---
name: content-strategy
description: Plan content strategy, pick pillars, and prioritize topics backed by customer research. Use when the user says "content strategy", "what should I write about", "topic clusters", "editorial calendar", "content pillars", or "blog strategy". Not for writing individual pieces: use a copywriting skill. Not for SEO audits: use claude-seo. Not for competitor comparison pages: use competitors.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: TechTide AI (Alex Cinovoj)
  provenance: rewritten from patterns in an open SaaS marketing skills pack (MIT)
  category: Content & Publishing
---

# Content Strategy

Every piece must be searchable, shareable, or both, in that priority order, because search traffic compounds and social traffic evaporates. Topics come from customer evidence, not brainstorms.

## Workflow

1. **Load context.** Read any product marketing context file (`.agents/product-marketing.md` or `.claude/product-marketing.md`) first. Then gather what is missing: what the company does, ICP, content goal (traffic, leads, authority), current content and resources, main competitors.
2. **Mine evidence for topics.** Work the sources in references/ideation.md: keyword exports, sales and support call transcripts, survey responses, forum threads (Reddit, Quora, communities), competitor content gaps, and customer-facing teams. Every topic idea should carry its evidence ("asked in 6 of the last 10 sales calls").
3. **Classify each idea: searchable, shareable, or both.**
   - Searchable captures existing demand: target one keyword, match intent exactly, structure headings around search patterns, cover the question fully.
   - Shareable creates demand: novel insight, original data, a well-argued contrarian take, a story with stakes.
4. **Define 3-5 pillars.** The core topics the brand will own. Test each pillar: aligns with the product, matters to the ICP, has search or social interest, is broad enough to spawn 10+ subtopics. Map clusters under each pillar. Default all content to `/blog` with internal linking, dedicated hub URL structures only for major multi-layer resources.
5. **Map topics to buyer stage** using the modifier table in references/ideation.md (awareness "what is", consideration "best/vs", decision "pricing/reviews", implementation "templates/how to use").
6. **Score and rank.** Customer impact 40%, content-market fit 30%, search potential 20%, resource requirements 10%. Output a ranked table.
7. **Deliver.** Pillars with rationale, prioritized topic list (each with type, target keyword, buyer stage, and evidence), and a cluster map showing how pieces interlink.

## Verification

Do the evidence audit: for each of the top 10 recommended topics, expect a named evidence source (transcript quote, keyword data row, forum thread, support ticket pattern). Count how many rest only on "seems like a good topic". More than zero: go back to step 2 for those, or move them to a clearly labeled speculative list.

## Good vs Bad

**Bad:** "You should start a blog about productivity, AI trends, and company culture." No evidence, no connection to the product, no keyword or persona attached.

**Good:** "Pillar: client onboarding. Evidence: 'how do I get clients to fill out forms' appears in 8 of 20 sales calls and maps to a 1.9k/mo keyword cluster your competitors rank weakly for. First three spokes: intake-form templates (implementation intent, product-adjacent), 'client onboarding checklist' (awareness), 'best client portals' comparison (consideration)."

## Footguns

- **Strategy by brainstorm.** Topics invented in a meeting room rarely match what customers search or share. Fix: every topic carries an evidence tag.
- **All awareness, no money pages.** A blog of "what is X" posts builds traffic that never converts. Fix: cover all four buyer stages, weight consideration and decision for lead goals.
- **Premature hub/spoke URL architecture.** Custom `/guides/` structures for a 10-post blog add migration pain for zero gain. Fix: `/blog/post-title` until a topic proves deep enough.
- **Copying competitor calendars.** Their strategy fits their positioning and authority, not yours. Fix: use competitor analysis to find gaps, not to mirror.

## Completion checklist

- [ ] Context loaded, goal and ICP confirmed
- [ ] Topics mined from at least two evidence sources
- [ ] 3-5 pillars defined and tested against the four criteria
- [ ] Every top-10 topic has evidence, type, keyword, and buyer stage
- [ ] Scored ranking table and cluster map delivered

Any box unchecked: not done. Fix or say so.