content-engine

name	content-engine
description	Produces multi-format content strategies with editorial calendars, content briefs, and multiplication workflows. Use when building a content marketing engine, planning blog/newsletter cadence, or creating content briefs.

Content Engine

Reference

• ID: S-GRO-07
• Category: Growth / Content
• Inputs: company.config.yaml, positioning-messaging output, seo-topic-map output, product context
• Outputs: editorial calendar → artifacts/growth/, content briefs → artifacts/growth/
• Used by: Growth Agent
• Tool scripts: ./tools/artifact/validate.sh

Purpose

Build a sustainable content marketing engine that goes beyond one-off landing pages. Produces editorial calendars with publishing cadence, content briefs for each piece, and a content multiplication workflow that transforms one pillar piece into 5+ derivative assets across formats. Works downstream of seo-topic-map (which provides keywords and clusters) and positioning-messaging (which provides voice and narrative).

When to Use

• Setting up content marketing for the first time
• Planning quarterly/monthly editorial calendar
• Creating content briefs for specific pieces
• Building a content multiplication workflow (blog → social → email → video)
• Auditing content performance and planning refreshes

Procedure

Step 1: Load Context

1. Read company.config.yaml -- product, domain, stage, platforms
2. Read positioning-messaging output in artifacts/growth/ -- brand voice, value propositions
3. Read seo-topic-map output -- keyword clusters, pillar pages
4. Read email-lifecycle output -- newsletter cadence (content must feed email sequences)
5. Read channel-playbook output -- which platforms are active (determines derivative formats)

Step 2: Define Content Strategy

1. Set content mission: "Help [ICP] achieve [outcome] through [content type]"
2. Define content pillars (3-5 topics aligned with keyword clusters and brand expertise)
3. Set publishing cadence based on company stage:
   • idea/mvp: 1 piece/week (quality over quantity)
   • growth: 2-3 pieces/week
   • scale: daily across multiple formats
4. Define content formats:
   • Blog posts: 800-2000 words, SEO-optimized, educational
   • Case studies: customer stories, problem -> solution -> results
   • Tutorials: step-by-step guides, code examples if relevant
   • Comparisons: vs. competitor pages, alternative-to pages
   • Newsletters: curated digest, 1x/week or 2x/month
   • Social posts: derivatives from pillar content
   • Video scripts: outline for YouTube/Loom content (optional)

Step 3: Build Editorial Calendar

Produce a rolling 4-week editorial calendar:

## Editorial Calendar -- [Month Year]

| Week | Pillar | Format | Title/Topic | Target Keyword | Status |
|------|--------|--------|-------------|----------------|--------|
| W1 | [Pillar 1] | Blog | [Working title] | [keyword] | Draft |
| W1 | [Pillar 1] | Social (3x) | Derivatives from blog | -- | Pending |
| W2 | [Pillar 2] | Tutorial | [Working title] | [keyword] | Draft |
| W2 | [Pillar 2] | Newsletter | Digest + tutorial excerpt | -- | Pending |
| W3 | [Pillar 3] | Case Study | [Customer story] | [keyword] | Draft |
| W4 | [Pillar 1] | Comparison | [vs. Competitor X] | [keyword] | Draft |

Include: pillar rotation, format variety, keyword targeting, dependencies.

Step 4: Produce Content Briefs

For each content piece in the calendar, produce a brief:

1. Title & Working Title: SEO-optimized title + internal working title
2. Target Keyword: Primary keyword + 2-3 secondary keywords (from seo-topic-map)
3. Content Type: Blog / Tutorial / Case Study / Comparison / Newsletter
4. Target Length: Word count range
5. Audience: Which ICP segment
6. Outline: H2/H3 structure with key points per section
7. CTA: What action should the reader take next
8. Internal Links: Which existing content to link to (from topic map clusters)
9. SEO Checklist: Title tag, meta description, alt text guidance, URL slug
10. Distribution: Where this piece will be shared (channels from channel-playbook)

Step 5: Content Multiplication Workflow

Define how each pillar piece generates 5+ derivatives:

1 Blog Post (pillar)
+-- 3 Social Posts (key takeaways as individual posts)
|   +-- Twitter/X: thread or single post
|   +-- LinkedIn: professional angle
|   +-- Instagram: visual card or carousel
+-- 1 Newsletter Excerpt (summary + link)
+-- 1 Email Sequence Entry (drip campaign content)
+-- 1 Video Script Outline (talking points for 3-5 min video)
+-- 1 Community Post (Reddit/HN value-first version)

Solo Founder Mode (idea/mvp stage):

Priority order for content multiplication:

1. Primary piece (blog post, guide, or video)
2. Community post (highest leverage per effort — Reddit, HN, Indie Hackers, relevant Slack)
3. Newsletter excerpt (if email list exists)

Social posts are copy-paste from community post. Video script and email sequence deferred to growth stage. Focus on depth over breadth — one great piece per week beats five mediocre ones.

Rules:

• Each derivative adapts tone and format for its platform (reference channel-playbook)
• Derivatives should be publishable standalone (not just "read our blog post")
• Schedule derivatives across the week (don't dump everything on publish day)
• Track which derivatives were created for each pillar piece

Step 6: Content Performance Framework

Define metrics to track per piece:

• Traffic: pageviews, unique visitors, time on page
• Engagement: scroll depth, comments, shares, saves
• Conversion: CTA clicks, sign-ups, demo requests attributed to content
• SEO: ranking position for target keyword, organic traffic over time

Define review cadence:

• Weekly: check new content performance
• Monthly: review top/bottom performers, adjust calendar
• Quarterly: audit all content, refresh/prune underperformers

Step 7: Validate and Save

1. Save editorial calendar to artifacts/growth/content-calendar-{quarter}.md
2. Save content briefs to artifacts/growth/content-brief-{title}.md
3. Run ./tools/artifact/validate.sh on all artifacts
4. Link to seo-topic-map and positioning-messaging artifacts

Quality Checklist

• Content mission statement defined
• 3-5 content pillars aligned with keyword clusters
• Publishing cadence is realistic for company stage
• Editorial calendar covers at least 4 weeks
• Each piece has a content brief with outline and CTA
• Content multiplication workflow defined (1 piece -> 5+ derivatives)
• Performance metrics defined per content type
• Internal linking strategy references seo-topic-map
• Artifacts have valid frontmatter

Cross-References

• seo-topic-map: Provides keyword clusters and pillar page structure that content-engine fills with actual content plans
• positioning-messaging: Provides brand voice and value propositions that guide content tone
• channel-playbook: Defines active platforms that determine derivative formats
• email-lifecycle: Newsletter and drip sequences consume content from the engine
• landing-page-copy: Landing pages may reference or link to content pieces