A guide to creating an AI-powered content idea assistant

What you’ll build

With this workflow, your team can request AI-generated, on-brand social media content ideas directly from Slack. The AI pulls brand context from Notion, generates 10–15 tailored ideas, and organizes them in a Notion database for your team to review. This quick-start guide gets you a working prototype for one client that you can then expand to multiple clients later. 

Time commitment

• Quick version (this guide): 2–3 hours
• Full version (see original post): 2–4 weeks (multi-client, with developer, approval-to-calendar automation)

The build (minimum viable version)

Step 1: Create the brand profile in Notion — 30 minutes

Create a single Notion page for your first client with these fields: brand voice (2–3 sentences describing tone), content pillars (3–5 themes), product categories, and any current promotions. This is what the AI uses to make ideas specific rather than generic.

Quick version: Don’t overthink the brand profile. Copy-paste from an existing brand brief or style guide. You can refine it after seeing the first batch of AI output.

Step 2: Set up the Notion review database — 15 minutes

Create a Notion database called ​“Content Idea Review” with these properties: Title (text), Content Type (select: storytelling, educational, product highlight, behind-the-scenes, seasonal), Description (text), Status (select: In Review, Approved, Rejected, Transferred), Client (text), Week (date).

Quick version: Use Notion’s ​“Board” view grouped by Status so your team can drag ideas between columns during review.

Step 3: Build the Make scenario — 60–90 minutes

Create a new scenario in Make with this sequence:

1. Slack trigger — ​“Watch New Messages” module pointed at your dedicated channel
2. OpenAI module — Send a prompt that includes the Slack message text and your client’s brand context (copy-paste the Notion brand profile into the prompt for now)
3. Text parser — Split the AI response into individual ideas
4. Notion module — ​“Create a Database Item” for each idea with status ​“In Review”

Quick version: Skip the dynamic Notion lookup for now. Hard-code your first client’s brand context directly in the Make prompt. You can add the Notion retrieval step later when you expand to multiple clients.

Step 4: Test with a real request — 15 minutes

Post a message in your Slack channel: ​“Generate ideas for [Client Name], [next Monday’s date].” Watch the Make scenario execute. Check your Notion database for the new ideas. Verify they reference the client’s brand voice and current promotions.

Quick version: If the ideas feel generic, the brand profile needs more detail. Add 2–3 example past posts that captured the brand well.

You’re done when…

• You can post a message in Slack and see 10–15 content ideas appear in your Notion database within a few minutes
• The ideas reference your client’s specific brand voice, promotions, and content pillars
• Your team can review, edit, and mark ideas as ​“Approved” or ​“Rejected” in Notion