You know that sinking feeling when you launch a campaign and… crickets?
I’ve been there. More times than I’d like to admit, actually.
Picture this: It’s 2 AM, you’re staring at yet another “creative brief” that basically says “make it pop,” and your AI tool is spitting out content that sounds like it could’ve come from literally any brand in your industry. Sound familiar?
Here’s what I learned the hard way after watching dozens of campaigns fall flat: We’re all jumping straight into content creation without building the foundation first.
And honestly? I get why. The pressure to ship content is real. Your boss is asking where this week’s LinkedIn posts are, competitors seem to be posting every damn day, and everyone feels like they’re drowning in the content hamster wheel.
But here’s the thing that took me way too long to figure out…
The Foundation Problem (Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Context)
Even the fanciest AI tools—and trust me, I’ve tried them all—will produce mediocre results if you feed them garbage context. It’s like asking someone to cook you dinner but only telling them “make it taste good.” Good luck with that.
I remember working with this tech startup last year. Brilliant product, smart team, decent budget. But their content felt… empty. Generic. Like they were speaking into the void.
The problem? They’d never actually documented who they were talking to or what made them different. They were just throwing content at the wall and hoping something would stick.
(Spoiler alert: Nothing stuck.)
That’s when I realized something pretty obvious in hindsight: Context is everything when working with AI and content creation. And to provide good context, you need these four artifacts that most brands completely skip over.
The 4 Artifacts That Changed Everything
Let me be real with you—I used to think this kind of strategic work was just corporate busywork. Boy, was I wrong.
1. The Brand Brief (Your Content GPS)
OK, I know “brand brief” sounds boring as hell. But think of it as your content GPS—without it, you’re just driving around hoping you’ll somehow end up where you need to be.
Your brand brief should actually answer these questions:
- Why does your brand exist? (And “to make money” isn’t an answer)
- Who are you talking to? Like, really talking to—not just “millennials who like technology”
- If your brand were a person at a party, what would they sound like?
- What are the 3-5 core things you want people to remember about you?
I learned this lesson working with a fintech company that kept producing content about “innovative solutions” and “streamlined processes.” Yawn. But when we dug deeper, we discovered their customers actually cared about feeling less anxious about money. Completely different messaging, way better results.
2. Competitive Landscape (Know Your Neighborhood)
This isn’t about copying what everyone else does—God knows we have enough of that already. It’s about understanding your neighborhood so you can find your own corner to own.
I spend way too much time lurking on competitor websites (don’t judge me), and you know what I’ve noticed? Most brands in the same space sound exactly the same. They’re all using the same buzzwords, making the same promises, targeting the same broad audience.
That’s actually good news for you.
When you map out what everyone else is doing, the gaps become obvious. Maybe everyone’s focused on enterprise customers but nobody’s talking to small businesses. Maybe they’re all emphasizing features but ignoring emotional benefits.
Actually, let me tell you about this marketing agency I worked with. Their competitive analysis revealed that every other agency was positioning themselves as “full-service” and “results-driven.” So predictable. We positioned them as the agency that actually explains what they’re doing and why. Simple differentiation, huge impact.
3. Product/Service Deep Dive (Beyond the Obvious Stuff)
This is where most teams think they’re done because, well, they built the thing—of course they know what it does.
But here’s what I’ve found: there’s a huge difference between knowing what your product does and understanding why people actually care.
I was working with this SaaS company that spent months talking about their “advanced analytics dashboard.” Technically accurate, sure. But their customers didn’t give a crap about advanced analytics. They cared about not looking stupid in Monday morning meetings.
Same product, completely different story.
You need to map out:
- What it actually does (the obvious part)
- Why that matters to real humans (the important part)
- How it fits into their day/life/workflow (the part everyone forgets)
- What outcome they really get (the part that drives decisions)
4. Customer Voice (Let Them Write Your Copy)
OK, this one’s my favorite because it’s basically cheating, but in a good way.
Your customers have already written your best marketing copy—they just don’t know it. Every review, every testimonial, every support ticket contains pure gold if you know how to mine it.
I was struggling with messaging for this productivity app until I started reading their App Store reviews. Customers kept saying things like “finally, something that doesn’t make me feel guilty about my to-do list.” That phrase—”doesn’t make me feel guilty”—became the core of their positioning.
You’re looking for:
- The exact words they use to describe their problems
- How they talk about your solution (usually way different than you’d expect)
- Unexpected benefits they mention
- The language that shows up over and over
Pro tip: Read the 3-star reviews. The 5-star ones are great for quotes, but the 3-star reviews tell you what really matters to people.
What Actually Happens When You Have These
Here’s where it gets interesting…
When you have these four artifacts locked down, something magical happens to your content creation process. Well, not magical exactly—more like logical, but it feels magical after dealing with generic content for so long.
Your AI prompts get scary good. Instead of “write a LinkedIn post about our product,” you can say “write a LinkedIn post for overwhelmed small business owners who feel like they’re drowning in admin work, using the conversational tone of a helpful friend who’s been there, addressing their fear that business tools are too complicated, and mentioning how our solution helped Sarah go from working 70-hour weeks to actually taking weekends off.”
See the difference?
Everything sounds like it comes from the same brand. No more Jekyll and Hyde content where your blog posts sound corporate but your social media sounds like it was written by a teenager.
People actually engage. Because you’re using language that resonates and addressing problems they actually have, not problems you think they should have.
I watched one client’s email open rates jump from 12% to 31% just by switching to customer language in their subject lines. Same content, different words.
The “But We Don’t Have Time” Problem
Look, I hear this objection every single week: “This sounds great, but we barely have time to create content, let alone research it.”
I get it. I really do.
But here’s what I tell everyone: You’re going to spend the time anyway. Either upfront doing this strategic work, or later wondering why your content isn’t working and having to fix it.
And honestly? Once you have these artifacts, content creation gets faster, not slower. You’re not starting from scratch every time, you’re not second-guessing your messaging, and you’re not going back and forth on tone because it’s already decided.
Making This Actually Happen (The Practical Stuff)
Alright, enough theory. Here’s how I actually implement this with teams:
Week 1: Brain dump everything. Don’t worry about making it pretty. Just get all the information out of people’s heads and into documents. Bullet points are fine.
Week 2: Talk to customers. I know, I know—everyone says this. But seriously, spend 30 minutes on the phone with 3-5 customers. Ask them about their challenges, how they found you, what they almost bought instead.
Week 3: Stalk your competitors. Sign up for their emails, follow their social media, read their case studies. Take notes on what they’re saying and how they’re saying it.
Week 4: Test and refine. Use these artifacts to create a few pieces of content and see what happens. Adjust based on results.
The key is treating these as living documents, not one-and-done deliverables. I update mine quarterly, sometimes monthly if things are moving fast.
The Automation Opportunity
Here’s where it gets really interesting for those of us who love efficiency…
Once you have these artifacts, you can build workflows that keep them updated automatically. Pull fresh reviews every month, run competitor analysis quarterly, update customer personas based on new data.
Actually, I’m working on a tool that does exactly this—analyzes any website URL and generates these four artifacts automatically. (I’m calling it the Brand DNA Extractor, which sounds way cooler than “brand strategy automation tool.”)
But even without fancy automation, you can set up simple processes to keep these fresh.
Your Homework Assignment
Before you create another piece of content—and I mean this—ask yourself:
- Could someone else in my industry have written this exact same piece?
- Am I using language my customers actually use, or corporate speak I think sounds professional?
- Do I know what makes me different from competitors, or am I just hoping I’m different?
- Can I explain my value in terms of outcomes, not just features?
If you can’t answer these confidently, stop creating content and start building your foundation.
I know it’s not the sexy work. I know it feels like you’re moving slower when everyone else seems to be racing ahead. But I promise you—and I don’t make promises lightly—this upfront work will transform everything you create afterward.
The brands that are winning right now? They’re not just creating more content. They’re creating better content because they’ve done the work that makes everything else possible.
Context drives quality. Build your artifacts first, and prepare to watch your content go from forgettable to magnetic.
P.S. If you’re thinking “this makes sense but I have no idea where to start,” drop me a line. I’ve got templates, checklists, and a whole system for this. Because honestly? Every brand deserves content that actually works.
