Content opportunity selection

This playbook defines the end-to-end operation for evaluating inbound audience evidence, customer call transcripts, observed search query performance on the property, and existing published assets to approve actionable content briefs and assign production owners. One run processes one bounded planning batch or candidate topic cluster from receipt of raw operational inputs to confirmed editorial assignments. The executing agent assesses evidence quality, flags library duplication or cannibalization risks, and prepares structured briefs. The human editorial lead retains sole authority to approve topic scope, determine production priority, and assign contributors. If source data is missing, access is unavailable, or a topic is declined, the agent records the exact rationale and updates the planning board or export artifact without executing unauthorized assignments or external publishing actions.

• Information request. Present the operational inputs to the editorial lead or designated intake owner if transcripts, property search performance exports, or published library indexes are missing or unreadable. Specify the required date ranges, search query tables, or transcript identifiers. Await the confirmed files or proceed with an explicitly documented partial evidence set if authorized by the owner.
• Assemble and verify audience demand evidence across supplied sources. Extract recurrent customer pain points, verbatim objections, and specific technical queries from call transcripts. Correlate those qualitative findings with observed Google Search Console impressions, click-through rates, and query trends for this property. Treat Search Console impressions as observed visibility on verified pages, not total market search volume or definitive buyer intent. Check each candidate theme against the existing content catalog and published URLs in Notion, beehiiv, or YouTube to prevent keyword cannibalization and redundant drafting. If a candidate topic duplicates an active URL, evaluate whether the evidence warrants a targeted content refresh or a distinct advanced perspective.
• Construct a comprehensive editorial brief for each validated topic opportunity. Include the primary working title, target audience persona, observed property search queries, verified customer quotes, key takeaways, proposed content format, and distribution channels. List specific technical proof points, product documentation links, and boundary constraints to guide the writer.
• Approval. Submit the completed content brief, qualitative evidence summary, observed property query metrics, and duplicate check findings to the editorial lead for formal review. Present the proposed production timeline and recommended internal writer or freelance contributor. If the lead requests revisions to the angle or scope, update the brief accordingly and resubmit. If the lead approves the brief, capture the assigned writer and delivery deadline. If the lead declines the topic, record the specific reason in the opportunity log and mark the candidate item as declined.
• Coordinate production handoff upon receiving explicit approval. If an integrated editorial board or messaging tool is configured and available, create or update the tracking card with the approved brief, reference links, assigned writer, and scheduled due date, then transmit the assignment notice. If the board or messaging tool is unconfigured or unavailable, generate a standardized markdown brief export in the approved destination folder and notify the assigned writer via email draft or designated manual channel. Read back the updated board record, file confirmation, or manual handoff receipt to verify task creation, assigned ownership, and state transition.
• Exception. Report an exception to the editorial lead if the planning board record fails to update, file export writes fail, the assigned writer is unavailable, or external API tools encounter persistent connection errors. Present the specific error message, affected brief identifier, and manual handoff fallback details. Await the lead's instruction to retry the write, reassign the brief, or complete the handoff through manual confirmation.
• In a fictional illustrative scenario during a bi-weekly planning review, an analysis of six customer success onboarding transcripts reveals recurring confusion regarding webhook retry limits, while Google Search Console logs 350 monthly impressions for related error queries on the company documentation domain. The duplicate check discovers an introductory setup guide published eight months earlier that mentions webhooks in passing but lacks operational failure handling. The agent frames an advanced troubleshooting brief and submits it to the managing editor. The editor reviews the customer quotes, accepts the recommended standalone deep-dive instead of an article revision, assigns the piece to an engineering technical writer, and sets a two-week milestone. The agent writes the task to the planning board, confirms the card exists in the active backlog, and notifies the writer.
• The run completes when the editorial lead either approves the brief and the assigned board task or export file handoff is verified, or explicitly declines the topic with an attributed rationale recorded in the planning archive. If the lead defers a decision pending additional customer research, retain the draft brief in a pending review state with a designated follow-up checkpoint. An unconfirmed board write, unverified file export, or pending manual handoff does not constitute completed delivery.