{"id":745053,"date":"2026-08-25T15:50:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:50:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:50:56","slug":"how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to build content briefs around audience situations"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aedcd6032447\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aedcd6032447\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/#Search_volume_tells_you_what_people_search_for_The_context_behind_those_searches_can_reveal_what_your_content_should_actually_address\" >Search volume tells you what people search for. The context behind those searches can reveal what your content should actually address.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/#When_keywords_become_the_brief\" >When keywords become the brief<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/#From_keywords_to_audience_situations\" >From keywords to audience situations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/#The_actual_brief\" >The actual brief<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/#The_proof_is_in_the_pudding\" >The proof is in the pudding<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-content-briefs-around-audience-situations-2\/#Topics_on_this_page\" >Topics on this page<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Search_volume_tells_you_what_people_search_for_The_context_behind_those_searches_can_reveal_what_your_content_should_actually_address\"><\/span>Search volume tells you what people search for. The context behind those searches can reveal what your content should actually address.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keyword research can help you understand what people search for, but it doesn\u2019t tell you why they\u2019re searching or what they need next.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Better content briefs start with the situations your audience finds themselves in, then use those situations to shape what you create and how you measure success.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-when-keywords-become-the-brief\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_keywords_become_the_brief\"><\/span>When keywords become the brief<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Briefing keywords alone is one of the reasons we have a slew of 300-word articles written somewhere between 2015-2018 that we\u2019re now responsible for cleaning up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s why every accountant in the U.S. has an FAQ answering \u201cwhat\u2019s the fiscal year?\u201d on their website somewhere. We wanted to chase the perceived volume of impressions and clicks that answering that kind of question would get us.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1458\" height=\"1418\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-fiscal-year.png\" alt=\"Semrush - fiscal year\" class=\"wp-image-485559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-fiscal-year.png 1458w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-fiscal-year-768x747.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1458px) 100vw, 1458px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a specialist service like accounting, answering these kinds of basic questions to get a shot at visibility for broad questions does your expertise a disservice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It leaves you with pie on your face because you\u2019re putting yourself up against the governmental agency that dictates these kinds of things and saying, \u201cHey, I\u2019m better than the entity that set these standards. Google, please give searchers my answer instead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s never going to h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en. Honestly, I\u2019m not sure why we ever thought it was a good way to gain visibility in our areas of expertise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plus, when you\u2019re offering that information on your website, you\u2019re assuming people coming to your website don\u2019t already know it. And it should raise two uncomfortable questions as a business owner:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why am I trying to outrank the entity that should clearly be the only answer served for this question?<\/li>\n<li>Why, as a business owner, would I want clients that don\u2019t already know the answer to this broad, basic question or know how to find it out themselves?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This should lead us to take a step back and look to understand the larger picture keywords were always trying to tell us: What journey is our audience on, and how can we answer their concerns along the way?<\/p>\n<div style=\"background: radial-gradient(circle at 30% 40%, rgba(184, 111, 255, 0.15), rgba(0, 169, 255, 0.15) 40%, #CDE8FD 70%); padding: 30px; width: 100%; max-width: 802px; color: #000000 !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 25px 0 30px 0; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: left; padding-right: 20px; box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div id=\"semrush-one-headline\" class=\"headline-responsive\" style=\"font-family: Oswald, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0; color: #000000 !important; line-height: 1.2;\">\n        Be the brand <span style=\"background: linear-gradient(90deg, #D56EFE 0%, #068EF8 51%); -webkit-background-clip: text; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-clip: text;\">customers find first<\/span>.\n      <\/div>\n<p id=\"semrush-one-subhead\" style=\"font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 25px; margin: 12px 0 0 0; color: #000000 !important;\">\n        Track, grow, and measure your visibility across Google, AI search, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>, local, and every channel that influences buying decisions.\n      <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\">\n      <span id=\"semrush-one-cta\" style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #FF642D; color: white; height: 44px; border: none; border-radius: 5px; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; padding: 0 24px; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: 44px;\">Start your free trial<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n  @media (max-width: 768px) {\n    .headline-responsive {\n      font-size: 30px !important;\n      line-height: 1.3 !important;\n    }\n  }\n<\/style>\n<h2 id=\"h-from-keywords-to-audience-situations\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_keywords_to_audience_situations\"><\/span>From keywords to audience situations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the return of conversational search with large language models should remind us, humans don\u2019t natively think in keywords.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not \u201cbest new sweet snacks 2026,\u201d it\u2019s:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cMy wife is pregnant and craving weird sweets she\u2019s not tried before.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI want to give new candy out for Halloween this year.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI want to impress my friends with something different for dessert at the next dinner.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The situation is much more aligned with topic-level thinking than individual keywords.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s also more aligned with how large language models are trained to think alongside folks using their platform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Topics themselves are the first step into category entry points (CEP). If you\u2019re drawing a blank on topics, Semrush has a topics overview to kick-start your thinking.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1399\" http: alt=\"Semrush topics\" class=\"wp-image-485561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-scaled.png 2048w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-768x525.png 768w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-1536x1049.png 1536w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-scaled.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1399\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-scaled.png\" alt=\"Semrush topics\" class=\"wp-image-485561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-scaled.png 2048w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-768x525.png 768w, https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2026\/08\/semrush-topics-1-1536x1049.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CEPs are much more qualitative and people-based. They\u2019re the jump from the topic back to the situation that created it. They\u2019re the 7 W\u2019s, as described in Jenni Romaniuk\u2019s Better Brand Health:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why.<\/li>\n<li>When.<\/li>\n<li>Where.<\/li>\n<li>While.<\/li>\n<li>With whom.<\/li>\n<li>With\/for what.<\/li>\n<li>How feeling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Answering those 7 W\u2019s is the exercise you want to go through when building a brief. And honestly, it\u2019s the exercise you should go through before creating anything new for your website or your brand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The people most likely to help you with this are the folks who interact with your audience the most: support, sales, in-store staff (if you have them), or anyone who\u2019s become a public brand representative in some way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One element to understand here: This process is based in brand <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> and marketing principles. It\u2019s not easily expressed in a metric the same way keyword volume is.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keyword volume, though, has always been abstracted away from your actual audience and their concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using the 7 W\u2019s forces you, your team, and your leadership to ground your choices in your actual audience. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Less measurable, more defendable: \u201cThis is the feedback we got from our support team from the last six months\u201d versus \u201cThis has the biggest search volume in the U.S. for our vertical.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you were a business owner, what would you prefer to act on? Hopefully, the latter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Dig deeper: Building a brand worth finding: Signals that fuel discovery<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<h2 id=\"h-the-actual-brief\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_actual_brief\"><\/span>The actual brief<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fields I\u2019d suggest having in the brief:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>One line for each of the 7 W\u2019s. Include who on the team you got the information from, if you can \u2014 the traceability can be useful if your team needs to fact-check or get a slightly different level of detail.<\/li>\n<li>The scenario you\u2019re solving for: the panicky business owner near the end of their first financial year, someone taking over a new business, or the young apprentice learning the ropes.<\/li>\n<li>Everything else you\u2019d have for a typical content brief: the content type (informational, consideration, transactional), short suggested outline, any brand tone notes, existing coverage check, length guidance, and the measure of success.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This gives your content a shape focused on the situations your audience finds themselves in and the journey they\u2019re on \u2014 and cements, with real feedback from real people, where your brand isn\u2019t answering their concerns. It also gives you a direct, scaffolded way to answer those questions within the context of your brand and business.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-proof-is-in-the-pudding\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_proof_is_in_the_pudding\"><\/span>The proof is in the pudding<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have a leadership team that may be skeptical of working this way, I\u2019d suggest doing what I usually suggest: Test it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Write a traditional keyword-based brief and one based around the 7 W\u2019s and those scenarios. Review the quality of what you get back from your writers and, if you can, A\/B test them on the website for things like scroll depth, interaction, and impressions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hopefully, you\u2019ll come away with an audience that has more of its concerns about your business answered before purchasing a product or service from you. Your internal teams should also be more attuned to their audience\u2019s concerns than they were when they focused on keywords.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s a win-win for your business in the long term, much more so than ranking No. 1 for \u201cwhat\u2019s the fiscal year\u201d for your entire tenure with the company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Dig deeper: How customers build confidence across the search journey<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-display\">\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-content\">\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Topics_on_this_page\"><\/span>Topics on this page<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-links\">Content MarketingBetter Brand HealthConsumer behaviourJenni RomaniukSearch engine optimizationArtificial intelligenceBrand managementContent strategyGoogleMarketing strategySemrush<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ttd-topics-show-extra-button\">+6 more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/content-briefs-audience-situations-485558\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Search volume tells you what people search for. The context behind those searches can reveal what your content should actually address. Keyword research can help you understand what people search for, but it doesn\u2019t tell you why they\u2019re searching or what they need next.\u00a0 Better content briefs start with the situations your audience finds themselves&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-745053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745053\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}