Build a social media powerhouse with Claude Code, the 30-minute starter

What you’ll have at the end

A folder on your computer called social-workflow/ containing:

• VOICE.md, your brand voice rules
• PAST_POSTS.md, 5-10 of your past captions as voice samples
• CLAUDE.md, the instructions Claude reads at the start of every session
• A working Claude Code workflow that, when you type claude in this folder, asks you for the week’s briefing and produces a full week of social content

The whole setup is 30 minutes once. After that, weekly output takes 90 seconds.

Step 1: Install Claude Code (skip if already installed)

If you don’t have Claude Code yet, the full install is 15 minutes. We have a separate install guide that covers Windows + Mac with the PowerShell quirks. Do that first, come back here.

Quick version:

# Make sure Node 18+ is installed (node --version to check)
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

You’ll also need a Claude Pro account at claude.ai ($30 AUD/month). First time you run claude, it will sign you in via browser.

Step 2: Create the dedicated folder

Open your terminal (PowerShell on Windows, Terminal on Mac). Pick a folder you’ll remember:

# Mac
mkdir -p ~/Documents/social-workflow
cd ~/Documents/social-workflow

# Windows
mkdir C:\Users\YourName\Documents\social-workflow
cd C:\Users\YourName\Documents\social-workflow

You should now be sitting in an empty folder called social-workflow.

Step 3: Write your voice file

Create a new file in that folder called VOICE.md. Use any text editor (Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code, Sublime, whatever).

Paste this template and fill in the bracketed sections. Aim for 200-500 words total. The longer and more specific, the better the output.

# Our brand voice

WHO WE ARE
We are [BUSINESS NAME], a [TYPE OF BUSINESS] in [SUBURB], [CITY], Australia.
We sell/offer [WHAT YOU DO IN ONE SENTENCE]. Our customers are mostly
[WHO YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE: age, situation, vibe].

WHO WE'RE TALKING TO ON SOCIAL
Our followers are mostly [PRIMARY AUDIENCE]. They follow us because
[WHAT YOU OFFER]. They don't want [WHAT THEY DISLIKE: salesy posts,
generic content, jargon, etc].

TONE
We sound [3-5 ADJECTIVES: warm, dry, slightly cheeky, plain-spoken].
We don't sound like [3-5 NEGATIVES: corporate, salesy, over-friendly,
American, jargon-heavy].

HARD RULES
- Australian English (organised, colour, centre, recognise)
- AUD currency, DD/MM/YYYY dates
- No exclamation marks (or: only when [SPECIFIC CASE])
- Never use these words: [LIST any AI-tell words you'd never write]
- Always end Instagram captions with [your usual signoff]
- Always include the suburb / city in location-relevant posts

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC NOTES
- Instagram: max 150 words per caption, 5-8 hashtags max, emoji sparingly
- LinkedIn: 200-400 words is the sweet spot, no hashtags or 2-3 max,
  professional tone shift but still warm
- Facebook: 80-120 words, conversational, sometimes asks a question
  to drive comments
- X / Twitter: pithy, 200 chars max, witty over polished

WHAT'S OFF-LIMITS
- [Topics you don't post about]
- [Competitors you don't mention]
- [Claims you don't make]

Save the file. This is the most important file in the workflow.

Step 4: Drop in 5-10 past posts as voice samples

Create another file called PAST_POSTS.md. Paste 5-10 of your best past social captions. Pick the ones you’d want to publish again, those are the voice samples Claude learns from.

# Past posts I'm proud of

## Post 1 (Instagram)
[paste caption]

## Post 2 (LinkedIn)
[paste caption]

## Post 3 (Instagram)
[paste caption]

...

Mix platforms. 5 is enough; 10 is better; 20 is diminishing returns. Don’t paste AI-assisted posts, those contaminate the voice file.

Step 5: Write the CLAUDE.md workflow instructions

Create a file called CLAUDE.md. This is what Claude Code reads at the start of every session. Paste this template:

# Weekly social workflow

ROLE
You are the social content producer for [BUSINESS NAME]. Your job is to
take one weekly briefing from the owner and produce a full week of
platform-specific posts.

CONTEXT YOU MUST READ FIRST
- VOICE.md: our brand voice rules. Match this in every post.
- PAST_POSTS.md: examples of our voice in past posts. Use as samples.

WORKFLOW
1. Read VOICE.md and PAST_POSTS.md.
2. Ask me for this week's briefing: what's new this week, any products
   or events, any photos available, any audience reactions I want to
   reference.
3. Once I give the briefing, produce:
   - 3 Instagram captions (varied: one product/showcase, one story,
     one community / behind-the-scenes)
   - 2 LinkedIn posts (one industry-relevant insight, one business
     update)
   - 3 Facebook posts (shorter, more conversational)
   - 4 X / Twitter posts (pithy, mix of insight and personality)
   - Suggested hashtags per platform
   - Suggested posting times per platform (default to AEST)
4. After delivering, ask if I want any variants or adjustments.

RULES
- Output as a single markdown document I can copy-paste section by
  section into my scheduler.
- Match VOICE.md exactly. Use PAST_POSTS.md as voice calibration.
- Never invent prices, claims, customer names, or events I haven't
  given you in the briefing.
- Australian English throughout.

Save it.

Step 6: Run your first weekly briefing

In terminal, in the social-workflow folder, type:

claude

Claude Code starts up and reads CLAUDE.md (and via that, your VOICE.md and PAST_POSTS.md). It’ll greet you and ask for the week’s briefing.

Your week’s briefing should be 5-8 sentences. Something like:

“This week: we launched the new winter menu (mushroom toast, hot chocolate with star anise, dumpling soup). Anniversary on Saturday, 2 years open. Hosted a kids’ painting workshop on Sunday morning, photos available. Local council article mentioned us. Booking enquiries up 20% week-on-week. Photos for the menu items and the workshop.”

Hit enter. 90 seconds later you have 12-15 platform-specific captions, suggested hashtags, suggested posting times.

Read every one before publishing. Edit the 2-3 that need tone adjustment. Schedule the rest.

What this replaces

Before this workflow, the typical social content week for an Australian SMB:

After this workflow:

Saved time per week: 2-2.5 hours. Saved time per year: 100-130 hours.

If you’re publishing daily across more platforms, the savings are bigger.

How to make this better over time

Three small improvements that compound:

1. Update VOICE.md monthly

Open VOICE.md. Read it as if for the first time. Does it still describe your brand? Add any new no-no words you’ve noticed. Refresh the platform-specific notes if you’ve learned something.

2. Refresh PAST_POSTS.md quarterly

Replace older samples with newer ones, especially posts that did well. The voice file gets sharper.

3. Add platform-specific feedback prompts

If you notice Instagram engagement is up but LinkedIn is flat, tell Claude. Add to CLAUDE.md: “LinkedIn posts in the last 4 weeks underperformed. Audience prefers more contrarian takes than industry-standard insights. Lean into that for the next month.”

Claude will pick up the steer immediately.

What this doesn’t replace

Be honest about limits.

• Image generation. This workflow produces captions, not images. Image generation is a separate workflow we’ll cover in a follow-up free guide.
• Engagement / replies. Replying to comments and DMs is still you. AI can draft replies but engagement quality matters.
• Strategy. AI doesn’t decide your social strategy (which platforms to be on, what audience to grow, what positioning to take). You decide those; AI executes them.
• Genuine moments. The post about your dog visiting the cafe, the spontaneous Sunday-morning behind-the-counter shot, the personal note when something significant happens, those should be human. Don’t AI-mediate everything.

What’s next

• The inbox cleanup playbook for the next free playbook.
• How to fine-tune AI for business voice for the deep dive on voice files.
• Claude for absolute beginners if you skipped ahead and want the foundation.
• Book a free 30-minute audit if you want help wiring this into a wider business workflow.