After building a 19-agent dev team for software development, I built the same thing for marketing. 21 agents, 5 layers, 9 phases. Covers LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, email, CRO and cold outreach. Never publishes without my approval — drafts only. This is an honest account after 2 months of use.
The problem with using one LLM for marketing
I asked Claude for a LinkedIn post. I got 200 words starting with "Excited to share that..." with emoji every two sentences. I asked for email copywriting. I got "Hi [First Name], I hope this email finds you well." I asked for a content strategy. I got a calendar with no connection to what I actually run.
The problem was not the model — it was the lack of context and specialization. Marketing covers dozens of sub-disciplines: brand storytelling is different from cold outreach, which is different from CRO, which is different from community management. One agent cannot handle all of it well simultaneously.
The fix was Mar Team v1.1: 21 agents, 5 layers, 9-phase pipeline, stored in ~/.claude/skills/team-mar/SKILL.md.
Architecture: 5 layers, 21 agents
Layer 0 — Brand & Image (4 agents)
This is the foundation, initialized monthly, and it blocks anything off-brand from reaching production:
- Brand Image Director — brand archetype, positioning, storytelling. Owns
brand-identity.json - Brand Growth Architect — quarterly roadmap, growth channels, partnerships
- Consistency Auditor — cross-platform brand consistency. Has veto power on off-brand content
- Cringe Checker — detects AI-smell: "excited to share", "today's world", emoji every line. Also has veto power
Layer 1 — Strategy & Planning (2 agents)
- Media Strategist (orchestrator) — content calendar, KPIs, coordination
- Trend Scout — trending topics, viral content analysis, competitor watch
Layer 2 — Production (5 agents)
- Copywriter — hooks, CTAs, A/B copy variants, tone per platform
- Visual Designer — graphics, banners, carousels, infographics
- Video Producer — reels, shorts, TikToks (ffmpeg + popcorn tools)
- Content Repurposer — 1 post → 4 platforms (format, aspect ratio, hashtags)
- SEO/Discovery Specialist — hashtags, keywords, alt text, schema markup
Layer 3 — Publishing & Analytics (5 agents)
LinkedIn Publisher, Facebook Publisher, Instagram Publisher, TikTok Publisher (placeholder — no TikTok API), Performance Analyst (cross-platform analytics, engagement rates, ROI).
Layer 4 — Growth & Retention (4 agents)
- Email Marketer — lifecycle sequences (onboarding/activation/upgrade/win-back/churn)
- CRO Specialist — funnel audits, A/B test hypotheses, paywall optimization
- Community Manager — FB groups, Reddit, WhatsApp — contribution-first approach
- Cold Outreach Specialist — ICP definition, prospect lists, 3-touch B2B sequences
Layer 5 — Bridge (1 agent)
Product-Marketing Bridge — dev↔mar sync: team-dev releases → content briefs; marketing asset requests → team-dev tasks.
9-phase pipeline
| Phase | Agents | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| B | Brand Image Director + Growth Architect | Monthly brand brief |
| 0 | Media Strategist | Strategy — brand-aligned content calendar |
| 1 | Trend Scout + Copywriter | Ideation — hooks, angles, ideas |
| 2 | Copywriter + Visual Designer + Video Producer | Parallel production |
| 3 | Content Repurposer + SEO Specialist | 1 content → 4 platforms |
| 4 | Consistency Auditor → Cringe Checker | Brand review (both have veto) |
| 5 | Publisher per platform | DRAFTS ONLY — never auto-publish |
| 6 | Performance Analyst | Engagement analysis + recommendations |
| 7 | Product-Marketing Bridge | Dev↔mar sync |
Risk-based shortcuts:
- QUICK POST (text only): 1 → 2 → 4 → 5
- STANDARD (post + graphic): 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5
- CAMPAIGN (post series): all 9 phases
- VIRAL RESPONSE: 1 → 2 → 4 → 5 → 6
- FEATURE LAUNCH (post-deploy): 7 → 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6
Cringe Checker — the AI-smell detector
This is the most interesting agent in the system. Cringe Checker holds a list of patterns (cringe-patterns.json) that mark content as AI-generated. Examples:
- "Excited to share that..." — the classic LinkedIn AI hook
- "today's fast-paced world..." — AI fluffy intro
- "Game-changing", "cutting-edge", "revolutionary" — marketing BS
- Emoji at the start of every bullet or every other sentence
- "I hope this email finds you well" — cold email starters
- Three or more adjectives before a single noun
When Cringe Checker flags content, it goes back to the Copywriter with specific reasoning. Not "this sounds like AI" — but "line 3: 'today's competitive landscape' is a typical AI-filler, replace with a concrete observation from your client's specific industry."
In practice: after the first iteration Cringe Checker catches 2-4 patterns per post. After 3-4 iterations — zero.
What genuinely works and what doesn't
Works:
- Cringe Checker + Consistency Auditor together eliminate ~90% of AI-smell from final content
- Content Repurposer saves me 2-3 hours per week — one article → LinkedIn + newsletter + Instagram caption + TikTok script automatically
- Email Marketer writes onboarding sequences that make sense — because it has context from the CRO Specialist's full funnel view
Doesn't work:
- Video Producer only works when you have recorded footage. It cannot generate video from nothing
- TikTok Publisher is a placeholder — no TikTok API available for draft automation
- Cold Outreach Specialist produces good templates but prospecting (the contact list itself) you must do manually
- The Bridge (Layer 5) is only valuable if you are actively using team-dev in parallel — otherwise it is overhead
The critical rule: drafts only
Mar Team never publishes anything automatically. This is intentional and non-negotiable. Not because I fear mistakes — but because every post is my signature. No agent publishes anything in my name without my eyes on it.
Workflow: /team-mar → drafts land in the admin panel → I review and approve → manual publish or scheduled post after my sign-off.
Want to apply this?
If you want to build a similar content pipeline for your project — I can show you how to configure the agents for your brand and platforms. Check my services or Book a free call (30 min).