Copywriting Intake Form Template
Briefs a copywriter properly — what needs writing, the voice on the page, the ideal reader, and how many revision rounds the client really wants.
Words work when they aim at one reader and one action. This intake pins both down before the first draft — which is why second drafts are usually final.
Copy fails for one reason more than any other: nobody agreed who it was for. This intake is built backwards from that failure. Before a word is drafted, the client commits to a reader, an action, and a voice — the three decisions that turn writing from taste into craft.
One paragraph about one reader. The ideal-reader field is required and deliberately sized: one paragraph. Personas with demographics and pain-point bullet lists read like market research and write like nobody; a paragraph forces the client to picture an actual person mid-scroll, mid-problem, mid-skepticism. Copywriters can write to a paragraph. The action field beside it is short on purpose — "book a demo", "join the list", "forward this to your boss" — because a page that wants three actions gets none.
Voice as a menu, not an essay. Playful, plainspoken, authoritative, warm, provocative: five words that map the realistic range of commercial writing. A menu prevents the "professional but fun, bold but safe" paradox brief, and the chosen word becomes shorthand for every revision conversation after ("this line drifted too authoritative"). Paired with the existing-copy link, the writer sees both where the voice is and where it should go.
The rounds question prices the relationship. One-round clients and heavy collaborators are both fine — but they are different projects at different prices, and most scope disputes in copywriting are really revision-expectation disputes that were never surfaced. Asking on the intake normalizes the conversation and gives the quote its most honest input. The deadline field asks for the first draft, not final delivery, because drafts are what writers control; approval cycles belong to the client's calendar.
Omitted with intent. SEO keyword lists — that discipline has its own intake, and stuffing keywords into a voice brief muddles both. Brand-story questionnaires — a separate instrument for a separate engagement. Word counts — clients guess wildly, and deliverable sizing belongs in the proposal where it can be priced.
Who runs it. Freelance copywriters gate their proposal flow with it. Content studios use the what-needs-writing multi-select to route briefs to the right writer. Marketing teams keep an internal clone so product managers request copy with a reader and an action attached — an internal culture upgrade disguised as a form.
Make it yours. Add voice words that fit your niche (technical, luxurious, irreverent). Set a Logic rule to reveal a list-size question when email sequences are selected. Turn on notifications so briefs get same-day replies, and keep every brief exportable — a year of CSV rows in the reader column is the best positioning research a writer can own.
Frequently asked questions
Can I route different copy types to different writers?
Filter the responses view by the what-needs-writing answer, or let a webhook post each brief to your routing tool — the selection arrives as structured data.
Can clients paste a whole existing page instead of linking?
Add a long-text block for pasted copy, or a file upload for documents — both sit naturally after the existing-copy link.
What if a client skips the ideal-reader question?
They can't — it is marked required, and the form won't submit without it. That constraint is the template's whole philosophy in one toggle.
Can I ask a follow-up only for email sequence projects?
Yes — add a show rule in the Logic panel keyed to the email-sequence option, revealing a list-size or platform question just for those briefs.