context management is one of the core skills for a marketing engineer
when you give an agent a campaign to work on, it needs to understand the business, use what you've learned from previous campaigns and follow your taste in the work it creates
your second brain gives it the company knowledge, but you also need to connect it to performance data and a brand book you can work in together
tldr
> company brain = helps the agent understand your business and the work you're doing
> warehouse = lets the agent measure performance and learn from results
> brand book = guides the agent's design choices using your style and feedback
keep references. md in the project so whichever harness you're using can find the relevant files, query the data and open the designs with your feedback
1. connect your context sources with references. md
your harness is the software that runs the agent, like cursor, grok bot, claude code or hermes
references. md holds links and instructions for finding context. the company files stay in the brain, performance data in the warehouse and designs in the brand book
before making a decision, the agent should ask for your relevant context and experience, including what you've already tried, what you learned and anything that hasn't been written down yet
for a landing page + social posts, the agent needs to:
> work with you to define the campaign brief, starting from your idea, goal and experience
> read company knowledge, previous campaigns, decisions and lessons from the brain
> query previous campaign performance in the warehouse
> open the brand book and approved designs, including your feedback
> bring the evidence back to you and work through decisions together
save the agreed brief and the reasoning behind your decisions in the campaign brain as the work progresses
2. keep company knowledge and decisions in the brain
use markdown in git, with github as the shared place to keep it. the agent reads the files relevant to the job
your company brain holds context that should remain useful across campaigns
> what you sell, who buys and why
> positioning, supported claims and exclusions
> voice-dna. md, hooks. md and approved work
> dated decisions and permissions to edit, spend or publish
your campaign brain holds the context for the work in progress
> this campaign's goal, audience, offer and constraints
> decisions you've already made and why
> approved versions, rejected drafts and your edit notes
keep performance data in the warehouse. the visual/ folder holds links to design. md and the live brand file
3. keep performance in the warehouse
use postgres or another sql database. define what each row represents, such as one asset in one campaign on one date
keep the facts you use to make marketing decisions
> spend, impressions, clicks, leads and conversions
> content results, like saves, replies or watch time
> lead source and stage in your customer relationship management system
> experiments, dates and what you stopped running
keep definitions beside the numbers. define what counts as a lead or conversion, which reporting window to use and how much the data can lag
use shared identifiers like campaign_id and asset_id to connect records across sources
recurring jobs pull the data on a schedule. the warehouse connects the records and calculates totals with sql, the language used to query the database
your agent queries the warehouse for the results it needs, instead of pulling bulk history from each platform into its context
for the landing page job, it can query the last similar campaign by asset over the last 28 days, using the same conversion definition
save your interpretation in the campaign brain with a link to the query. keep the performance history in the warehouse
4. keep your design rules and visual feedback in the brand book
this needs both written rules and a live design file you can work in together
design. md gives the agent instructions it can read before creating anything
> typefaces, sizes and when to use them
> colors, contrast and logo placement
> layouts, safe zones and formats for each channel
> do / don't examples with the reason beside them
> what it can create and what it should only adapt
> links to the paper or figma file and the pages to open
write your brand guidelines in design. md and link each guideline to an example in paper or figma. include your feedback on why a design works or what needs to change
paper and figma mcp give the agent access to the live design file. mcp is the connection that lets it use the design tool
keep your brand book, moodboard and approved work there
> add a note explaining what you like about each reference
> keep approved ads, landing pages and social designs
> keep rejected versions with your comments on the frames
> leave feedback next to the work you're discussing
design. md explains the requirements. the live file lets the agent inspect examples, create designs and work alongside you as you review them
5. use all three context sources, and save what decisions and changes
for the landing page + social posts, the agent reads the relevant company files and campaign brief, queries previous performance, then reads design. md and opens the brand page with approved examples
work through the direction together before drafting copy and frames in paper or figma. send the work to your sign-off queue for review
after approval, save the copy and the reason for your edits in a campaign folder. keep the approved frames and design feedback in the brand file
after launch, results go to data warehouse and your interpretation goes in the company / campaign brain
the models are interchangeable, but your company knowledge, performance history and design judgment carry into the next campaign you´ll be working on
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every marketing engineer needs a knowledge base, a second brain
a central place for files that contain all the information, data, examples and instructions your agents need to produce quality work
here is how to organize it for marketing:
1. start with the files every marketing team needs
> company .md: what the business does and who it serves
> customer .md: customer problems, buying triggers, objections and their own words
> offer .md: what you sell, pricing, deliverables and promises you can support
> positioning .md: why someone would choose you over the alternatives
> voice .md: how you write, with examples and phrases to avoid
> proof .md: case studies, approved claims and links to the evidence
build these from material you already have: sales calls, proposals, customer interviews, website copy and previous campaigns
for voice .md, include your edits. an approved post helps, but explaining why you changed the opening gives the agent something specific to apply
2. create a folder for each marketing function
content, SEO, paid, creator marketing and email all need different instructions
inside each folder, keep:
> playbook .md: how the work gets done
> examples/: approved work and rejected versions, with your feedback
> tools .md: which tools and accounts agents can use
> checks .md: what to check before returning the work
> calendar .md: what's planned, in progress and ready for review
reference the shared files when needed. if you change the offer, every team should be able to find the current version
3. organize content by platform
an X post, a newsletter and a LinkedIn post need their own examples and writing guidance
content/
├── playbook .md
├── checks .md
├── tools .md
├── calendar .md
├── x/
├── linkedin/
├── newsletter/
└── visual/
inside each platform folder, save the formats you use, examples you've approved and drafts you've rejected
4. give agents visual references to work from
keep a moodboard and brand book in Figma or Paper, with links in visual/
> moodboard: references for the look you want, with notes on what you like about them
> brand book: colors, fonts, logos, layouts and rules for using them
> approved examples: previous ads, landing pages and campaign assets
give the agent access to those files when it creates visuals, and save your design feedback alongside the references
5. give each campaign its own folder
campaigns/product-launch/
├── brief .md
├── research/
├── decisions .md
├── production/
└── results .md
the brief holds the goal, audience, offer and constraints for that campaign
decisions .md records what you've agreed on and why. if you reject an angle or change the offer, save the decision there
agents working on the landing page, emails and social posts can then use the same approved direction
6. connect your performance data using a data warehouse
a data warehouse stores performance data from your marketing tools in one place your agents can query
connect your ad platforms, website analytics, sales tools and content accounts to collect spend, clicks, leads, conversions and campaign results
the marketing folders can hold campaign reports and your interpretation of the results, with links to the data behind them
for a new campaign, an agent can read the previous brief, inspect the assets and check how they performed
include the reporting period and metric definitions so it can make a useful comparison
7. explain how agents should use the folders
add an AGENTS .md file with instructions for working in the knowledge base
> where to find the relevant files
> which sources to trust
> where to save drafts and research
> how to flag conflicting information
> which changes need your sign-off
give the agent the files it needs for the task you're asking it to do
8. save what you learn while doing the work
when you correct a draft, update the writing instructions or examples
when a campaign reveals a new customer objection, add the evidence to customer .md
when an offer changes, update offer .md and flag the active campaigns affected
I'd keep the markdown files in GitHub so changes can be reviewed and traced back to whoever made them, with large creative files linked from shared storage
start with one marketing function and a task you're already doing
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