marketing-brand

name	marketing-brand
description	Focus on distribution over creation with the 80/20 principle—brand voice, pillar content strategy, SEO playbook, PR templates, and community building from lurker to ambassador. Use when building brand presence, planning content strategy, crafting PR outreach, or growing a community.

Marketing & Brand

Core Principle

Spend 20% of your time creating and 80% distributing. The best content nobody sees is worse than good content everyone shares.

The 80/20 Distribution Rule

For every piece of content:
  20% — Create it (write, design, record)
  80% — Distribute it (repurpose, share, promote, engage)

One blog post becomes:
  → 5-10 social posts (different angles)
  → 1 email newsletter feature
  → 1 Twitter/X thread
  → 1 LinkedIn article
  → 3-5 comments on related discussions
  → 1 community post

Brand Voice Definition

Voice Attributes Framework

Step 1: Choose 3-5 voice attributes
  Examples: Bold, Approachable, Technical, Witty, Empathetic

Step 2: Define each with "this, not that"
  Bold: Confident opinions, not aggressive arguments
  Approachable: Casual and clear, not dumbed down
  Technical: Precise when it matters, not jargon-heavy

Step 3: Write sample sentences in your voice
  On-brand: "Here's what we learned shipping to 1,000 users in 30 days."
  Off-brand: "We are pleased to announce the successful deployment of..."

Voice Consistency Checklist

Element	Questions
Tone	Would this sound natural if I said it in conversation?
Vocabulary	Am I using words my customer uses?
Perspective	Am I talking about them, not us?
Energy	Does this match our brand personality?

Pillar Content Strategy

The Content Pyramid

PILLAR (1/month)
  Deep, comprehensive piece — 2,000+ words, original research or framework
  → Establishes authority on a core topic

  CLUSTER (4-8/month)
    Supporting content answering specific questions within the pillar topic
    → Blog posts, guides, tutorials — 500-1,000 words each

    MICRO (daily-weekly)
      Social posts, comments, snippets from pillar and cluster content
      → Tweets, LinkedIn posts, newsletter highlights, community answers

Content Calendar Template

Week	Pillar	Cluster Posts	Distribution
1	Publish pillar piece	2 supporting posts	Social, newsletter, communities
2	—	2 supporting posts	Repurpose pillar into thread + video
3	—	2 supporting posts	Guest post or podcast pitch
4	Next pillar research	2 supporting posts	Round up month's best performing

SEO Playbook

Keyword Strategy for Startups

1. Start with long-tail, low competition keywords
   BAD: "project management software" (DR 90+ competitors)
   GOOD: "project management for 2-person dev teams" (achievable)

2. Match intent to content type
   Informational: "how to..." → Blog post, guide
   Navigational: "[brand] pricing" → Landing page
   Commercial: "best [tool] for [use case]" → Comparison page
   Transactional: "[tool] free trial" → Product page

3. Build topical authority
   Write 10-15 pieces on one topic cluster before moving to the next.
   Google rewards depth, not breadth.

On-Page SEO Checklist

- [ ] Primary keyword in title, H1, first 100 words, and URL slug
- [ ] 2-3 related keywords used naturally throughout
- [ ] Meta description under 155 characters with keyword and CTA
- [ ] Internal links to 3-5 related pages
- [ ] At least one external link to authoritative source
- [ ] Images with descriptive alt text
- [ ] Page loads under 3 seconds

PR Templates

Journalist Pitch Template

Subject: [Specific angle] — [Company name]

Hi [First name],

I noticed you cover [beat]. [One sentence about why this is relevant now.]

[Company] just [milestone or launch] — [one sentence on what makes it
newsworthy].

Key data point: [Specific metric that makes a journalist's ears perk up.]

Happy to share more details or connect you with our founder for a quick
chat. No pressure either way.

[Your name]

Press Release Structure

Headline: [Company] [Action] to [Benefit for Users]
Subhead: [Supporting context with key metric]
Para 1: Who, what, when, where, why — the news
Para 2: Quote from founder (vision, not feature list)
Para 3: Supporting details, context, market need
Para 4: Quote from customer or partner (social proof)
Para 5: Availability, pricing, where to learn more
Boilerplate: About [Company] — one paragraph

Community Building Framework

The Lurker → Ambassador Pipeline

LURKER (passive reader)
  → Make content easy to consume without joining
  Action: Public content, no login walls

PARTICIPANT (occasional contributor)
  → Lower the barrier to first interaction
  Action: Welcome threads, easy-to-answer prompts

REGULAR (consistent contributor)
  → Recognize and reward consistency
  Action: Shoutouts, badges, early access to features

AMBASSADOR (community leader)
  → Give ownership and responsibility
  Action: Moderator roles, co-creation opportunities, advisory board

Brand Identity System

Voice alone is not a brand. A complete brand identity includes visual consistency — colors, typography, and how they're applied.

Color Palette Structure

Every brand needs three color groups:

MAIN COLORS (backgrounds, primary text)
  Dark:       #______  — Primary text and dark backgrounds
  Light:      #______  — Light backgrounds and text on dark
  Mid Gray:   #______  — Secondary elements
  Light Gray: #______  — Subtle backgrounds

ACCENT COLORS (CTAs, highlights, differentiation)
  Primary:    #______  — Main accent (buttons, links, emphasis)
  Secondary:  #______  — Supporting accent
  Tertiary:   #______  — Optional third accent

RULES:
  → One accent dominates. Never give all accents equal weight.
  → Test contrast ratios — 4.5:1 minimum for text on backgrounds.
  → Document hex values. Don't let "close enough" drift across pages.

Typography System

Choose two fonts maximum:

HEADING FONT: Distinctive, personality-driven
  → Carries the brand's visual identity
  → Used at 24pt and larger
  → Example: Poppins, Clash Display, Space Grotesk

BODY FONT: Readable, professional
  → Optimized for long-form text
  → Used for all body copy and UI text
  → Example: Lora, DM Sans, Source Serif Pro

FALLBACKS: Always define system font fallbacks
  → Heading: "Poppins", "Arial", sans-serif
  → Body: "Lora", "Georgia", serif

RULES:
  → Self-host fonts for performance and privacy
  → Use font-display: swap to prevent invisible text
  → Keep heading/body pairing consistent across all materials

Color Application Guidelines

Where to apply brand colors:

TEXT:
  → Headings: Main dark color
  → Body: Main dark color (slightly lighter for secondary)
  → Links: Primary accent color
  → Hover states: Darkened accent or underline shift

BACKGROUNDS:
  → Page backgrounds: Light/white
  → Card backgrounds: Light gray
  → Hero sections: Dark for impact, light for approachability
  → CTAs: Primary accent on light, inverted on dark

SHAPES & ACCENTS:
  → Non-text elements (icons, borders, dividers): cycle through accents
  → Use accent colors sparingly — they lose impact when overused

DARK MODE:
  → Swap main dark ↔ light
  → Keep accent colors or adjust brightness (not hue)
  → Test contrast ratios in both modes

Anti-Patterns

Marketing Theater	Real Marketing
Creating content nobody distributes	80% of time on distribution
"We need to be on every platform"	Own one channel before adding another
Brand guidelines nobody follows	3-5 voice attributes with "this, not that"
PR blasts to 500 journalists	10 personalized pitches to relevant writers
Community = broadcast channel	Community = conversations and relationships

Power Move

"Build a 90-day content strategy for [product/audience]. Define brand voice with 'this, not that' examples. Map out 3 pillar topics with cluster posts. Then write the first pillar piece and show me how to distribute it across 8+ touchpoints."

The agent becomes your marketing engine — creating once, distributing everywhere, and building an audience that compounds.