Content Marketing

Content Marketing

Scope

Covers

• Content market fit (treat content like a product; audience anxieties + needs)
• SEO-led content (validate search demand before writing)
• Founder/executive-led thought leadership with a human voice
• Blog-as-press-release announcements (shareable, SEO-friendly)
• AI-assisted content workflows with human-in-the-loop quality controls
• Backlog, editorial calendar, content briefs, distribution, and measurement

When to use

• “Create a content strategy / content marketing plan.”
• “Build an SEO plan + editorial calendar.”
• “We need founder-led thought leadership; pick a channel + voice.”
• “Turn an announcement into a blog post instead of a press release.”
• “Create content briefs and a repeatable content production system.”

When NOT to use

• You still need to define positioning/ICP (use positioning-messaging or problem-definition).
• You need a technical SEO audit (crawl/indexing, performance, schema, internal linking) more than a content program.
• You need a paid acquisition strategy (ads, bidding, creative testing) rather than owned content.
• You cannot publish without a review process and cannot provide one (this skill requires a compliant workflow).
• You need a one-time launch campaign with a day-of runbook and press pitch (use launch-marketing).
• You want a brand narrative, origin story, or founder storytelling arc (use brand-storytelling).
• You need a community platform, ambassador program, or governance plan (use community-building).

Inputs

Minimum required

• Product: what it is + who it’s for (ICP/audience)
• Goals + timebox (e.g., pipeline, awareness, signups, recruiting) and 1 primary metric
• Primary offer(s) and CTA(s) (demo, trial, newsletter, download)
• Constraints: team capacity, SME availability, brand/compliance guardrails, regions/languages
• Spokesperson options (founder/executive/PM/other) and preferred channels (blog, LinkedIn, YouTube, podcast, newsletter)

Missing-info strategy

• Ask up to 5 questions from references/INTAKE.md, then proceed with explicit assumptions.
• If SEO demand data is unavailable, produce keyword/topic hypotheses with confidence labels and a demand-validation to-do list (no credentials required).
• Never request secrets or credentials; accept redacted exports/screenshots if offered.

Outputs (deliverables)

Produce a Content Marketing Plan Pack (Markdown in-chat; or as files if requested) containing:

1. Context snapshot (ICP, goal, metric, timebox, constraints)
2. Content market fit brief (audience anxieties, jobs-to-be-done, “why now”)
3. Channel + voice strategy (human spokesperson, primary channel focus, tone rules, repurposing plan)
4. SEO demand-validated topic map (topics/keywords, intent, proof of demand, SERP angle)
5. Backlog + editorial calendar (4–8 weeks, prioritized)
6. 3 content briefs (ready for writing) + per-piece distribution plan
7. Announcement blog post template (press-release alternative) + 1 outline/draft (if relevant)
8. AI-assisted content SOP (AI roles + human review + “information gain” rules)
9. Measurement plan (leading indicators, dashboards, iteration cadence)
10. Risks / Open questions / Next steps (always included)

Templates and checklists:

• references/TEMPLATES.md
• references/WORKFLOW.md
• references/CHECKLISTS.md
• references/RUBRIC.md

Workflow (8 steps)

1) Intake + success definition

• Inputs: User prompt; references/INTAKE.md.
• Actions: Confirm the business goal, ICP, primary CTA, and timebox. Define one primary success metric and 2–3 leading indicators. Confirm constraints (capacity, compliance, languages, distribution).
• Outputs: Context snapshot (v1).
• Checks: Goal is measurable and timebound (e.g., “Increase qualified demo requests from SEO by 25% in 8 weeks”).

2) Define content market fit (audience anxieties → promises)

• Inputs: ICP/audience, pains/goals, buying context, objections.
• Actions: Treat content as a product: define audience segment(s), top anxieties (career, risk, status, time), and the “promotion narrative” (how content helps them win). Identify 3–5 core “promises” your content should consistently deliver.
• Outputs: Content market fit brief.
• Checks: Each promise is specific and maps to a content type (how-to, teardown, case study, POV, template).

3) Validate demand + pick topic themes (SEO + non-SEO)

• Inputs: Product surfaces, promises, known customer questions, any keyword data.
• Actions: Build a topic universe, then split into:
  • SEO topics: only keep topics with evidence of search demand.
  • Thought leadership topics: publish for trust/brand even without search demand, but tie to distribution plan and spokesperson voice. Document “evidence of demand” (Search Console, autocomplete, competitor pages ranking, keyword tools, internal tickets).
• Outputs: Topic map (with demand evidence + confidence labels).
• Checks: No SEO topic is approved without a demand signal; every non-SEO topic has a distribution owner + channel.

4) Choose the human voice + primary channel

• Inputs: Spokesperson options, team strengths, audience media habits.
• Actions: Pick one primary channel that matches the spokesperson’s natural style (long-form writing, short-form posts, video, audio). Define voice rules (first-person, specific opinions, vulnerability/honesty) and what to avoid (corporate ghost tone, generic platitudes). Decide how content will be repurposed across secondary channels.
• Outputs: Channel + voice strategy (including “say this / not that”).
• Checks: There is a single primary channel for the next 4–8 weeks; repurposing does not create new work without owners.

5) Build the backlog + editorial calendar

• Inputs: Topic map, capacity, seasonality, launches/announcements.
• Actions: Prioritize using a simple score (Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort). Create a 4–8 week editorial calendar with owners, publish dates, review checkpoints, and CTAs.
• Outputs: Prioritized backlog + editorial calendar.
• Checks: Calendar is feasible (no hidden approvals), and every item has an owner and a distribution plan.

6) Create content briefs (make writing easy)

• Inputs: Top topics, voice rules, CTA, distribution channels.
• Actions: Write 3 briefs using references/TEMPLATES.md: target query/intent, angle (“information gain”), outline, proof assets needed (SME quotes/data), CTA, internal/external links, distribution checklist.
• Outputs: 3 content briefs (ready to draft).
• Checks: A writer can draft without additional meetings; each brief includes what must be uniquely true (not generic).

7) Draft one flagship asset (blog post or announcement)

• Inputs: One brief (or announcement context), references/TEMPLATES.md, references/WORKFLOW.md.
• Actions: Draft an outline or first draft. If it’s an announcement, use a blog-post format with all “news” elements included. Use AI only per the SOP; add human insight, examples, and original framing.
• Outputs: 1 draft outline/first draft + a “fact/claim check” list.
• Checks: Draft has a clear POV, concrete examples, and avoids “100% AI-generated” sameness.

8) Measurement + quality gate + finalize

• Inputs: Draft pack; references/CHECKLISTS.md and references/RUBRIC.md.
• Actions: Define measurement cadence (weekly review) and iteration loop (what you’ll change based on signals). Run checklist and score rubric. Always include Risks / Open questions / Next steps.
• Outputs: Final Content Marketing Plan Pack.
• Checks: Next 2 weeks of execution are unblocked; assumptions and demand validation gaps are explicit.

Quality gate (required)

• Use references/CHECKLISTS.md and references/RUBRIC.md.
• Always include: Risks, Open questions, Next steps.

Examples

Example 1 (B2B SaaS, SEO + pipeline):
“Use content-marketing. Product: AI note-taking for sales calls. ICP: SDR managers at 50–500 person SaaS. Goal: increase qualified demo requests; timebox: 8 weeks; constraints: 1 marketer + 2 SMEs, compliance review required. Output: a Content Marketing Plan Pack with demand-validated SEO topics, an editorial calendar, 3 briefs, and one drafted flagship post.”

Example 2 (Founder-led thought leadership):
“Our founder wants to become the face of the brand on LinkedIn. Pick a primary format, define voice rules, build a 6-week content calendar, and create 3 briefs that address our audience’s career anxieties.”

Boundary example (upstream missing ICP): “We don’t know who we’re for yet. Create a content strategy anyway.” Response: pause and recommend defining ICP/positioning first; offer a minimal discovery sprint and then return to content planning.

Boundary example (redirect to launch-marketing): “We launch next Tuesday. Write the announcement blog, press pitch, and day-of checklist.” Response: this is a time-bound launch campaign, not an ongoing content program. Redirect to launch-marketing for the launch pack; return here afterward for the sustained editorial calendar.

Anti-patterns

1. Publishing without demand validation — Writing 20 blog posts based on internal brainstorms with zero search-demand or distribution evidence. Every SEO topic must have a demand signal; every non-SEO topic must have a named distribution owner.
2. Ghost-written CEO content with no human voice — Using AI to produce generic thought-leadership posts that lack specific opinions, vulnerability, or first-person experience. The content sounds like it could come from any company.
3. Calendar overload without capacity math — Building an ambitious 3-posts-per-week calendar when the team has 0.5 FTE and no SME availability. Always match calendar density to actual hours and review bottlenecks.
4. Treating content as a one-time campaign — Producing a burst of content for a launch and then going silent. This skill builds a repeatable program; if you only need launch assets, use launch-marketing.
5. Skipping the measurement loop — Publishing content but never reviewing performance data or iterating. The plan must include a weekly review cadence with decision rules for doubling down or cutting topics.