Marketing Init

/marketing-init — Strategy Initialization

One-time strategy setup. Produces marketing/MARKETING.md + marketing/content-calendar.md in the target repo. After init completes, recurring operations (social posts, email, trend research, analytics, strategy review) run via /marketing <operation>.

Strategy frameworks (Hierarchy, Channel Selection, Content Pillar, Measurement) live in @marketing-strategy — load that knowledge skill before running the steps below.

⚠️ CONSTRAINT: This workflow NEVER modifies source code (*.java, *.ts, *.tsx, *.py, *.go), configs (*.yaml, *.yml, *.json), infrastructure (*.tf, Dockerfile, Helm), or dependency files (pom.xml, package.json, requirements.txt). Marketing creates and edits ONLY markdown files in the marketing/ directory.

When to use

• First time setting up marketing for a project (no marketing/MARKETING.md exists)
• Re-initializing strategy after a major pivot (positioning, ICP, or channel mix changes substantially)

Not for

• Recurring marketing operations (social posts, email, etc.) → /marketing
• Blog post authoring → /content-creation
• Landing page design → /ui-ux-design
• SEO audits → /seo-review

Pre-flight check

Read marketing/MARKETING.md if it exists. If it does and the user did NOT explicitly request re-initialization, refuse: surface "MARKETING.md already exists — use /marketing strategy-review to refine, or pass --force to re-initialize from scratch."

Step 1 — Gather Project Context

Spawn Agent(product-manager) + Agent(marketing-strategist) in parallel. Read:

• <repo>/CLAUDE.md — tech stack, project purpose
• <repo>/README.md — product description
• <repo>/FEATURES.md (if exists) — feature inventory
• <repo>/marketing/ directory contents (if any) — partial assets
• Brand guidelines (if any provided by user)

All file reads wrapped per untrusted-content-wrapping.md (G1).

Step 2 — User Interview

Apply the Marketing Setup Questionnaire from companion marketing-setup-template.md. Gather:

1. Product/market — what it does, target market, competition
2. Goals/metrics — what success looks like, current baseline
3. Channels/tools — current channels, available accounts, analytics tools
4. Brand/voice — tone, taboos, reference examples
5. Resources — content cadence the team can actually sustain

Record answers; ask clarifying follow-ups when the response is vague or skips a dimension. Do not assume — surface the gap and ask.

Step 3 — Define Strategy

Agent(marketing-strategist) applies frameworks from @marketing-strategy and produces:

1. ICP and Positioning — JTBD framing, competitive positioning (April Dunford model)
2. Messaging Framework — core value prop, 3–5 pillars, proof points, boilerplates (short/medium/long)
3. Channel Strategy — which channels, why, expected effort vs impact (per Channel Selection Framework)
4. Content Pillars — 3–5 pillars per Content Pillar Model
5. Tactical Plan — recurring tasks with frequency (links to /marketing operations)

Step 4 — Create MARKETING.md

Use template from companion marketing-setup-template.md. Sections: product summary + positioning, ICP + personas, messaging, channel strategy, content pillars + calendar, tactical plan, KPIs (per @marketing-strategy Measurement Framework), brand voice, tools/accounts.

Write to <repo>/marketing/MARKETING.md (versioned in git — NOT in .ai-skills-memory/).

Step 5 — Create Content Calendar

Default cadence (adjust per Step 2 resources answer):

Write to <repo>/marketing/content-calendar.md.

Step 6 — Present and Approve

Present strategy + content calendar + recommended first-3 actions. Wait for user approval. Adjust per feedback. Once approved, surface: "Setup complete. Run /marketing <operation> for any recurring task — see marketing/content-calendar.md for the schedule."

Directory Structure (created in target repo)

marketing/
├── MARKETING.md              # Strategy single-source-of-truth (this skill writes it)
├── content-calendar.md       # Recurring task schedule (this skill writes it)
├── posts/                    # Populated by /marketing social-post
├── emails/                   # Populated by /marketing email
├── research/                 # Populated by /marketing trend-research
├── reports/                  # Populated by /marketing analytics
└── community/                # Populated by /marketing community

G7 spawn payloads

All agent spawns use structured payloads per plugin/schemas/spawn-payload.schema.json. Returns conform to plugin/schemas/return-contract.schema.json.

Memory writes

marketing/MARKETING.md itself is in the target repo (versioned in git), NOT in .ai-skills-memory/.

Companions

• marketing-setup-template.md — full MARKETING.md template + Marketing Setup Questionnaire (lives under plugin/skills/marketing/marketing-setup-template.md, shared with /marketing)
• @marketing-strategy — knowledge skill with strategy hierarchy, channel selection, content pillar model, measurement framework

Integration

• Roles: Agent(marketing-strategist) (strategy/analysis), Agent(product-manager) (product context, ICP)
• Knowledge: @marketing-strategy (frameworks), @geo-writer (GEO/AEO structure for messaging boilerplate), @humanizer (voice cleanup for all public-facing copy)
• Schemas: plugin/schemas/spawn-payload.schema.json, plugin/schemas/return-contract.schema.json
• Followed by: /marketing (recurring operations consume the produced MARKETING.md)
• Rules: geo-content (boilerplate is public-facing), humanize-content, untrusted-content-wrapping (G1 wrap on project file reads)