Marketing Research

Turn market signals into actionable intelligence through systematic research, competitor analysis, and audience insight extraction.

What This Skill Does

The Challenge: Marketing decisions made without data risk targeting wrong audiences, missing trends, and losing to competitors. Unstructured research wastes time and produces inconsistent insights.

The Solution: Marketing Research skill provides structured research workflows for market sizing, competitor profiling, audience segmentation, and trend identification. Combines web research with AI synthesis to deliver decision-ready reports.

Activation

Implicit: Activates automatically for Market Researcher, Growth Strategist, and Product Marketing agents.

Explicit: Activate via prompt:

Activate marketing-research skill to analyze competitors in the SaaS productivity space

Capabilities

1. Competitor Analysis

Map competitive landscape with positioning, pricing, and messaging insights.

Research dimensions:

  • Product features and differentiators
  • Pricing tiers and packaging
  • Messaging and value propositions
  • Marketing channels and content strategy
  • Customer reviews and sentiment

Output format: references/competitor-profile-template.md

2. Audience Research

Identify target segments, pain points, and buying triggers.

Research methods:

MethodData SourceUse Case
Survey synthesisReddit, Quora, G2 reviewsPain point discovery
DemographicsLinkedIn, Meta InsightsAudience profiling
BehavioralGA4, HotjarIntent signals
Voice of customerCustomer interviewsMessaging alignment

Quantify market opportunity and identify emerging trends.

Trend signals: Google Trends, industry reports, VC funding data, job postings

Market sizing approaches:

  • TAM (Total Addressable Market): Full market demand
  • SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market): Reachable segment
  • SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market): Realistic capture

Prerequisites

  • Search access for web research
  • Target market and industry defined
  • Research questions prioritized

Configuration

No API keys required for basic research. Optional integrations:

  • REVIEWWEB_API_KEY for SEO keyword volume data
  • GEMINI_API_KEY for document and report analysis

Best Practices

1. Start with jobs-to-be-done framing Research what outcomes customers need, not just product features.

2. Cross-validate signals One data source is anecdote. Three or more sources create a pattern.

3. Date-stamp all findings Market data expires quickly. Note research date on all insights.

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Pre-Launch Competitive Audit

Scenario: Launching a new feature, need to understand competitive landscape.

Workflow:

  1. Define 5-10 direct and indirect competitors
  2. Profile each on product, pricing, positioning, and channels
  3. Identify whitespace and differentiation opportunities
  4. Document findings in competitor matrix
  5. Extract messaging insights for copywriting

Output: Competitor matrix + positioning recommendations.

Use Case 2: Audience Persona Development

Scenario: ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is unclear, need data to validate.

Workflow:

  1. Mine G2/Capterra reviews for job titles and use cases
  2. Analyze Reddit communities for pain language
  3. Cross-reference with LinkedIn demographic data
  4. Synthesize into 2-3 persona profiles
  5. Validate personas with sales team

Output: Persona docs with demographics, pain points, and buying triggers.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Research too broad, no clear insights Solution: Narrow scope to 3 specific research questions before starting.

Issue: Conflicting data across sources Solution: Weight primary sources (direct user feedback) over secondary (analyst reports).

  • /ckm:research - General research workflow
  • /ckm:competitor - Competitor deep-dive
  • /ckm:analyze - Data synthesis and reporting