Weekly Content Brief Generator: BuzzSumo Trends to Notion

Build me a weekly content brief generator that runs every Monday at 8am via a cron trigger and produces a ready-to-assign blog brief in my Notion Content Pipeline database.

Inputs I want to configure once: a list of topic keywords (5 to 10), the Notion database id for my Content Pipeline, and any keyword exclusions or domain filters I want to apply.

Each Monday, the agent should: (1) call BuzzSumo's Search Trending Content operation for the configured keywords, scoped to the last 7 days; (2) call BuzzSumo's Search Articles operation for the same keywords over the last 7 days, sorted by engagement, to round out the candidate set; (3) merge and de-duplicate the results, then identify the three highest-performing pieces by total engagement (combine total Facebook shares, Twitter shares, Pinterest shares, and Reddit engagements).

Then have the agent analyze what those three pieces have in common: format (listicle, how-to, opinion, case study, news), angle, headline pattern (numeric, how-to, question, contrarian), and approximate length. Use that pattern as the seed for the brief.

Draft the content brief with these sections: Proposed Headline, Target Keyword, Recommended Angle, Why This Will Work (one short paragraph referencing the engagement signal from BuzzSumo), Suggested H2 Outline (4 to 6 H2s), and Reference URLs (the three winning articles with their total share counts and the publishing domain). Keep the tone practical so an editor can hand it straight to a writer.

Finally, use Notion's Create a Page operation to add the brief as a new page in the configured Content Pipeline database. Set the page title to the proposed headline, populate the page body with the brief sections, and set these properties: Status = Idea, Owner = unassigned, Source = BuzzSumo trending. Include the run date in the page so I can tell briefs apart at a glance.

If BuzzSumo returns no qualifying results for a given week, still create a Notion page that flags the slow week and suggests an evergreen angle based on the strongest article from the previous run. Handle BuzzSumo's monthly Search API quota gracefully: stop calling once the budget for the run is hit and note any keywords that were skipped at the bottom of the brief.

Additional information

What does this prompt do?

Pulls the highest-engagement articles from the last 7 days for your chosen topic keywords using BuzzSumo's trending content and article search.
Spots what the top three pieces have in common: format, angle, headline pattern, and length.
Drafts a structured brief with a proposed headline, target keyword, recommended angle, H2 outline, and three reference links with their share counts.
Saves the brief as a new page in your Notion Content Pipeline database every Monday morning, ready for an editor to assign.

What do I need to use this?

A BuzzSumo account on a paid plan (API access is included with paid web subscriptions).
A Notion workspace with a Content Pipeline database that has Status, Owner, and Source properties.
A short list of topic keywords you want to monitor each week.

How can I customize it?

Change the schedule, for example Friday afternoons for Monday planning, or twice a week.
Swap the topic keywords or add domain filters to focus on a niche or exclude competitors.
Adjust the brief template, like adding word count targets, internal link suggestions, or a CTA section.
Point it at a different Notion database or pre-fill different properties such as Channel or Persona.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a paid BuzzSumo plan?

Yes. BuzzSumo's API is only available on paid web app subscriptions. Free trials do not include API access.

Will it work with my existing Notion content calendar?

Yes, as long as your database has the properties the brief writes to. You can rename properties or map to different ones when you set the workflow up.

How does it pick the top articles?

It looks at engagement metrics from BuzzSumo, mainly total social shares and Facebook engagement, over the last 7 days for your topic keywords, and surfaces the three highest performers.

Can I monitor more than one topic?

Yes. Pass a list of keywords and the workflow will pull trending and high-performing articles for each, then choose the strongest across the set.

What if BuzzSumo returns no strong results that week?

The agent will note the slow week in the brief and suggest evergreen angles based on prior top performers, so the editor still has something to react to.