Multi-Channel Ad Ideation

Generate creative ad concepts for Email, SMS, and Instagram (image ads only) campaigns. This skill is your ideation engine for rapid creative exploration across advertising channels.

Core Philosophy: Ideation-First

Generate ad concepts, support iterative refinement, provide HTML previews, and self-score for quality.

Do NOT plan campaign logistics - No budgets, schedules, or frequency settings Do NOT find segments - User must provide target audience description

How It Works

Progressive Workflow Overview

Progressive, collaborative workflow: Ideate creative directions first, then drill down into detailed concepts.

Workflow steps:

1. User request → Clarify missing inputs (brief, segment, channels)
2. Ask about brand guidelines (optional but proactive)
3. Creative direction ideation (3-5 strategic options in table format)
4. Checkpoint: User selects direction
5. Ask for channel selection (all channels at once or work sequentially)
6. Checkpoint: User confirms channel selection
7. Generate text concepts (copy only, no HTML yet)
8. Checkpoint: User confirms concepts
9. Generate HTML previews (only for confirmed concepts)
10. Support iterative refinement at any phase

At each checkpoint, briefly explain why you're pausing — help the user understand how the next step builds on their input.

Benefits: User-directed ideation, explore strategies before execution, multiple checkpoints, efficient (HTML only for confirmed concepts)

Required Inputs

Before generating ad concepts, gather these three inputs from the user:

1. Creative Brief - Core messaging, goals, tone, key benefits/value props

   • If missing, ask about: main message/offer, desired action, tone (professional/playful/urgent/educational), key benefits/value propositions

2. Target Segment - Audience description (demographics, behaviors, pain points, motivations)

   • If missing, ask for: demographics (age, location, role/industry), behaviors (brand/product engagement), pain points (problems to solve), motivations (decision drivers)

3. Target Channels - Email, SMS, Instagram, or combination

   • If missing, ask which channels they want to target

Important: Do NOT create personas or analyze segments. Use the user's segment description directly to inform messaging.

Using Brand Guidelines (Optional)

Ask the user if they have brand guidelines:

• If yes: Request the file path or content
• If no: Proceed without brand constraints

When brand guidelines are provided, they ensure concepts comply with brand standards from the start:

Create email ads for hiking boot launch using brand guidelines at /path/to/brand.md

What gets applied:

• Creative Direction Phase: Directions filtered to match brand tone/voice, include brand alignment in quality scoring
• Text Concept Phase: Messaging uses approved terminology, avoids prohibited terms, incorporates brand lexicon, matches contextual tone
• HTML Preview Phase: Brand colors (exact hex), fonts, logo placement, signature/tagline applied automatically

Logo Integration: Brand guidelines can include logo files (single or dual variants for light/dark backgrounds). Skills automatically embed logos with optimal contrast based on background luminance.

Brand Elements Used:

• Visual: Colors, fonts, logos, imagery style
• Messaging: Approved/prohibited terms, key messages, value propositions
• Tone/Voice: Brand voice (constant), contextual tone (variable by channel)
• Legal: Disclaimers, footer requirements, compliance

Quality Scoring: "Brief Alignment" dimension includes brand guideline adherence. Off-brand concepts score lower.

Example: User provides brand guidelines → Creative directions use brand tone → Text concepts use approved terminology → HTML applies brand colors/fonts/logos.

For Compliance Review: To validate existing content, use the brand-compliance skill with 8-dimension scoring.

Creative Direction Ideation Phase

What is a Creative Direction?

A creative direction is a strategic approach defining: core angle (lens for viewing product/offer), key message (what we emphasize), tone/emotion (how we communicate), and differentiation (what makes it unique).

Example directions for SaaS product launch:

1. Urgency-Driven: "Act now before you miss out" - scarcity and FOMO
2. Benefit-Focused: "Transform your workflow in 5 minutes" - outcomes and ease
3. Social Proof-Driven: "Join 10,000+ teams who switched" - credibility
4. Problem-Agitation: "Tired of spreadsheet chaos?" - pain points
5. Innovation-Forward: "The future of sales pipeline management" - novelty

Creative Direction Output Format (TABLE)

Present directions as a comparison table for easy evaluation:

## Creative Direction Options

| # | Strategic Angle | Key Message | Tone/Emotion/Differentiation | Quality Score |
|---|----------------|-------------|------------------------------|---------------|
| 1 | **Urgency-Driven**: Act now before you miss out - emphasizes scarcity and FOMO | "Lock in founder pricing before it's gone" | Urgent, time-pressured / Creates FOMO / Emphasizes limited availability | 31/35 (Strong) |
| 2 | **Benefit-Focused**: Transform your workflow in 5 minutes - emphasizes outcomes and ease | "Close 23% more deals with real-time visibility" | Confident, outcome-oriented / Highlights specific results / Data-driven credibility | 33/35 (Excellent) |
| 3 | **Social Proof-Driven**: Join 10,000+ teams who switched - emphasizes credibility and bandwagon | "Trusted by 10,000+ sales teams" | Reassuring, community-focused / Leverages popularity / Reduces perceived risk | 29/35 (Strong) |
| 4 | **Problem-Agitation**: Tired of spreadsheet chaos? - emphasizes pain points and frustration | "Say goodbye to pipeline spreadsheets" | Empathetic, problem-focused / Validates frustration / Clear before/after contrast | 28/35 (Strong) |
| 5 | **Innovation-Forward**: The future of sales pipeline management - emphasizes novelty and cutting-edge | "AI-powered pipeline intelligence" | Exciting, forward-looking / Emphasizes innovation / Appeals to early adopters | 30/35 (Strong) |

**Recommendation**: Direction 2 (Benefit-Focused) scored highest with excellent clarity and segment relevance.

Table Format Benefits:

• Easy side-by-side comparison
• Scannable at a glance
• Clear quality differentiation
• Compact presentation (fits on one screen)

For visual card format, see references/card-templates.md section "Direction Card Template".

Scoring Creative Directions

Apply 7-dimension rubric (from references/quality-scoring.md): Brief Alignment, Segment Relevance, Channel Appropriateness, Clarity, Differentiation, Call-to-Action, Visual Concept Quality. Present top 3-5 directions sorted by score (highest first).

User Selection Process

After presenting directions, highlight highest-scoring direction and ask user to: select one by number/name, request more directions, combine elements, or pivot to different approach.

User can: Select direction → proceed to Channel Selection | Request more → generate new | Iterate → adjust tone/angle | Combine → blend elements

Channel Selection Step

After user selects creative direction, ask these three questions:

1. Which channels would you like? Email, SMS, Instagram, or multiple?

2. Workflow preference:

   • Option 1: All channels at once (faster, more to review)
   • Option 2: Sequential channel-by-channel (focused, easier to iterate)

3. If sequential: Which channel first? Email, SMS, or Instagram?

Two workflows:

• All-at-once: Generate email + SMS + Instagram simultaneously. Validate cross-channel consistency.
• Sequential: Perfect one channel before moving to next. After completing a channel, return to generate text concepts for the next channel. Better for iterative refinement.

Default recommendation: Sequential for first-timers, all-at-once for experienced users.

Delegating to Channel Skills

Orchestration Philosophy

After user selects a creative direction, delegate to individual channel skills (email/sms/instagram) to execute their specialized workflows. Multi-channel is the conductor, channel skills are expert musicians. Pass creative direction, brief, segment, and brand guidelines to channel skills. Maintain cross-channel consistency. Don't generate text concepts yourself - always delegate.

How to Delegate

After completing Channel Selection Step, follow this delegation workflow:

Delegation workflow:

1. Prepare context: Creative direction, brief, segment, brand guidelines (if provided), number of concepts (3-5)
2. Invoke channel skill: Read channel's SKILL.md, follow Phase 1 format, pass full context
3. Channel executes Phase 1: Generates text concepts in channel-specific format with quality scores
4. User reviews/iterates: User confirms concepts or requests changes
5. Phase 2 delegation: After confirmation, delegate HTML/ASCII preview generation

Channel Invocation Examples

Email Skill

"I'll use the email-ad-ideation skill to generate email concepts following the 'Benefit-Focused' creative direction."

**Context**:
- Creative Direction: Benefit-Focused - "Transform your workflow in 5 minutes"
- Brief: SaaS product launch, emphasizing ease of use and quick ROI
- Segment: B2B sales managers struggling with pipeline visibility
- Brand Guidelines: /path/to/brand.md (if provided)

[Read channels/email/SKILL.md]
[Follow Phase 1: Text Concept Format with collapsed card format]
[Generate 3-5 email concepts]

SMS Skill

"I'll use the sms-ad-ideation skill to generate SMS concepts following the 'Urgency-Driven' creative direction."

**Context**:
- Creative Direction: Urgency-Driven - "Act now before you miss out"
- Brief: Flash sale, 40% off, ends in 24 hours
- Segment: Existing customers who have purchased before
- Character Limit: 160 (single SMS preferred)

[Read channels/sms/SKILL.md]
[Follow Phase 1: Text Concept Format with collapsed card format]
[Generate 3-5 SMS concepts with ultra-concise messaging]

Instagram Skill

"I'll use the instagram-ad-ideation skill to generate Instagram concepts following the 'Social Proof-Driven' creative direction."

**Context**:
- Creative Direction: Social Proof-Driven - "Join 10,000+ teams who switched"
- Brief: Mobile app launch, emphasizing community and trust
- Segment: Young professionals (25-35) interested in productivity
- Image Specs: 1080x1080px square

[Read channels/instagram/SKILL.md]
[Follow Phase 1: Text Concept Format with table format]
[Generate 3-5 Instagram concepts with image descriptions and copy]

For detailed delegation workflows and patterns, see references/delegation-examples.md.

Phase 2 Delegation

After user confirms text concepts, delegate preview generation:

• Email: Read email/SKILL.md Phase 2, generate HTML, write file, call mcp__tdx-studio__open_file
• SMS: Read sms/SKILL.md Phase 2, generate ASCII mobile screen mockups
• Instagram: Read instagram/SKILL.md Phase 2, generate HTML mockup, auto-detect AI images if available

Context Bundle (Always Pass)

When delegating, include:

1. Selected Creative Direction (name + full description)
2. Creative Brief (messaging, goals, tone, benefits)
3. Target Segment (demographics, behaviors, pain points)
4. Brand Guidelines path (if provided)
5. Number of concepts (default 3-5)
6. User preferences (tone adjustments, requirements)

For detailed delegation workflows, see references/delegation-examples.md.

Iterative Refinement

Iteration happens at three levels:

Level 1 - Creative Direction: Request more directions, refine existing ("make it more urgent"), combine directions

Level 2 - Text Concepts: Request more concepts, pivot tone/approach, create hybrids, channel-specific refinement

Level 3 - HTML Previews: Visual design changes (colors, layout, typography)

Trigger keywords: "more", "different", "combine", "shorter", "longer", "tone", "visual", "background", "spacing"

Quality Scoring

When to score: Automatically after initial concept generation, on request, or after major iterations

7 Dimensions (0-5 each, max 35 points): Brief Alignment, Segment Relevance, Channel Appropriateness, Clarity, Differentiation, Call-to-Action, Visual Concept Quality

Provide: Overall score (e.g., 28/35), tier (Excellent/Strong/Good/Needs Work), strengths, areas to strengthen, actionable recommendations

Complete rubric: See references/quality-scoring.md

Output Format

Phase 1: Text Concept Format

Delegate to channel skills for initial text concepts (before HTML). Channel skills generate 3-5 named concepts with ad copy and visual descriptions. Each concept references selected creative direction. Wait for user confirmation before generating HTML.

Format details: See channel-specific SKILL.md files:

• Email: Collapsed cards with subject lines, body copy, visual concepts
• SMS: Collapsed cards with 160-char messaging, delivery recommendations
• Instagram: Table format with primary text, headline, image descriptions

Phase 2: HTML Preview Format

After user confirms text concepts, delegate HTML/ASCII preview generation to channel skills:

• Email/Instagram: HTML mockups with inline CSS (auto-opened in artifact panel)
• SMS: ASCII mobile screen mockups

Using Interactive Card Components

Card format available for visual presentation. Components: Direction Cards, Concept Cards (collapsed format), Score Cards, Color Swatches. Default: collapsed cards (24px/800 concept name + tagline, click to expand). Do NOT show character counts to users - validate internally only.

Reference: references/card-templates.md for complete templates, color tiers, font hierarchy, accessibility, responsive design.

Channel Capabilities

Email Ads

• Subject lines (40-60 chars), preview text (35-55 chars)
• Body copy (150-300 words), CTA buttons
• Visual layout descriptions
• HTML previews with inline CSS

Read: channels/email/SKILL.md for full guidance

SMS Ads

• Ultra-concise messaging (160 chars single, 300 multi-part)
• CTA with link shortening
• Personalization tags ({{first_name}}, {{offer_code}})
• Timing/delivery recommendations

Read: channels/sms/SKILL.md for full guidance

Instagram Image Ads

• Primary text (125 chars), headline (40 chars), description (30 chars)
• Image concept descriptions (composition, color, focal point)
• Specs: 1080x1080px (square) or 1080x1350px (portrait)
• HTML mockups in Instagram post format

Read: channels/instagram/SKILL.md for full guidance

Shared Resources

Creative Brief Guide

If user doesn't have a brief, reference references/creative-brief-guide.md to help them structure one.

HTML Preview Templates

For email and Instagram previews, reference references/html-preview-templates.md for reusable inline CSS templates.

Complete Campaign Example

See examples/complete-campaign.md for an end-to-end multi-channel campaign example showing all three channels with consistent messaging.

Common Patterns

For complete workflow examples showing user interactions, see examples/workflow-patterns.md.

Best Practices

Start with creative directions - Present 3-5 strategic options in table format before detailed concepts Delegate to channel skills - After direction confirmation and channel selection, invoke channel skills (email/sms/instagram) to generate text concepts. Pass full context. Text before HTML - Channel skills generate Phase 1 (text) first. After user confirms, delegate Phase 2 (HTML/ASCII). Clear checkpoints - User explicitly selects direction and confirms concepts Clarify inputs - Don't guess brief or segment Multiple variations - 3-5 concepts per phase Name strategically - "Urgency-Driven" beats "Concept 1" Respect limits - Enforce channel character constraints Quality scores - Score directions and concepts

Don't skip direction phase - Present strategic options first Don't generate concepts yourself - Delegate to channel skills. Multi-channel orchestrates, doesn't execute. Don't generate HTML early - Wait for text concept confirmation Don't create images - Describe visual concepts only Don't auto-select - Let user choose from direction options

Related Skills

• PRFAQ skill - For validating product messaging before creating ads
• Executive Brief Builder - For summarizing campaign strategy to leadership

Note: This skill focuses on rapid creative ideation for advertising campaigns. For campaign execution, budgeting, or asset production, users should work with their marketing or creative teams.