From toast to tasting menu: How to get more out of your content team

Picture this: you walk into a hatted restaurant and ask the chef to make you toast. They’ll nail it. Golden perfection. Heirloom tomato. Maybe even truffle butter. But you’ll leave hungry. 

Why? Because you didn’t need toast. You needed dinner.

Welcome to the brief trap.

Your comms agency faces this regularly. On paper, you’re after something simple: a report, brochure, newsletter, or case study. And we’ll deliver exactly that – impactful, sharp, and on brief.

But if that output isn’t solving the right problem? What if you’re asking for toast, when you need a banquet?

When pressure kills strategy

Deadlines loom. Stakeholders want outcomes. When there’s pressure to deliver, it’s easy to default to execution mode. 

Content feels tangible. Sales want an ebook. The product team needs a one-pager. So sometimes it feels easier to follow the recipe, tick the boxes, and move on.

But here’s the thing: Maybe the people sales is going after is on LinkedIn and the ebook would work better as an insight-led post series. Maybe that one-pager would work better as a video.

Starting with the solution narrows your options. It shuts the door on innovation, fresh insights, and new ways to connect with your audience.

Start with curiosity

Instead of deliverables, approach your content team with this instead:

“Here’s what we’re trying to achieve. What’s the best way to get there?”

That one change opens the door to strategic thinking. It allows us to ask the questions that unlock creative solutions:

• Why are you creating this?
• Who is it for?
• What do they care about?
• What action do you want them to take?
• How will you know it worked?

These aren’t just checkpoints. They’re idea generators, helping uncover stronger angles, sharper narratives, and better formats. The result? Content with more impact.

Where innovation lives

The magic happens in the problem space. In statements like:
“We need to reach this audience, but we’re not sure how.”
“Our messaging isn’t landing, and we don’t know why.”

Because that’s when we can pull from audience research, behavioural science, and storytelling to create something that moves the needle.

In a world where AI churns out decent-but-dull content in seconds, this is what gives you real edge.

Make room for better

This isn’t a call to toss your content calendar or stop planning ahead. It’s an invitation to build breathing room into the process.

Instead of asking, “Can we get this written by Friday?”, try: “Is this the best way to solve the problem?”

Loop your agency or content team in earlier. Be open to exploration before execution. Give your content partners time to think, test, and co-create.

Next time you’re tempted to ask for toast a content piece, pause. Ask yourself: what is the problem you’re actually trying to solve.

That’s how your content’s impact will become chef’s kiss.