset, friction points, opportunity moments.

Stage Customer mindset Friction points Opportunity moments
Discovery
Onboarding
Activation
Engagement
Retention

06 — Experience Design

Define the experience flow, not individual campaigns. The best experience is the one the customer barely notices.

What should each lifecycle phase feel like?
Moments of highest leverage
Designed silences

07 — Touchpoint Strategy

Full channel mapping with rationale. Every touchpoint earns its place.

Lifecycle stage Timing Channel Purpose Emotional tone

08 — Creative Direction

Tone, narrative, messaging principles, and visual style across the programme.

Tone of voice
Narrative arc
Messaging principles
Visual style

09 — Product and System Requirements

Everything that must exist: features, tracking, segmentation, automation, integrations.

Tracking events required
Segmentation capabilities
Automation rules
Data integrations
Gaps between current systems and requirements

10 — Stakeholder Ownership

Clear names. Clear responsibilities. CRM leads engagement architecture.

Dimension Owner Contributors Informed
Engagement architecture
Content and creative
Data and segmentation
System and automation
Product and in-app
Measurement and reporting

11 — Delivery Plan

Timeline, dependencies, assets, and launch sequence.

Phase 1 — what launches first
Phase 2 — what follows
Hard dependencies (what gates everything else)
Asset requirements
Target launch date

12 — Measurement Framework

Metrics by category, review cadence, and the learning loop.

Leading indicators (days/weeks)
Lagging indicators (months)
What will you test?
Review cadence
Known blind spots