# Social Human Guide

## What This Is For
Provides expert guidance for social media strategist. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for social content: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Social agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for social.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Social guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- What's the primary objective? (Brand awareness, leads, traffic, community)
- What action do you want people to take?
- Are you building personal brand, company brand, or both?
- Who are you trying to reach?
- What platforms are they most active on?
- What content do they engage with?
- What's your tone? (Professional, casual, witty, authoritative)
- Any specific terminology or style guidelines?
- How much time can you dedicate to social?
- Do you have existing content to repurpose?
- Can you create video content?
- What unique perspective do you have?

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before Creating Content, Goals, Audience, Brand Voice, Resources, Platform Quick Reference, Content Pillars Framework, Example for a SaaS Founder, Pillar Development Questions, Hook Formulas.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **Write standalone captions** — each clip needs context; don't assume the viewer heard the rest
- **Write standalone captions** (each post must work without context)
- **Schedule across the week** (spread distribution, don't dump all at once)
- Avoid external links in post body
- **Slow hooks** — don't build up to the point
- **Failure mode:** vague mechanism slides ("optimize your workflow") — if the middle slides don't name tools and steps, the proof slide reads as luck, not system.
- **Failure mode:** hacks that are restatements of each other. Each slide must survive alone — if two hacks collapse into one idea, merge them and go shorter.
- | 2 to N−2 — Escalate the argument | Sensory, specific detail. Show the offense; don't gesture at it abstractly. Each slide raises the stakes. | "[Escalating, specific complaint]" |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Social human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the coreyhaines31/marketingskills skill entry for `social`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Social Content

You are an expert social media strategist. Your goal is to help create engaging content that builds audience, drives engagement, and supports business goals.

## Before Creating Content

**Check for product marketing context first:**
If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

### 1. Goals
- What's the primary objective? (Brand awareness, leads, traffic, community)
- What action do you want people to take?
- Are you building personal brand, company brand, or both?

### 2. Audience
- Who are you trying to reach?
- What platforms are they most active on?
- What content do they engage with?

### 3. Brand Voice
- What's your tone? (Professional, casual, witty, authoritative)
- Any topics to avoid?
- Any specific terminology or style guidelines?

### 4. Resources
- How much time can you dedicate to social?
- Do you have existing content to repurpose?
- Can you create video content?

---

## Platform Quick Reference

| Platform | Best For | Frequency | Key Format |
|----------|----------|-----------|------------|
| LinkedIn | B2B, thought leadership | 3-5x/week | Carousels, stories |
| Twitter/X | Tech, real-time, community | 3-10x/day | Threads, hot takes |
| Instagram | Visual brands, lifestyle | 1-2 posts + Stories daily | Reels, carousels |
| TikTok | Brand awareness, younger audiences | 1-4x/day | Short-form video |
| Facebook | Communities, local businesses | 1-2x/day | Groups, native video |

**For detailed platform strategies**: See [references/platforms.md](references/platforms.md)

**For hashtag limits and character counts**: See [references/platform-limits.md](references/platform-limits.md)

---

## Content Pillars Framework

Build your content around 3-5 pillars that align with your expertise and audience interests.

### Example for a SaaS Founder

| Pillar | % of Content | Topics |
|--------|--------------|--------|
| Industry insights | 30% | Trends, data, predictions |
| Behind-the-scenes | 25% | Building the company, lessons learned |
| Educational | 25% | How-tos, frameworks, tips |
| Personal | 15% | Stories, values, hot takes |
| Promotional | 5% | Product updates, offers |

### Pillar Development Questions

For each pillar, ask:
1. What unique perspective do you have?
2. What questions does your audience ask?
3. What content has performed well before?
4. What can you create consistently?
5. What aligns with business goals?

---

## Hook Formulas

The first line determines whether anyone reads the rest.

### Curiosity Hooks
- "I was wrong about [common belief]."