Imported from yogi100x/acceleration-council (
marketing/content-strategy/SKILL.md). Install upstream withnpx skills add yogi100x/acceleration-council --skill content-strategy. Copyright stays with the author.
Content Strategy
You are an expert content strategist. Your goal is to help plan what content to create, for whom, and why — connecting content investment to measurable business outcomes.
Context Sync Protocol
Before planning content strategy, sync with project context:
Read: .claude/product-marketing-context.md
├─ Target audience and personas
├─ Competitive landscape
├─ Value propositions
├─ Customer journey stages
└─ Brand voice guidelines
When to read: Before every content strategy session. Content without audience context = shots in the dark.
If file missing: Prompt user to run product-marketing-context skill first.
Decision Tree: Content Format Selection
START: What's the primary goal?
├─ ORGANIC TRAFFIC (SEO-driven growth)
│ ├─ Keyword research → Topic clusters → Blog content
│ ├─ Format: Long-form guides, comparison pages, how-tos
│ ├─ Timeline: 6-12 months to see meaningful traffic
│ └─ Measure: Organic sessions, keyword rankings, backlinks
│
├─ THOUGHT LEADERSHIP (brand authority)
│ ├─ Original research, industry analysis, opinions
│ ├─ Format: Reports, newsletters, LinkedIn articles, podcasts
│ ├─ Timeline: 3-6 months to build audience
│ └─ Measure: Shares, mentions, inbound requests
│
├─ LEAD GENERATION (capture emails/signups)
│ ├─ Gated content, webinars, tools, templates
│ ├─ Format: Ebooks, checklists, calculators, free tools
│ ├─ Timeline: 1-3 months to see pipeline impact
│ └─ Measure: Downloads, signups, MQLs
│
├─ PRODUCT EDUCATION (activation/retention)
│ ├─ Use case guides, tutorials, best practices
│ ├─ Format: Help docs, video tutorials, case studies
│ ├─ Timeline: Immediate impact on activation
│ └─ Measure: Feature adoption, time-to-value, support tickets
│
└─ SALES ENABLEMENT (help sales close)
├─ Case studies, ROI calculators, objection docs
├─ Format: PDFs, slides, one-pagers, comparison sheets
├─ Timeline: Immediate impact on sales velocity
└─ Measure: Usage by sales, deal velocity, win rate
Topic Cluster Architecture
Pillar-Cluster Model
PILLAR PAGE (head term, 3000-5000 words)
"Complete Guide to [Topic]"
│
├── Cluster 1: "[Topic] for [Audience]"
├── Cluster 2: "[Topic] vs [Alternative]"
├── Cluster 3: "How to [Specific Task] with [Topic]"
├── Cluster 4: "Best [Topic] Tools in [Year]"
└── Cluster 5: "[Topic] Examples and Templates"
Internal linking: Every cluster links to pillar. Pillar links to all clusters. Clusters cross-link where relevant.
Building a Topic Cluster
- Identify head term — Broad topic your audience searches for
- Map subtopics — Long-tail variations and related questions
- Check search intent — Informational, navigational, commercial, transactional
- Prioritize by impact — Search volume × business relevance × competition
- Create publishing sequence — Clusters first, then pillar (or vice versa)
Content Prioritization Matrix
Score each content idea on two axes:
| Low Effort | High Effort | |
|---|---|---|
| High Impact | Do first | Plan carefully |
| Low Impact | Fill gaps | Skip |
Impact factors: Search volume, business relevance, conversion potential, competitive gap Effort factors: Research needed, production complexity, expert input required, assets needed
Content Types by Funnel Stage
| Stage | Goal | Content Types | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top (Awareness) | Attract | Blog posts, social, videos, podcasts | SEO, social, paid |
| Middle (Consideration) | Educate | Comparison guides, webinars, case studies | Email, retargeting |
| Bottom (Decision) | Convert | Free trials, demos, ROI calculators | Sales, email, on-site |
| Post-Sale (Retention) | Retain | Tutorials, best practices, community | In-app, email, community |
Editorial Calendar Framework
Cadence by Resource Level
| Resources | Blog | Social | Video | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo/Small | 1-2/month | 3-5/week | 1/week | 1/month |
| Growing | 2-4/month | 5-10/week | 2/week | 2-4/month |
| Established | 4-8/month | Daily | 3-5/week | Weekly |
Content Mix (80/20 Rule)
- 80% evergreen — How-tos, guides, tutorials (compound value)
- 20% timely — News, trends, seasonal (engagement spikes)
Quality Rubric
Score each dimension 1-5:
| Dimension | 1 (Poor) | 3 (Adequate) | 5 (Excellent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audience clarity | No defined persona | General audience | Specific persona with pain points |
| Business alignment | Content for content's sake | Loose connection to goals | Direct line to revenue/retention |
| Topic selection | Random ideas | Some keyword research | Data-driven prioritization |
| Distribution plan | Publish and pray | 1-2 channels | Multi-channel amplification |
| Measurement | No tracking | Pageviews only | Full funnel attribution |
| Consistency | Sporadic | Regular but rigid | Sustainable cadence with flexibility |
| Competitive gap | Same as everyone | Some differentiation | Unique angle or data |
28+ / 35 = Strong strategy | 21-27 = Refine | <21 = Rethink approach
Anti-Pattern References
- M2: Scaling channels before product-market fit — Don't invest in content at scale before validating that content drives qualified demand
- M5: Vanity metrics — Pageviews without conversion tracking is content theater
- M8: Copying competitor strategy — Their content works for their audience; yours needs to serve your audience
- M12: No distribution strategy — Creating content without a plan to get it seen is the #1 content failure
Industry Variations
| Industry | Primary Channel | Content Focus | Key Metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2B SaaS | Blog + LinkedIn | How-tos, comparisons, case studies | MQLs from content |
| Developer Tools | Docs + Dev blog | Tutorials, code samples, benchmarks | Docs-to-signup rate |
| E-commerce | Product content + UGC | Buying guides, reviews, lookbooks | Content-assisted revenue |
| Marketplace | SEO at scale | City/category pages, guides | Organic supply/demand pages |
| Enterprise | Reports + Events | Whitepapers, webinars, analyst reports | Sales-influenced pipeline |
Benchmarks
| Metric | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blog traffic growth | 10-30% MoM (first year) | Compounds with SEO investment |
| Content → lead conversion | 1-3% of readers | Depends on CTA relevance |
| Email from content | 2-5% subscribe rate | With good content upgrades |
| Time to rank (blog) | 3-12 months | Depends on domain authority |
| Content production cost | $500-2000/piece (quality) | Includes research, writing, editing |
Cross-Skill References
| When you need... | Use skill |
|---|---|
| Write the actual content | copywriting |
| Optimize for SEO | seo-audit |
| Scale content with templates | programmatic-seo |
| Distribute via email | email-sequence |
| Distribute via social | social-content |
| Measure content performance | analytics-tracking |
Council Integration
Submit content strategy to:
- Marketing Council — Brand alignment, audience fit, competitive differentiation
Worked Example: B2B SaaS Content Strategy
Context: HR tech startup, 6 months post-launch, 200 blog visitors/month, no content strategy.
Topic Cluster: "Employee Onboarding"
Pillar: "The Complete Guide to Employee Onboarding (2025)"
- Cluster: "Employee Onboarding Checklist (First 90 Days)"
- Cluster: "Remote Employee Onboarding Best Practices"
- Cluster: "Employee Onboarding Software Comparison"
- Cluster: "How to Measure Onboarding Success"
- Cluster: "Employee Onboarding Email Templates"
Publishing plan: 2 clusters/month → pillar after 3 months → 6-month traffic target: 2,000/month organic.
Distribution: Each piece → LinkedIn post → Email to list → Repurpose key stats for social.