Social Content
When to Use
- Building a LinkedIn authority or thought leadership system from scratch.
- Defining content pillars and weekly posting rhythm.
- Writing individual posts with strong hooks.
- Creating a content calendar with real dates and ready-to-write hooks.
- Establishing positioning before content creation begins.
- Reviewing 30-day performance and adjusting content ratios.
Context Required
From startup-context or the user:
- Positioning statement — Your one-liner: who you help, what you do, how you are different. If the user lacks this, help them clarify it before building a content system.
- Target audience — Specific titles, company stages, industries on LinkedIn
- Historical performance — Past posting data, what worked, what fell flat (if any)
- Content goal — Leads, job opportunities, speaking invitations, partnerships, or community
- Time commitment — Realistic weekly hours available for content creation and engagement
A critical gate: positioning clarity must come first. An unfocused content system produces unfocused results. If the user cannot articulate who they serve and why they are different, address that before building pillars.
Workflow
- Clarify positioning — Confirm or develop the user's one-liner. This is the foundation. Every pillar, hook, and post must connect back to this positioning.
- Select mode based on need:
- Quick: 3 content pillars + 1-week starter plan (for getting unstuck) - Standard: Full system with pillars, formats, rhythm, and first week of posts written (default) - Deep: Complete 90-day calendar with 10 written posts and engagement strategy
- Build content pillars — Each pillar must satisfy four criteria:
- You have genuine expertise in this area - Your target audience genuinely cares about this topic - You can sustain 6+ months of content on this pillar - It connects to your revenue or stated objective
- Allocate pillar ratios:
- 70% core expertise — Authority-building content that demonstrates deep knowledge - 20% adjacent insights — Differentiation content connecting your expertise to unexpected areas - 10% personal content — Relatability, behind-the-scenes, founder journey
- Assign format strategy per pillar:
- Story posts — Drive connection and high engagement through narrative tension and personal insight - Framework/list posts — Establish authority and credibility through structured thinking - Case studies — Build trust through proof and results - Hot takes — Generate visibility through informed contrarian opinions - Behind-the-scenes — Create relatability and relationship depth - Recommended weekly mix: 2-3 frameworks, 1-2 stories, 1 proof point
- Build the calendar — Use actual dates (YYYY-MM-DD), not generic placeholders. Provide 4-week calendars with real hooks ready for immediate writing. Include 5 starter post hooks to eliminate blank-page paralysis.
- Write the first batch — For standard and deep modes, write complete posts with hooks, body, and CTAs. Posts should be 150-300 words, short paragraphs (1-2 sentences), end with a question or discussion prompt.
Output Format
- Positioning statement — Confirmed or refined one-liner
- Content pillars — 3-5 pillars with rationale, percentage allocation, and format assignments
- 4-week calendar — Real dates, assigned pillar, format, and hook for each post
- Written posts — Complete ready-to-publish posts (quantity depends on mode)
- Engagement strategy — Daily engagement routine with time allocation
- 30-day review criteria — What to measure and how to adjust
Frameworks & Best Practices
The Core Philosophy
"Being remembered by the right 500 people when they need what you do — that pays your bills." This is not about going viral. It is about consistent, positioned content that makes you the obvious choice when your audience has a need.
Content Pillar Validation
Reject any pillar that fails even one of these tests:
- Do you have genuine expertise here? (Not "interested in" — actually expert)
- Does your target audience search for, discuss, or struggle with this?
- Can you generate 50+ unique post ideas in this space?
- Does it connect to how you make money or achieve your stated goal?
Hook Formulas
The first 1-2 lines determine whether anyone reads the rest:
- Contrarian: "Most [people] think [common belief]. They're wrong."
- Specific result: "I [did X] and [got Y result] in [timeframe]."
- Curiosity list: "5 things I wish I knew about [topic] before [experience]."
- Story opener: "Last week, a [person] told me something that changed how I think about [topic]."
- Bold claim: "[Counterintuitive statement]. Here's why:"
Platform-Native LinkedIn Rules
- Start with a hook line that earns the "see more" click
- Short paragraphs (1-2 sentences), generous line breaks
- 150-300 words optimal length
- End with a question to drive comments
- No hashtags in body text; add 3-5 relevant hashtags at the end
- Personal accounts consistently outperform brand accounts in B2B
Engagement Strategy
- Spend 15-20 minutes before and after posting to engage with others' content
- Reply to every comment on your posts within the first 2 hours (algorithm signal)
- Comment on 5-10 posts from ICP members or industry voices daily
- Comments must add value: share an insight, ask a follow-up question, offer a personal experience. No "Great post!" comments.
30-Day Review Process
After 30 days, analyze which pillars generated: comments, DMs, profile views, and impressions. Adjust content ratios based on what actually resonated, not what you assumed would work.
Consistency Over Virality
One viral post means nothing without a consistent presence. Show up regularly with positioned content and compounding does the rest. Post 3-5 times per week on LinkedIn.
Related Skills
content-strategy— when social content is part of a broader content ecosystememail-marketing— when social content drives newsletter signups or email content is repurposed for sociallaunch-strategy— when social content is part of a coordinated product launch
Examples
Example 1: Founder needs a LinkedIn system
"I'm the CEO of a dev tools startup. I post occasionally but have no strategy."
Good output: Confirms positioning ("I help engineering teams ship faster by catching API failures before customers do"). Defines 3 pillars: engineering leadership lessons (70%), building-in-public product updates (20%), founder journey (10%). Provides a 4-week calendar with real dates, each entry having a pillar, format, and hook. Writes 5 complete posts for week 1. Includes a daily 20-minute engagement routine targeting CTO and VP Engineering posts.
Example 2: Founder stuck on what to post
"I know I should post on LinkedIn but I stare at a blank page every time."
Good output (Quick mode): Identifies 3 pillars from a brief conversation. Provides 5 starter hooks with the first lines already written. Gives a 1-week plan with one post per day, each mapped to a pillar and format. Focus is on eliminating the blank-page problem and building the habit.