phuthuycoding/marketing-content

Content Writer

Workflow for creating content strategy: audience research, content pillars, SEO blog posts, social media plans, newsletters.

When to use this skill

• ✅ Building a content strategy from scratch (pillars, calendar, channels)
• ✅ Writing one specific piece (blog post, newsletter, social thread)
• ✅ Repurposing one piece into multi-channel content
• ❌ Writing API / project documentation → use /docs-write or /docs-sync
• ❌ Writing release notes / changelog → use git history + manual
• ❌ Designing a video → use /marketing-video

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Workflow

RESEARCH → PLAN → WRITE → OPTIMIZE → DISTRIBUTE

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Phase 1: RESEARCH

Goal: understand audience, competitors, and SEO landscape.

Gather brief

Ask the user for (skip what's already known):

| Field | Example | |-------|---------| | Brand / Product | "Acme — DevOps platform for indie teams" | | Voice / Tone | "Casual but technical, no marketing fluff" | | Primary audience | "Solo / small-team DevOps engineers" | | Pain points | "Too many tools, none integrate well" | | Goals (pick ≤2) | SEO traffic, lead gen, brand awareness, education, community, thought leadership | | Current channels | Blog / X / LinkedIn / Dev.to / YouTube / Newsletter / Discord | | Competitors | 3–5 names + what they do well |

Audience & SEO research

• Search intent for the topic (informational / navigational / transactional / commercial)
• Top 10 SERP results for 3–5 target keywords — what content ranks?
• Gaps competitors miss (more depth, better examples, fresher data)
• Keyword set — primary + 2–5 long-tails per piece

Gate

• [ ] Brief captured (skip fields already covered in conversation)
• [ ] Target keywords with search intent identified
• [ ] Competitor gap identified

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Phase 2: PLAN

Goal: define content pillars + calendar.

Content pillars

Pick 3–5 themes that ladder up to the brand's positioning. Each pillar gets a mix of formats.

| Pillar | Why it matters to audience | Formats | |--------|---------------------------|---------| | {pillar 1} | {pain → outcome} | blog, social, newsletter | | {pillar 2} | ... | ... |

Calendar template

Plan 4–6 weeks ahead. Use a consistent cadence.

| Week | Blog (long-form) | Social (short-form) | Newsletter | |------|------------------|---------------------|------------| | W1 | {title} | 3 posts (1 educational, 1 hot take, 1 personal) | {topic} | | W2 | ... | ... | ... |

Content mix rule (per channel)

• 80/20: 80% value (educate / entertain), 20% promote
• Don't post when you have nothing to say — skip a slot rather than post filler

Gate

• [ ] 3–5 pillars defined with audience rationale
• [ ] Calendar drafted for ≥4 weeks
• [ ] Channels matched to audience habits

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Phase 3: WRITE

Goal: draft the actual content. One format at a time.

Blog post structure (long-form, SEO)

TITLE (≤60 chars, includes primary keyword)
META DESCRIPTION (≤155 chars, includes primary keyword + CTA)

H1 (matches title or close variant)

HOOK (2–3 sentences: the problem the reader has)

TL;DR (3 bullets: the answer up front)

H2: Problem context — why this matters now
H2: The solution — your main argument / approach
   H3: Step 1 / Aspect 1
   H3: Step 2
   H3: Step 3
H2: Common pitfalls — what NOT to do
H2: Real example — actual code / screenshot / case
H2: Next steps — what to do today

CTA (1 line: try the product / subscribe / share)

Target length: 1200–2500 words for SEO; 500–1000 for opinion pieces.

Social thread (X / LinkedIn)

HOOK (1–2 lines — must work alone in the feed)
↓
3–7 posts each ≤280 chars
- Each post stands alone if shared
- One idea per post
- Use line breaks
↓
CTA (link to blog / signup)

Newsletter

SUBJECT (≤50 chars, curiosity > clickbait)
PREVIEW TEXT (≤90 chars, complements subject)

GREETING (personal, 1–2 lines)

MAIN STORY (1 idea, 200–400 words)

LINKS (3–5 curated, with 1-line why-it-matters)

CTA (one ask only)

SIGNATURE

Writing rules

• One idea per paragraph (≤4 lines)
• Active voice ("the API returns" not "is returned by the API")
• Concrete > abstract (numbers, code, screenshots, names)
• Cut filler: "in order to" → "to", "due to the fact that" → "because", "very important" → "critical"
• Read aloud before publishing — if you stumble, rewrite

Gate

• [ ] Draft matches the format's structure
• [ ] Primary keyword in title + H1 + first 100 words (blog)
• [ ] Read aloud — no stumbles
• [ ] At least 1 concrete example (number, code, screenshot, name)

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Phase 4: OPTIMIZE

Goal: make the content perform.

Combined checklist (SEO + quality)

• [ ] Title ≤60 chars, includes primary keyword
• [ ] Meta description ≤155 chars
• [ ] H1 matches search intent
• [ ] H2/H3 use related keywords naturally
• [ ] Alt text on all images
• [ ] Internal links to ≥2 related posts
• [ ] External links to ≥1 authoritative source per major claim
• [ ] No keyword stuffing (read naturally)
• [ ] Mobile-friendly: short paragraphs, clear hierarchy
• [ ] Reading level appropriate for audience (Hemingway grade ≤10 for general)
• [ ] No typos (run a checker)

Gate

• [ ] All checklist items pass (or explicit waiver)

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Phase 5: DISTRIBUTE

Goal: get the content in front of the right people.

Per-channel adaptation

| Channel | Adaptation | |---------|------------| | Blog | Full piece, optimized for search | | X | Thread of 3–7 posts pulling key insights + link to blog | | LinkedIn | 1 long-form post (200–500 words), no link in body (link in comments) | | Dev.to / Hashnode | Republish blog with canonical link to original | | Reddit | Comment in relevant thread first, then share post only if community allows | | Newsletter | Featured story or short blurb + link | | YouTube Shorts / TikTok | 30–60 sec extract of key insight |

Tracking

• UTM tags per channel: ?utm_source=X&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign={pillar}
• Track per piece: views, time-on-page, scroll depth, conversions
• Iterate: double down on what works, kill what doesn't after 3 attempts

Gate

• [ ] Adapted for each chosen channel
• [ ] UTM tags applied
• [ ] Tracking in place

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Final Report

## Content Plan: {brand / campaign}

### Strategy
- Pillars: {list}
- Audience: {one line}
- Goal: {primary}

### Calendar (next 4 weeks)
{table}

### Pieces Drafted
| Title | Format | Status | Channel |
|-------|--------|--------|---------|
| ... | blog | published | site + X + LinkedIn |

### Metrics to Watch
- {KPI 1, baseline → target}
- {KPI 2}

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Hard Rules

• One idea per piece — if you have two, write two pieces
• No filler — every paragraph earns its place
• No keyword stuffing — write for humans first, search engines second
• Skip a slot rather than post filler
• Iterate based on data — kill what doesn't work after 3 attempts

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Related Skills

| When | Use | |------|-----| | Building brand identity (logo + colors) | /marketing-logo | | Creating video scripts / storyboards | /marketing-video | | Building a full marketing plan | /marketing (combines all three) | | Writing project documentation | /docs-write |

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Recommended Agents

| Phase | Agent | Purpose | |-------|-------|---------| | RESEARCH | @docs-writer | Document research findings | | PLAN | @clean-architect | Structure pillars and calendar | | WRITE | @docs-writer | Draft pieces | | OPTIMIZE | @security-audit | Check for sensitive content / claims | | DISTRIBUTE | @docs-writer | Channel adaptations |