Do-It-Yourself · AI Marketing · No Agency Retainer

Run your own marketing
for stackbirds.xyz.

The full technical breakdown of the AI social-media workflow — Claude Code + VS Code + Blotato — wired specifically for Stackbirds, the done-for-you business-automation studio for SMBs. Built so the team can run a month of process-fix wins, automation tips and case-study content from one Claude Code session, without paying an agency a single dirham of retainer.

3 tools8 steps9 social platformsAED 0 agency fee1 reference video

Overview · 2 minute read

What this playbook gives you.

A reproducible, click-by-click setup so the Stackbirds team can run social-media marketing themselves — no agency retainer, no per-post fee. The same AI workflow shown in the reference video, but every prompt, the brand lock, and the publishing schedule are pre-wired for stackbirds.xyz — process mapping, automation and software implementation, done for you.

Why "no agency"? A B2B agency charges AED 5,000–10,000+/month on retainer to post 12–20 times. This playbook does the same — research, copy, visuals, scheduling across 9 networks — for the cost of one Claude.ai subscription (USD 20/mo) plus a Blotato plan. You keep the logins, the data, and the control.

The three-tool stack

ToolPurposeLink
Claude.ai (paid)The AI engine — from USD 20/mo. Powers Claude Code in VS Code.claude.ai
Visual Studio CodeFree IDE — the host environment for Claude Code.code.visualstudio.com
BlotatoMCP server + scheduler — makes visuals and publishes across 9 networks.blotato.com

Two free-but-essential tools you'll also use: LinkedIn (Stackbirds' #1 B2B channel) and WhatsApp Business — where discovery calls get booked.

Playbook colour & voice (used everywhere below)

Violet Sunshine Plum Ink

Stackbirds voice: a pragmatic automation consultant. Plain-spoken about hours saved and processes fixed, no buzzwords. Always tagged #Stackbirds #DoneForYou.

Step 1 of 8

1 Prerequisites & accounts.

Create the three accounts before anything else. The Claude.ai subscription is the only mandatory paid cost up front (USD 20/mo minimum).

claude.ai · sign-up
Account 1

Claude.ai Pro — USD 20/mo

🔑 Email + password
💳 Pro plan · USD 20/mo
Confirm and continue
code.visualstudio.com
Account 2 · Free

Visual Studio Code

Download (Mac/Win/Linux)
📦 Run installer
Launch VS Code
blotato.com · sign-up
Account 3

Blotato

📧 Sign-up with work email
🎛 Pick a plan (or trial)
🔌 Confirm — back in Step 5
stackbirds.xyz · brand assets
Stackbirds

Pull your brand assets

🖼 logo.png + photos
📍 NAP + services
📝 brand_voice.md (1 page)

For assets, grab the Stackbirds logo (PNG, transparent), the verified NAP (stackbirds.xyz · WhatsApp), 10–15 before/after process screenshots or client-win visuals, and the violet #8B7CF0.

Step 2 of 8

2 Install Claude Code in VS Code.

A one-time, five-minute install. Once Claude Code is wired into VS Code, you run everything from inside the editor.

  1. Open VS Code → click the Extensions icon in the left sidebar.
  2. Search "Claude Code" → install the one by Anthropic.
  3. Create a local project folder — e.g. stackbirds-marketing — via File → Open Folder.
  4. Drop in your brand assets (logo, photos, brand_voice.md).
  5. Click the Claude Code icon (top-right), sign in, set mode to "Edit Automatically".

Step 3 of 8

3 Generate social media content.

Drop these two prompts into Claude Code, one after the other. The first does the research; the second writes the per-platform .md files for a real Stackbirds topic.

Prompt · 3a · research
Research which repetitive business tasks an SMB should automate first in 2026 (invoicing, lead follow-up, scheduling, reporting) and the time and money it saves, and write a thought-provoking LinkedIn post for SMB owners and operations managers, for a done-for-you automation studio (stackbirds.xyz). Voice: a pragmatic automation consultant — plain-spoken about hours saved, no buzzwords. No fluff openers.
Prompt · 3b · write per-platform files
Create a file in this project for a LinkedIn post, plus files for a LinkedIn article intro, Instagram caption, a YouTube description and a Google Business Profile post — each respecting that platform's limit and tone. Keep the Stackbirds voice. Lead with a concrete result (this task took 3 hours a week, now it's automatic). Always include #Stackbirds #DoneForYou and 1-3 reach tags from {#BusinessAutomation #SMBtools #AIforBusiness #ProcessMapping}. Add a one-line CTA to book a free process audit.
Claude Code · file tree
Output

Per-platform .md files

📄 platform posts
📄 captions + descriptions
📄 gbp-post.md · local SEO
Claude Code · preview
Output · preview

Sample post

"Your team spends 6 hours a week copying data between apps. That's 300 hours a year — a month of work — on something software does for free. We mapped one client's invoicing and automated it in a week. Here's how…"

Step 4 of 8

4 Set up brand voice (memory.md).

One short conversation locks the Stackbirds voice into a memory.md file — Claude reads it for every future post.

Prompt · 4 · brand voice
Can you incorporate my brand voice for these posts and for posts moving forward?

Claude asks four guided questions — answer them for Stackbirds like this:

QuestionStackbirds answer
ToneProfessional/plain — straight talk on time and money.
AudienceSMB teams — Owner Sara, Ops-Manager Raj, Founder Daniel.
PerspectiveAutomation consultant who's done it for dozens of SMBs.
EmojiMinimal — 0-1, professional only (⚙️📈).
What gets saved: a memory.md with the non-negotiables: done-for-you process mapping, automation & AI ops, software implementation, time/money saved framing, real before/after numbers, and short client wins. Claude references it on every post from now on.

Step 5 of 8

5 Connect the Blotato MCP server.

Grab the setup command from Blotato Settings → APIs → Copy Setup Command, then paste it into Claude Code with the wrapper below.

From Blotato · raw setup command
claude mcp add blotato \
  --url https://mcp.blotato.com/mcp \
  --header "blotato-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
Paste this into Claude Code (with the command above appended)
Add the following MCP server as if you were running the `claude mcp add` command,
and add it to user scope in .claude.json. Create the file if it doesn't exist.

[paste the Blotato setup command here]

Then restart Claude Code.

Safety: the Blotato API key is the publishing master-key for Stackbirds's social accounts. Paste it only into your local Claude Code — never into a webpage, chat, or shared doc.

Step 6 of 8

6 Generate a branded visual.

With a post file open, prompt Claude. It calls the Blotato MCP server, fetches templates, and ships the visual to your Blotato library.

Prompt · 6 · visual
Make a clean before/after process visual from the post for LinkedIn. Use the Stackbirds brand: plum background, violet (#8B7CF0) accent, sunshine (#FEC84B) callouts, logo bottom-right. Two columns: "Before: 3 hrs/week manual" vs "After: automatic". Send it to Blotato.

Available Blotato visual templates

Blotato · Videos library
5 templates to try
  • Before/After Process — a manual workflow vs automated — Stackbirds' #1 performer.
  • Stat Card — "300 hours/year saved" big-number visual.
  • Whiteboard — "which 3 tasks to automate first" explainer.
  • Case Study — short client win, editorial feel.
  • Tool Stack — the apps you connected, clean grid.
Blotato · preview
Where to find it

Blotato → Videos

🎬 Your visual · v1
Approve → scheduler
Regenerate (brand colours)

Step 7 of 8

7 Connect social accounts in Blotato.

In Blotato: Settings → Accounts → one-click OAuth for each network. Do this once; if a token expires, return here and hit Reconnect.

Blotato · Accounts
9 networks · one-click OAuth

Connect all platforms

💼 LinkedIn · Stackbirds
YouTube · @Stackbirds
📷 Instagram · @stackbirds
📘 Facebook · Stackbirds
𝕏 Twitter / X
🧵 Threads
Blotato · Reconnect
When tokens expire

Settings → Accounts → Reconnect

🔁 Re-authorize
Ask Claude to retry

For Stackbirds, priority connection order is LinkedIn → YouTube → Instagram → Facebook. LinkedIn is where SMB owners and ops managers decide to fix a process; YouTube is the long-tail engine for "how to automate [task]" queries — don't skip it.

Step 8 of 8

8 Post & schedule via Claude Code.

Tell Claude in plain English what to do — it talks to Blotato in the background. This is the part an agency charges thousands for.

Prompt · 8 · post + schedule
Post the before/after process visual to LinkedIn now, schedule the stat-card Reel for tomorrow 8am UAE time, the automation explainer for Wednesday 1pm, and the Google Business Profile post for Sunday morning. Tag all #Stackbirds #DoneForYou and add 1-2 reach tags from {#BusinessAutomation #SMBtools #ProcessMapping}.

Downloads & resources

Direct downloads — no hunting.

Everything in one place: the Stackbirds starter kit, plus the closest public Claude Code marketing tooling (creator Zubair Trabzada, 1.7k★).

Reference video

Watch the full tutorial.

The single reference video that explains the whole AI workflow end-to-end — same eight steps. Watch it once, then keep this playbook open. Every prompt above is already Stackbirds-flavoured.

YouTube · Reference

Claude Code + Blotato — full social media automation walkthrough

Open on YouTube ▸
What to do after the video. Re-open Step 1 and run through. Drop your logo.png, photos, brand_voice.md and Blotato API key into the project folder, and your first AI-scheduled Stackbirds campaign is live within an hour — no agency retainer.