How to brief a copywriter for the Polish market
A good brief for Polish copy covers the usual things – who you are, who's reading, what they should do next – plus a few questions that only come up when the words are going into a language you might not read yourself. Here's the list, and a template you can paste into an email.
Updated 15 September 2026 ·By Splendid Copywriting · who writes ·about 6 min read
The short version
For a quote, I need four things: what you need, a few sentences about the project, your name and an email address. That’s the whole contact form. You can write it in English. The full brief matters before writing starts, not before you ask for a price.
What every brief needs
- 01Your company in two sentences.
What you do, and what you're doing in Poland: launching, already selling, testing.
- 02What the copy is for.
The product or service, and prices in PLN if you have them.
- 03Who reads it.
Your Polish customer specifically – they may not be the same person as your customer at home.
- 04One main goal.
Book a demo, order, sign up, call. One comes first.
- 05Where it will live.
Website pages, a landing page, emails, a shop, packaging. Any hard character limits.
- 06Your tone and your banned words.
Brand guidelines if you have them. Examples you like, with a line on why.
- 07What must be included, and what mustn't be promised.
Real facts only, plus anything your legal team has flagged.
- 08Deadline and sign-off.
When you need it, and who approves it.
The Polish-specific part
These are the questions that separate a brief for Polish copy from a brief for a translator.
Who is your Polish reader?
A mid-sized Polish B2B buyer, a student in Kraków and a retiree in Lublin all read Polish, but they don't all want the same register. If your brand is new here, say so. People who've never heard of you need more context than your home market does.
Formal or informal?
Polish makes you choose. Addressing the reader as *Ty* (roughly "you" among friends) feels direct and modern. *Pan/Pani* ("sir/madam") feels polite and sometimes stiff. Many brands go with *Ty*; banks, law firms and some B2B sectors often don’t. If you have no preference, I’ll suggest one and explain why.
Grammar has gender
Polish verbs and adjectives change with the reader's gender. That affects buttons, forms and any sentence that talks to the reader. It's solvable, with neutral phrasing or agreed forms, but it needs deciding early, especially for microcopy and product interfaces.
What stays in English?
Product names, feature names, a tagline, industry terms your Polish customers already use in English. Make a list. Otherwise I’ll decide case by case and flag each choice.
Polish keywords aren't translated keywords
If search matters, the phrases people actually type in Polish can differ from a literal translation of your English ones. If your SEO team has Polish keyword research, send it. If not, say so, so nobody assumes it's been done.
Space
Polish text usually runs longer than the English it replaces. If a button, a banner or a product tile has a hard limit, include the number of characters, not just the design file.
Who will check the Polish?
If nobody on your team reads Polish, tell me in the brief. We'll agree how you review the copy – for example, short English notes on the key choices, or a read-through by your Polish partner or distributor. Just approving text you can't read is how problems slip through.
Local details
Prices in złoty, delivery and returns in Poland, a Polish phone number or support hours. If they're not settled yet, say what is.
Brief template
Copy it, fill in what you know and paste it into the contact form or an email to office@splendidcopywriting.com. Skip anything you don’t know yet – a blank line tells me what to ask.
BRIEF – POLISH COPY 1. Company in two sentences What you do, and where you are with Poland (launching / selling / testing): 2. What the copy is for Product or service. Prices in PLN, if known: 3. Your Polish reader Who they are, what they already know about you, what worries them: 4. One main goal What should the reader do next? 5. Where it will live Pages, landing page, emails, shop, packaging. Character limits: 6. Tone Three words for how you want to sound: Words and phrases you never use: Brand guidelines (link): 7. Must include / must not promise 8. Formal (Pan/Pani) or informal (Ty)? Preference, or "please suggest": 9. What stays in English Product names, terms, tagline: 10. Polish keywords (if any) 11. Who checks the Polish on your side? 12. Deadline and sign-off When? Who approves? Materials (link to a shared folder):
Mistakes that cost a round of revisions
- "Here’s our English site, make it Polish."
That's a translation brief. Fine if a translation is what you need, but then the copy will read like one. For copy that reads as if it was written in Polish, I need the brief behind the English, not just the English.
- Assuming the home-market tone travels.
A joke, a bit of irreverence or a very casual register can work at home and feel odd in Polish. Tell me where the brand is flexible.
- Sign-off by someone who never saw the brief.
A regional manager or a Polish distributor sees the copy for the first time at version two and has different ideas. Loop them in at the start.
- Hard limits that turn up late.
"The button fits 14 characters" is much cheaper to know on day one.
Where to go next
- Ordering a whole site? Website copy has the package details.
- Already have English copy to adapt? That’s transcreation.
- Interface text for an app or checkout: microcopy and UX writing.
- What it all costs: pricing in EUR, and how Polish copywriting prices work.
- The whole process, day by day: how I work.
Four fields are enough for a quote.
I usually reply within 2 working days (Mon–Fri, CET) with questions or a written quote: price, start date, deadline.