Monday Content Prep Automation

What It Is

A scheduled automation that runs every Monday morning to prepare the content production pipeline for the week. It reads the content calendar and ideas backlog, creates research briefs for pieces that need production, and sends a structured weekly plan to the team via WhatsApp. This is the kickoff ritual that keeps content production on a sustainable cadence.

Key Patterns / Components

Monday Morning Workflow

  1. Read calendar.md — What content is planned for this week?
  2. Read ideas.md — What new ideas have come in?
  3. Create research briefs for undrafted pieces, each containing:
    - Search queries to research the topic
    - Target length (word count or time)
    - Target audience
    - Key points to cover
  4. Move approved items to active projects (queue/)
  5. Send weekly plan via WhatsApp with:
    - What's being worked on this week
    - What's new in the queue
    - Any blockers or dependencies

Research Brief Structure

## Content Brief: [Topic]
- **Search queries:** [query 1], [query 2], [query 3]
- **Target length:** ~800 words /5-minute read
- **Audience:** [target persona]
- **Key points:** [3-5 bullets]
- **Deadline:** [date]

Scheduling

Typically triggered by a cron job running early Monday morning (e.g., 7:00 AM local time) to prepare the team before the workday begins.

How It Applies to Marketing Factory

The Monday content prep automation is the marketing factory's weekly kickoff. It transforms the abstract content calendar into concrete, actionable research briefs. The team starts Monday with a clear plan, not a blank page. This automation can be adapted for any recurring content cadence (daily standup, weekly review, monthly planning).