Campaign Creation Guidelines

This document defines how content campaigns are structured, created, and maintained in the Baseworks Obsidian vault. It serves as the reference for both manual campaign creation and the /create-campaign Claude Code skill.

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What Is a Campaign?

A campaign is a promotable topic or initiative — a study group recap, a platform feature announcement, a seasonal enrollment push, a concept deep-dive. Each campaign produces content across multiple formats:

• Blog post — long-form, published on baseworks.com
• Newsletter section — ~200 words, placed inside a newsletter issue
• Social posts — platform-native variants for LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook

A campaign is not a newsletter. A newsletter issue is a container that assembles sections from multiple campaigns plus recurring features like Brain Fodder.

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Directory Structure

02-areas/communications/
├── campaigns/
│   ├── _campaign-index.md                          ← editorial calendar
│   ├── _campaign-creation-guidelines.md            ← this file
│   ├── YYYY-MM-slug/
│   │   ├── YYYY-MM-slug.md                         ← campaign note
│   │   └── YYYY-MM-slug-assets/                    ← code deliverables only
│   └── ...
├── newsletters/
│   ├── _newsletter-index.md
│   ├── YYYY-MM-newsletter/
│   │   ├── YYYY-MM-newsletter.md                   ← newsletter issue note
│   │   └── YYYY-MM-newsletter-assets/              ← compiled HTML, etc.
│   └── ...
├── email-templates/
├── contact-inquiries/
├── reference-responses/
├── communications-guide.md
└── fluentcrm-merge-codes.md

Blog posts remain at 02-areas/website/blog-articles/. Campaign notes link to them.

Naming Conventions

• All filenames must be globally unique across the vault (Obsidian resolves wikilinks by filename)
• Campaign directories: YYYY-MM-slug (e.g., 2026-03-winter-study-group-recap)
• Campaign notes: same name as directory
• Asset directories: YYYY-MM-slug-assets
• Asset files: prefix with abbreviated campaign slug (e.g., 2026-03-wsgr-hero.jpg)
• Newsletter directories: YYYY-MM-newsletter

---

Campaign Note Structure

Frontmatter

---
title: "Campaign Title"
type: campaign
created: YYYY-MM-DD
status: planning | drafting | ready | published | archived
target-date: YYYY-MM
source-programs:
  - "[program-note](/program-note/)"
source-concepts:
  - "[taxonomy-term](/taxonomy-term/)"
formats:
  - blog
  - newsletter
  - social-linkedin
  - social-instagram
  - social-facebook
blog-post: "[blog-post-slug](/blog-post-slug/)"
newsletter-issue: "[YYYY-MM-newsletter](/yyyy-mm-newsletter/)"
social-status:
  linkedin: planning | draft | ready | published
  instagram: planning | draft | ready | published
  facebook: planning | draft | ready | published
tags:
  - campaign
---

Body Sections

Section	Purpose
Campaign header	Status, target date, intent, voice guidance
Source Material	Wikilinks to every KB note this campaign draws from
Vignettes Available	Participant stories with usage recommendations (if applicable)
Blog Post	Reference to blog post file, or outline if creating new
Newsletter Section	~200 word copy for the newsletter feature
Social Posts	LinkedIn (~250w), Instagram (~150w + carousel notes), Facebook (~200w)
Scheduling Notes	Timing, sequencing, cross-platform coordination
Related	Wikilinks to source program, newsletter issue, blog post, campaign index

---

Newsletter Issue Structure

Frontmatter

---
title: "Month YYYY Newsletter"
type: newsletter-issue
created: YYYY-MM-DD
status: planning | drafting | ready | sent
send-date: YYYY-MM-DD
subject-line: ""
pre-header: ""
audience: all | practitioners | prospects
campaigns-featured:
  - "[campaign-slug](/campaign-slug/)"
tags:
  - newsletter
  - YYYY-MM
---

Email Metadata

Every newsletter issue must include the following, documented in the newsletter issue note:

Subject line — Short, curiosity-driving, mirrors the lead content. Keep under 60 characters for mobile display.

Pre-header — The preview text shown after the subject line in email clients. 50–100 characters. Should complement the subject line, not repeat it.

UTM parameters — Applied to all links in the email for Google Analytics tracking. Document in the newsletter issue note using this structure:

Parameter	Field	Value
Campaign Source	utm_source	newsletter (always)
Campaign Medium	utm_medium	email (always)
Campaign Name	utm_campaign	Descriptive slug for this send (e.g., winter_study_group_2026)
Campaign Content	utm_content	Per-link identifier (e.g., blog_recap, spring_study_group, practice_sessions)
Campaign Term	utm_term	Leave blank — this is for paid search only

UTM parameters are set globally in the email builder (Stripo) and can be overridden per-link when different sections need distinct utm_content values.

Standard Sections

Every newsletter issue includes these sections:

Order	Section	Description
1	Header / Greeting	2–3 sentences. Sets tone, frames the issue.
2	Campaign features	One section per featured campaign (~200w each). Order matters — lead with the strongest.
3	What’s Coming	Upcoming programs, events, sessions (~100–150w). Update, not pitch.
4	Brain Fodder	Recurring introspective section (~200–250w). See below.
5	Footer / Sign-off	Links to website, social, unsubscribe.

Brain Fodder

Brain Fodder is a recurring newsletter section — an introspective look at a concept, framed as a question for the reader to sit with. It may correlate with the main newsletter feature or introduce a concept independently.

Repurposability principle: Every Brain Fodder should be written as a self-contained piece that can be repurposed into standalone content later — a blog post, a future newsletter feature, or social posts. It should have its own coherent framing, not depend on the surrounding newsletter context to make sense. Include enough substance and specific source references (Primer transcripts, taxonomy, research) that expanding it later doesn’t require starting from scratch. Each Brain Fodder is a content pipeline seed, not a one-off section.

Structure:

1. Heading — Always a question (e.g., “What are you not noticing?”)
2. Body (~200 words) — Context drawn from the knowledge base (Primer transcripts, taxonomy concepts, participant observations). Builds toward the question without answering it.
3. Closing question — A specific, personal prompt for the reader

Source material for Brain Fodder:

• Primer concept transcripts at 02-areas/primer/transcripts-en/
• Taxonomy and glossary at 02-areas/practice-platform/glossary-new.md
• Method philosophy at 02-areas/method-admin/core/philosophy/
• Science docs at 02-areas/method-admin/core/science-docs/
• Podcast conversations (when imported)

Previous Brain Fodder topics (update as newsletters are sent):

• January 2026: “Learning Styles — The Gap Between How We’re Taught and How We Actually Learn” — motor learning phases, VAK framework, kinesthetic processing gap in movement education
• March 2026: “What are you not noticing?” — perception as a trainable capacity, drawn from Primer Segment 9 (memory and attention)

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Wikilink Requirements

Wikilinks are the connective tissue of the vault. Every campaign must be richly linked into the knowledge base. This is what makes campaigns visible in the graph and discoverable via semantic search.

Rules

1. Every Baseworks concept mentioned in a campaign note must be a [wikilink](/wikilink/):

   • Forms: [Star Form](/star-form/), [Standing Form](/standing-form/), [Squat](/squat/)
   • Principles: [Distributed Activation](/areas/method-admin/core/key-definitions-repo/distributed-activation/), [Micro-Movements](/areas/method-admin/core/key-definitions-repo/micro-movements/), [Gridlines and Symmetry](/areas/method-admin/core/key-definitions-repo/gridlines-and-symmetry/)
   • Programs: [Baseworks Primer](/baseworks-primer/), [practice-sessions](/areas/communications/email-templates/practice-sessions/)
   • Foci: [Structure](/areas/method-admin/core/foci/structure/), [Gravity](/areas/method-admin/core/foci/gravity/), [Ascend](/areas/method-admin/core/foci/ascend/), etc.

2. Every reference to another vault note must be a [wikilink](/wikilink/), not a backtick path

   • Exception: backtick paths in technical documentation where the path is a filesystem reference

3. Bidirectional links must exist between:

   • Campaign note ↔ Newsletter issue
   • Campaign note ↔ Blog post
   • Campaign note ↔ Source program
   • Campaign note ↔ Campaign index
   • Newsletter issue ↔ Newsletter index

4. Images are referenced via ![alt](url) — hosted externally (Google Drive, VPS FileBrowser), not stored in the vault

Validation

Run the wikilink checker after creating or modifying campaign files:

# Check only changed files
python3 scripts/check-wikilinks.py --changed

# Full vault scan (run periodically)
python3 scripts/check-wikilinks.py

Fix all broken wikilinks before considering a campaign note complete. Acceptable warnings:

• Backtick paths in documentation/technical contexts
• Image embeds (<img src="image.png" alt="image.png" />) for attachment files

---

Voice and Copy Guidelines

All campaign copy follows the Baseworks voice guides:

• Always load before writing: 03-resources/voice-guides/WRITING-PROCESS.md, then VOICE-GUIDE-UNIFIED.md (including the AI Generation Warning), then VOICE-GUIDE-PATRICK.md
• Describe what something IS — not what it is not
• No generated metaphors (human-approved metaphors are listed in the voice guide)
• No sales language, no exclamation marks in professional contexts
• Simple language, not simplified ideas
• “Forms” not “positions”
• Avoid “fitness” — use “physical background,” “physical disciplines,” etc.

Content strategy: niche-building, not mass appeal

Baseworks content builds a niche of the right people. It does not simplify the message to convert a broad audience.

All campaign content — social posts, newsletters, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram — should be informational and substantive. The information itself is the hook. The tone across all platforms should mirror the source material (blog post, program documentation) rather than adopting a promotional register.

• Do not use narrative hooks designed to create curiosity through omission
• Do not use sensational or promotional language to attract attention
• Describe what the content covers and why it matters — the substance is the draw
• Each platform’s tone should be distinct from the others, but all should be distinct from the over-sensational approach that most social media marketing defaults to

The strategy is to present the work clearly and specifically so that the right people — people who are already intellectually curious about this kind of work — recognize it and engage. People in certain positions will advocate from there. Building momentum this way is slower, but the audience is the right audience.

Social media hashtags

All social posts must use the approved Baseworks hashtag set documented in Social Media Tags Reference.

• Always include the six primary Baseworks tags on every post
• Never use #baseworks (conflicts with an unrelated company — always use #baseworks_method)
• Select associated tags from the pool based on post content
• Instagram: hashtags in the first comment. LinkedIn: 3–5 at the end of the feed post. Facebook: optional.

Platform-specific voice adjustments

Platform	Tone	Length
Blog	Reflective, documentary, specific, unhurried. Patrick/Asia collective “we.”	1,200–1,500w
LinkedIn	Professional, contextual. Frames why the content matters, not just what it covers. “We” voice.	~250w
Instagram	Visual-first. Caption complements images. Informational, not promotional.	~150w
Facebook	Community-facing, informational. Self-contained — covers the substance without requiring a click-away.	~400w
Newsletter	Matches blog tone. Describes what the article covers and provides enough context to intrigue — not a teaser, not a summary.	~200w per section

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Workflow

Creating a new campaign

1. Research — Search the knowledge base for source material
2. Plan — Align on scope, formats, Brain Fodder concept, newsletter placement
3. Create — Campaign directory, campaign note, newsletter issue (or update existing)
4. Link — Blog post, indexes, source program backlinks
5. Validate — Run wikilink checker, verify bidirectional links
6. Review — Present to Patrick/Asia for copy review before publishing

Or use the Claude Code skill: /create-campaign [topic]

Publishing sequence

1. Blog post publishes first on baseworks.com
2. LinkedIn article publishes same day or next day from Patrick’s personal account (not the Baseworks company page — personal accounts get better article reach). Set the “Originally published at” field to the baseworks.com URL so the canonical tag directs search engines to the original. Add “Patrick Oancia and Ksenia Shcherbakova” as a byline in the article body. The Baseworks company page reshares with a brief note.
3. Newsletter sends after blog is live (blog link must work)
4. Facebook and Instagram go live within 24–48 hours as collaboration posts between Patrick’s personal account and the Baseworks account. The closing line should attribute the article to Patrick in first person (“I wrote about…”) while the body uses “we” for shared observations.
5. Each platform gets its own version — no cross-posting identical text
6. Photos should differ across platforms where possible

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Related

• _campaign-index — editorial calendar and campaign tracking
• _newsletter-index — newsletter issue tracking
• _content-index — master content cross-reference
• _blog-index — blog articles index
• communications-guide — general communications reference
• newsletter-promotion-strategy — original vault capture that prompted this structure
• Voice guides: 03-resources/voice-guides/