A free content brief template for regulated topics: an ordinary SEO content brief plus a claims register, a banned-claims list and a reviewer sign-off, so your compliance reviewer sees the sources first, not last.
The short version
- A content brief template for a regulated topic adds three parts to a normal SEO brief: a claims register, a banned-claims list and a reviewer sign-off.
- Fill the claims register before anyone writes: each claim, its regulator, its primary source and the date you read it.
- In Kenya the reviewer checks consent under the Data Protection Act, plus the loan-ad limits on Google (61 days or longer) and Meta (over 90 days).
We use this structure for Kenyan fintech content, where a wrong sentence about consent, loan terms or a regulator can cost an advertiser its ad account or its credibility. It is free. Nothing here needs an account or an email address.
Table of Contents
What a content brief template does, and what changes for regulated topics
A content brief tells the writer who the piece is for, what it must answer, which keyword it targets and what the finished page should link to. Most guides stop there. A content creation brief for a lender, an insurer or a payments company has to do more, because the writer is no longer free to say anything that sounds reasonable.
Three things go wrong when the brief ignores regulation. First, a writer states a rule from memory, and the rule has since changed. Second, a claim appears with no source, so the reviewer has to rebuild the research before approving. Third, the draft is approved, then the ad built from it is rejected by the platform because the landing page misses a required disclosure.
A brief built for regulated topics fixes all three by moving the evidence upstream. The writer gets a list of claims they may make, each with a source, and a list they may not.
What stays the same
The ordinary parts of a content strategy brief still apply: audience, search intent, keyword, outline, word count and internal links. If you already have a brief, keep it and add the three regulated sections below.
The SEO content brief template for regulated topics (copy and use)
Paste this into a document, one field per row. The first six fields are the usual SEO content brief template; the last four are what make it safe for a regulated topic.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| 1. Reader and decision | Who reads this, what they are deciding, and what they already know. One sentence each. |
| 2. Primary keyword and intent | One keyword, its monthly searches in your target country, and whether the searcher wants to learn, compare or buy. |
| 3. Search result check | What currently ranks, how strong those sites are, and an honest traffic expectation. |
| 4. Outline | Every H2 and H3, a word budget for each, and where the keyword and its variants sit. |
| 5. Internal links | Which pages to link to, and the one page that is the topic parent. |
| 6. Call to action | What the reader is asked to do, and where. No price unless the client has approved one. |
| 7. Claims register | A table: claim, regulator or platform, primary source URL, section or article number, date you read it. |
| 8. Banned claims | Phrases the page may not use: guaranteed approval, “no fees” where fees exist, “approved by” a regulator unless the regulator uses that wording, any promised result. |
| 9. Required disclosures | What the page or ad must show: licence holder name and number, physical address, fees, annual percentage rate and a representative cost example where the rule requires them. |
| 10. Reviewer sign-off | Name, date and a line stating which claims were checked. Unsourced claims are listed as unsourced, not deleted silently. |
Fields 7 to 10 are the part most teams skip. They are also the part that shortens the review: the reviewer opens the register, clicks the sources and approves or corrects line by line.
How to fill in the claims register
Use one row per claim. A claim is anything a reader could act on: a legal requirement, a number, a date, a licence status, or a statement about what a platform allows. For each row, record the primary source, not a blog post about it. A regulator’s website, a gazetted regulation, a statute or the platform’s own policy page counts. A trade article summarizing the rule does not.
Record the date you read the page. Policies change, and a register with no dates cannot tell the next editor whether it is current. If you cannot reach the primary source, write “could not be sourced” in the row and either cut the claim or say so in the text.
How to write a content brief for a regulated topic
If you are learning how to write a content brief for a regulated client, work in this order. The order matters because each step feeds the next.
- Name the reader and the decision. A borrower comparing loan apps needs different content from a compliance officer checking a rule. Write the reader down before choosing the keyword.
- Pick one keyword and check it in the right country. Check search volume for the country you actually serve. A keyword with high volume elsewhere and none at home does not fill your reader’s pipeline. Also note whether the term belongs to a service page instead; if it does, the blog should not compete with it.
- Look at what ranks. Open the top results. Note their format, their authority and whether an AI-generated answer sits above them. State the traffic you honestly expect, even if it is close to none.
- List every claim before you outline. Walk the topic and write each statement you expect to make into the claims register. Then find the primary source for each. Do this before the outline, because a claim with no source changes the outline.
- Write the banned list and the disclosure list. Take these from the regulator and from the ad platforms you plan to use, not from habit.
- Outline against the register. Each section either cites a register row or makes no regulated claim. Add word budgets and internal links.
The brief now carries everything a writer needs and everything a reviewer will ask for. A good brief checklist confirms three things before it leaves your desk: every claim has a source and a date, every banned phrase is listed, and every required disclosure has a home on the page.
What the compliance reviewer checks in Kenya
These are the checks we put into field 7 and field 9 when the topic is Kenyan digital lending or any fintech marketing that collects personal data. We read each source on 27 October 2026. Policies change, so re-read before you rely on any of them. This section is information for marketers, not legal advice.
Personal data and marketing: Data Protection Act, 2019
Section 37(1) of the Data Protection Act, 2019 says a person may not use personal data obtained under the Act for commercial purposes unless they have sought and obtained express consent from the data subject, or are authorized to do so under a written law and the data subject was told of that use when the data was collected. Section 37(2) adds that a data controller or processor using personal data commercially must anonymize it where possible, so the person is no longer identifiable.
For a brief, this means field 9 lists the consent wording on any form the page includes, and field 8 bans copy that implies consent is assumed. Our page on the Data Protection Act for Kenyan fintech marketers covers the wider rules.
SOURCE · Data Protection Act, 2019 (No. 24 of 2019), section 37. Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
odpc.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TheDataProtectionAct__No24of2019.pdf — checked 27 October 2026.
Loan ads on Google
Google’s financial products and services policy allows personal-loan ads only for loans that require repayment in full in 61 days or longer. It applies to lenders, lead generators and anyone connecting consumers with lenders.
Destination pages for personal loans must show the minimum and maximum repayment period, the maximum annual percentage rate (which generally includes interest plus fees and other costs for a year) and a representative example of total cost.
More broadly, the policy requires the business’s physical address and all associated fees for financial products. Google also tells advertisers they are expected to research local regulations for every location their ads target. The page shows no revision date.
SOURCE · Google Advertising Policies Help, “Financial products and services”.
support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/2464998 — checked 27 October 2026.
Loan ads on Meta
Meta’s advertising standard for financial and insurance products says ads for credit cards, loans or insurance must target people aged 18 or older, and may not directly ask for personally identifiable information or certain financial information. It prohibits ads that promote payday loans, paycheck advances and short-term loans of 90 days or less.
It also says advertisers may need to show authorization from the relevant regulator, and must follow disclosure requirements set by law. Meta’s change log lists an update dated 26 October 2026.
SOURCE · Meta Transparency Center, “Financial and Insurance Products and Services”.
transparency.meta.com/policies/ad-standards/restricted-goods-services/financial-services — checked 27 October 2026.
Put side by side, the two platforms draw their lines at different tenors: Google at 61 days, Meta at 90. A lender whose products all repay within 90 days can be eligible on one platform and barred from the other, so the brief records the product’s repayment term before anyone drafts ad-facing copy. Our guide to fintech ad approval goes through this in more detail.
What the brief cannot settle
Kenyan credit rules changed in 2026, and we have not re-read the Central Bank of Kenya’s regulations for this post. A brief for a lender should include a register row for the regulator’s own advertising rules, with the regulation number and the date read, and should leave that row marked “to be sourced” until someone has opened the primary text. A row marked that way is honest. A row filled from memory is the failure the whole template exists to prevent.
A filled content brief example
This is an illustration with an invented topic. It is not a client brief.
| Field | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Reader and decision | A marketing manager at a Kenyan lender deciding whether the landing page needs a consent line before the ad goes live. |
| Primary keyword | One keyword, with its Kenyan monthly searches written next to it, even if the number is zero. |
| Claims register | “Express consent is needed for commercial use of personal data.” Regulator: Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Source: Data Protection Act, 2019, s.37(1). Read: date. |
| Banned claims | “Instant approval for everyone.” “No fees” if any fee exists. Any wording that suggests the regulator endorses the product. |
| Required disclosures | Licence holder name, physical address, fees, repayment period, annual percentage rate, representative total cost. |
| Sign-off | Reviewer name, date, and a note listing any row still marked “to be sourced”. |
FAQ: content brief template for regulated topics
What should a content brief include?
At minimum: the reader, the keyword and intent, an outline with word budgets, internal links and a call to action. For a regulated topic, add a claims register, a banned-claims list, required disclosures and a reviewer sign-off.
How long should a content brief be?
As long as it takes to remove guesswork. For most posts that is one or two pages. The claims register grows with the number of regulated claims, not with the word count of the post.
Who fills in the claims register?
The person who owns the brief, usually the strategist or editor, before the writer starts. The reviewer verifies it; they should not have to build it.
Can AI write the brief?
A tool can pull search data and draft an outline. It cannot confirm that a regulation still says what it said last month, so a person has to open each primary source and record the date.
Content brief template: what to do next
Copy the table above into your next regulated brief and fill fields 7 to 10 first. If you run paid ads for a Kenyan lender or fintech and want the claims register and landing-page disclosures checked before launch, see our Acquisition Audit or get in touch. For SaaS teams, our SaaS content marketing and SaaS SEO agency pages cover the next step. For ad work built around these rules, see our fintech PPC agency page.
Sources
- Data Protection Act, 2019 (No. 24 of 2019), s.37, Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, read 27 October 2026: odpc.go.ke
- Google Advertising Policies Help, Financial products and services, read 27 October 2026: support.google.com
- Meta Transparency Center, Financial and Insurance Products and Services, read 27 October 2026: transparency.meta.com
