Build Creator Campaigns People Actually Watch
Built from Dhar Mann’s approach to storytelling and creator partnerships, this resource helps marketers write better briefs, build emotionally resonant campaigns, and create content audiences actually care about.
Create, optimize, and measure content that actually drives leads with Content Hub.
The best brand-creator partnerships begin with a brief that gives the creator a real story to tell, a clear emotional outcome to drive toward, and the freedom to get there their way.
Built from insights shared by Dhar Mann — founder of Dhar Mann Studios, 170 million followers across platforms, and the creator behind the NFL's most successful creator activation ever — use this template and his framework to write briefs that unlock creative work worth watching.
How to use this template:
Work through each section before you brief a creator.
- Sections 1–4 are internal-facing: Your thinking before you involve anyone else.
- Sections 5–9 are creator-facing: Paste directly into your outreach or brief doc.
- Section 10: Run before you sign anything
💡Pro Tip: Keep your briefs short. Every item you add to the mandatory inclusions section is creative freedom you're taking back.
HEART Framework
Dhar Mann's framework for building content that actually moves people. Run your campaign idea through it before you open a brief doc.
What's the real story behind this brand, product, or campaign? Not the positioning. The actual thing that's true. Creators build trust by telling true stories. If you can't give them one, they'll have to make something up — and audiences will feel it.
Why should the creator's audience trust that this brand is worth their attention? What does your brand actually do for real people? If the answer is "we're the leading provider of X," start over.
Is this a one-off activation or the start of a real creator relationship? The best partnerships compound. One video teaches you what works. Five videos build something.
What's the emotional shift you're trying to create? Not the message. The feeling. From skepticism to curiosity. From overwhelm to agency. From FOMO to clarity. If you can't name the emotional move, the content will feel like an ad — because it will be one.
What happens after someone watches? What do you want them to do, believe, or share? Views without a next step are just numbers.
Brief Template for Better Brand Partnerships
What is this campaign actually trying to do — not in marketing-speak, but in terms of a specific business outcome? What pipeline stage, audience segment, or conversion moment does it serve? Why a creator, why now?
Example: We're launching a new CRM workflow feature targeting RevOps leads at mid-market SaaS companies. Paid search and email are saturated for this audience. A trusted practitioner voice has a credibility surface we can't buy directly. Goal: 400 demo requests in 6 weeks, with secondary goal of earned shares into Slack communities and LinkedIn.
Your answer:
If the creator could leave the audience with a single belief they didn't have before — not a feature, not a tagline — what would it be? Write it as a sentence a viewer would say to a colleague, not a sentence a marketer would write in a deck.
Example: "I didn't realise I was spending 8 hours a week on stuff a tool could just do — and that's not a hustle problem, it's a setup problem."
Your answer:
What should the audience feel at the end — not think, feel? Name the specific emotional shift. If you can't name it, the brief will produce content that feels like an ad.
Example: From "every AI tool promises to save time and none of them do" to "this one actually fits how I already work — I want to try it before my next sprint planning." The emotional move is relief-meets-competence, not excitement.
Your answer:
Who specifically in the creator's audience are you trying to reach — not a persona, but a real situation? Describe the role, the pressure they're under, and the conversation already happening in their head. What does this person need to believe before they'd click?
Example: RevOps managers at 50–500 person SaaS companies who are 6–18 months into a CRM migration and quietly convinced they set it up wrong. They click when something confirms what they already suspect but haven't said out loud.
Your answer:
List 3–5 specific things the creator must show — not assert. The product should prove itself through demonstration. Also list what they must NOT do.
Example: SHOW: A real workflow inside the product, a specific before/after time comparison, the creator's own skepticism before they used it. DO NOT: Use our marketing copy verbatim, call it "the best" without specifics, script the reveal or overcut the demo to hide friction.
Your answer:
What is the creator free to say — including things that might make you uncomfortable? Be specific about what you're handing over. Vague freedom is no freedom.
Example: The creator owns the format, the hook, their personal take on whether AI tools are overhyped, any comparison to competitors, and their honest assessment of what the product doesn't do well. We own: final approval on factual accuracy. We do not own their opinion.
Your answer:
The non-negotiables: accurate claims, legal disclosures, links, CTAs, brand asset rules. Keep this list short. Every item you add is a creative constraint you're taking back.
Example: FTC/ASA disclosure at start of video and in description, correct product name, link to demo landing page, one accurate statement about the specific feature being shown.
Your answer:
How will you evaluate the content before it goes live? List specific criteria — not "on-brand" but what that means in practice. How many revision rounds? What's the turnaround SLA? What triggers rejection versus a revision request?
Example: We review within 48 hours. One revision round included. Rejection criteria: factually incorrect product claims, missing disclosure, competitor named directly. Approval is not contingent on tone, creative approach, or whether we'd have made it differently.
Your answer:
What does a successful partnership look like — in numbers you'll actually track, not vanity metrics? Separate primary metrics from secondary signals. When do you evaluate, and what triggers a renewal conversation?
Example: Primary: demo requests via tracked link (target: 400 in 6 weeks). Secondary: comment quality, share rate into professional communities. Views and likes are noted but not decision-driving.
Your answer:
Score this creator across 5 dimensions. Use 1–3 for each. Below 10 is a pause — not a hard no, but a conversation to have before contracts.
Audience Match (1–3): Does their audience include your specific segment — not just the broad category?
Content Specificity (1–3): Do their sponsored posts show the product or just describe it?
Narrative Independence (1–3): Does their paid content sound like them or like ad copy?
Trust Indicators (1–3): Do followers engage with sponsored content the way they engage with organic?
Conflict Risk (1–3): Any recent partnerships with direct competitors or positions that contradict your brand story?
Minimum threshold: 11/15. Sign-off: marketing lead + legal if any exclusivity clause is involved.
Your score: ___ / 15
Campaign Brief Skill
A Skill.md file that evaluates creator brief concepts across hook strength, emotional resonance, audience trust, actionability, and authenticity before they go live.
Before sending off your brief, run it through the Campaign Brief Checker — a Claude skill that evaluates your concept across five dimensions: Hook, Emotion, Action, Resonance, and Truth.
It scores each from 1–5, flags where your thinking is underdone, and tells you whether the brief is ready to send or needs another pass.
How to use it:
- Download the skill below
- Go to Claude.ai → Customize → Skills, click "+", upload the zip, and toggle it on
- Paste your brief answers and ask Claude to check your campaign concept