Episode Summary
On this episode of Content Logistics, host Baylee Gunnell speaks with guest Shaheen Samavati, Co-Founder and CEO of VeraContent, to tackle one of content marketing’s most significant challenges: maintaining a consistent brand voice while scaling production. VeraContent specializes in content localization across different markets and languages. As teams grow and create more content across multiple channels, achieving consistency becomes increasingly challenging.
Shaheen reveals how interactive style guides outperform static documents. Rather than lengthy PDFs that teams ignore, she recommends tools like Grammarly’s style guide feature, which provides real-time feedback as writers work. This automated approach ensures consistency across large teams without constant manual oversight.
The conversation also explores AI’s role in content creation. Shaheen emphasizes that writers are well-positioned for this shift since crafting effective prompts requires strong linguistic skills. She shares practical insights on building prompt libraries, creating scalable content workflows, and adapting brand voice for different platforms and markets. The discussion offers actionable strategies for content teams seeking to grow without compromising quality or consistency.
Guest Profile
Shaheen Samavati
Key Insights
Interactive Style Guides Beat Static Documents
Static PDFs get ignored. Interactive tools, such as Grammarly's style guide feature, provide real-time feedback as writers work, automatically flagging inconsistencies without requiring manual reference checks. This proves essential for large teams where 30+ writers work on a single project. Automation prevents confusion and ensures consistency. Teams upload spreadsheet-based rules directly into these tools, making enforcement seamless. This shift from reference documents to integrated workflow tools fundamentally changes how brands maintain voice at scale. The result: consistent output without constant oversight.
Quality Briefs Prevent Production Breakdowns
Poor briefs create the biggest bottleneck in content production. Unclear requirements lead to rewrites, resulting in delays and quality issues. Effective brief processes need standardized forms with clear input fields and creator checklists. This systematic approach captures necessary information before work begins. Brief quality investment pays dividends throughout production, reducing revisions and improving first-draft success. Without proper briefing systems, even excellent writers struggle to deliver consistent, on-brand content meeting expectations.
AI Enhances Rather Than Replaces Writers
Writers have natural AI advantages because prompt creation requires linguistic skills. AI enables individual writers to produce significantly more content while maintaining quality. Companies aren't cutting marketing budgets; instead, they are raising volume and efficiency expectations. This creates more opportunities for adaptive writers. Success requires excellent prompts with specific format, length, tone, and source material instructions. Detailed guidance, combined with thorough revision, produces human-quality output. The future belongs to writers who embrace these tools, not those who resist them.
Feedback Systems Drive Quality at Scale
Systematic feedback loops maintain quality in large operations. Multi-level editorial processes with substantial, specific feedback help writers improve while creating work they take pride in. Rating systems accompanied by written explanations offer actionable guidance that extends beyond simple approval. Random editor quality checks ensure the feedback system maintains standards. This prevents the "spitting out content" problem associated with corporate content without meaningful review. Internal rating systems match talent to appropriate projects over time. Upfront feedback mechanism investment creates sustainable quality improvements across the entire operations.
Episode Highlights
Why Brand Voice Slips During Content Scaling
Brand voice consistency becomes challenging as content operations grow because more people get involved in the creation process. Each additional team member introduces potential for deviation from established voice guidelines. The complexity multiplies when expanding into different languages and markets, where brand voice must be adapted while maintaining core identity. Modern brands now function as publishers, creating content at unprecedented scale across multiple channels rather than simply buying advertising.
“The more content you create, the more people you need. Obviously, when you’re doing it in more languages, that adds a layer of complexity because it’s harder to control how your brand voice is being represented in the different languages.”
Building Scalable Content Production Workflows
Effective content operations require systematic approaches to talent management and workflow design. Successful teams categorize writers by language, content type, and industry expertise to enable quick project matching. The production process involves multiple editorial stages, during which writers receive detailed ratings and explanations for their work. This feedback creates opportunities for improvement while building pride in the output, preventing content creation from becoming a volume-focused assembly line without quality control.
“A really important aspect of our editorial process is the substantial feedback. The editor has to rate the assignment on a few different factors and has to give substantial feedback on why they rated it the way they did.”
AI’s Practical Applications in Content Strategy
AI tools excel at creating content when teams have strong source material and clear formatting requirements. Rather than generating content from nothing, AI works best by repurposing existing high-quality content into new formats. This approach requires investment in excellent prompt creation, with specific instructions on length, structure, and the use of source material. When teams develop comprehensive prompts and maintain rigorous revision processes, they can efficiently create hundreds of pieces while maintaining high-quality standards.
“It’s really great at creating things when you need to create a lot of content in the same format, but you already have good source content for it. A common case is when a company already has a lot of content—maybe on your website or blog—and you want to create a lot of content in a new format. You can just draw on what you already have and repurpose it.”
The Future of Content in Search and Discovery
Content remains essential even as search behavior shifts toward zero-click results and AI overviews. While website traffic may decline, content serves as the foundation for AI systems to discover and reference brands. Search engines utilize existing content to assess the relevance and authority of AI-generated responses. Video content gains particular importance because it appears embedded in AI results, creating brand awareness even when users don’t click through to websites. This evolution requires viewing content as a means of feeding AI discovery systems.
“So we just have to keep adapting. I agree: the same principles that apply to SEO are the same ones that get you featured in those AI overviews. It basically comes down to creating great content. But I also think multimedia content is becoming more and more important for building brand personality and being present across different channels. That’s something we’ve been helping our clients with as well.”
