moizibnyousaf /deepen-plan — Plan Enhancement with Parallel Research
The second pass. Takes an existing marketing plan and strengthens it with targeted research — audience data, competitive intel, keyword gaps — then merges findings back in.
For brand memory protocol, see /cmo rules/brand-memory.md.
On Activation
- Read
brand/files if they exist (voice-profile.md, audience.md, competitors.md, positioning.md, keyword-plan.md). They enhance but never gate. - Identify the plan to deepen — the user will either point to a file or have one in context.
Phase 0: Assess the Plan
Read the existing plan and classify it:
| Plan Type | Signals | Common Gaps |
|---|---|---|
| Brand strategy | Voice, positioning, values | Missing audience data, no competitive differentiation |
| Campaign brief | Timeline, channels, messages | Vague audience, no keyword backing, weak positioning |
| Content calendar | Topics, dates, channels | No keyword research, missing distribution strategy |
| Launch plan | Timeline, milestones, channels | No competitive landscape, missing pricing context |
| Brainstorm output | Approaches, recommendations | Everything — brainstorms are directional, not researched |
If no plan is found or provided:
"I need an existing plan to deepen. Either point me to a file or run /brainstorm or /launch-strategy first to create one."
If the plan is embedded in conversation context (not a file): extract the key sections and work with them inline. Note in the handoff that the deepened plan should be saved to a file.
Phase 1: Gap Analysis
Score the plan across 5 dimensions. For each, rate as strong, weak, or missing:
### Plan Gap Analysis
| Dimension | Status | Evidence |
|-----------|--------|----------|
| Audience clarity | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Competitive positioning | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Keyword/search strategy | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Distribution plan | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Success metrics | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
Show this table to the user. Explain which gaps you'll fill and why they matter: "Your campaign brief has strong messaging but no audience data backing it. The competitive section is a single sentence. I'm going to research both in parallel — this will take a few minutes but will make the plan 3x more actionable."
If all dimensions are strong: "This plan is solid. I don't see gaps worth researching. If you want me to dig deeper on a specific section, tell me which one."
Quality Gate
A dimension is strong when it contains:
- Specific data points (numbers, names, quotes) rather than vague statements
- Actionable details an agent or human could execute on
- Evidence of research, not just assumptions
A dimension is weak when it:
- States the obvious without specifics ("target tech-savvy users")
- Has the right structure but lacks data backing
- Makes claims without evidence
A dimension is missing when:
- The section doesn't exist at all
- It's a single vague sentence
Phase 2: Parallel Research
Spawn research agents based on the gaps found. Use the Agent tool to run up to 3 agents simultaneously in a single message:
When audience is weak or missing:
Spawn mktg-audience-researcher:
- Provide: the product/project name, what it does, who the plan currently targets (if stated)
- Agent writes to
brand/audience.md - Tell it: "Research the target audience for [product]. The current plan says [quote relevant section]. Find buyer personas, where they hang out online, what language they use, and what objections they have. Write findings to brand/audience.md."
When competitive positioning is weak or missing:
Spawn mktg-competitive-scanner:
- Provide: the product/project name, market space, any competitors mentioned in the plan
- Agent writes to
brand/competitors.md - Tell it: "Research competitors for [product] in the [space] market. The current plan mentions [competitors if any]. Find 3-5 competitors, their positioning, pricing, strengths, and weaknesses. Write findings to brand/competitors.md."
When keyword/search strategy is weak or missing:
Do NOT spawn an agent. Instead, note that keyword research should be run after deepening:
- Add to the synthesis: "Keyword strategy gap identified. After this deepening pass, run
/keyword-researchto fill this with real search data."
When distribution is weak or missing:
Do NOT spawn an agent. Distribution gaps are filled during synthesis by cross-referencing audience data (where they hang out) with the plan's channel strategy.
When success metrics are weak or missing:
Do NOT spawn an agent. Metrics are filled during synthesis based on the plan type and channels.
Minimum research: At least 1 agent must be spawned. If no gaps warrant an agent, skip to Phase 3 with a note.
Fallback: If agents are not installed (mktg doctor shows agents missing), read the corresponding skill files and execute the research inline — first audience, then competitive. This is slower but works everywhere.
Phase 3: Synthesize
After all research agents complete, merge findings into the plan. Follow these rules:
- Read the research outputs —
brand/audience.md,brand/competitors.md, or any other files the agents wrote. - Do not rewrite the plan. Add to it. The user's original thinking is preserved.
- For each gap that was researched, add a new subsection within the relevant part of the plan:
### Audience Research (Added [YYYY-MM-DD])
[Synthesized findings from audience-researcher, tailored to this plan's context]
### Competitive Landscape (Added [YYYY-MM-DD])
[Synthesized findings from competitive-scanner, tailored to this plan's context]
- Strengthen existing sections — If the plan had a weak audience section, enhance it with specifics from the research. Add quotes, data points, persona details. Don't replace the original text; build on it.
- Fill distribution gaps using audience data — "Your audience is active in [communities/platforms]. Add these to your distribution plan: [specific channels]."
- Fill metrics gaps based on plan type:
- Brand strategy -> awareness metrics (search volume, social mentions, brand recall)
- Campaign brief -> campaign metrics (CTR, conversion rate, CAC)
- Content calendar -> content metrics (organic traffic, time on page, email signups)
- Launch plan -> launch metrics (day-1 signups, activation rate, press mentions)
Phase 4: Handoff
Write the updated plan back to its original file location. If the plan was provided inline (not from a file), write to
marketing/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-deepened.md.Append a deepening log at the bottom of the plan:
---
## Deepened on [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Gaps addressed:**
- [List each gap and what was added]
**Research agents used:**
- [agent-name]: [one-line summary of findings]
**Remaining gaps:**
- [Any gaps not addressed and recommended next skill]
**Suggested next step:** /[skill-name] — [why]
- Append to
brand/learnings.md(if it exists):
- [YYYY-MM-DD] [/deepen-plan] Deepened [plan-type] for [project]. Key finding: [most surprising or actionable insight from research].
- Tell the user what changed:
"Plan deepened. Here's what I added: [2-3 sentence summary]. The biggest insight from research was [highlight]. Your plan now has [strong count]/5 dimensions covered. Suggested next step:
/[skill]to [reason]."
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-pattern | Why it fails | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Rewriting the user's plan from scratch | The user's original thinking contains context and decisions you don't have — overwriting it loses institutional knowledge | Add to existing sections, preserve original thinking |
| Running all 5 research types regardless | Researching what's already strong wastes time and may contradict validated decisions the user already made | Only research actual gaps — strong sections don't need more data |
| Spawning agents for keyword or distribution gaps | Keyword research is a complex methodology that deserves its own skill run — a quick agent pass produces shallow results that mislead | Keywords need /keyword-research skill. Distribution is synthesized from audience data |
| Deepening a plan that doesn't exist yet | You can't enhance nothing — the agent will hallucinate a plan and then deepen its own hallucination | Route to /brainstorm or /launch-strategy first |
| Running without showing the gap analysis | The user should see and approve what you're about to research — surprise research wastes cycles if they already know the answers | Always show the gap table and explain what you'll research |
| Silently updating brand files | Brand files persist across sessions — silent updates may overwrite previous research the user relied on | Agents write to brand/. That's fine. But tell the user what was updated |
| Deepening the same plan twice without new context | Double-deepening without new information just adds redundant research and makes the plan harder to read | Flag it: "This plan was already deepened on [date]. Want me to research something specific, or has the situation changed?" |
YAGNI Principles
- Don't research what's already strong. A solid audience section doesn't need more audience research.
- Don't add sections the plan doesn't need. A content calendar doesn't need a pricing analysis.
- Don't create a new plan. This skill enhances, it doesn't generate.
- Don't run keyword research inline. That's a dedicated skill with its own methodology.
- The gap analysis table is the decision framework. If it shows all strong, you're done.
Related Skills
- brainstorm: When no plan exists yet and the user needs direction
- launch-strategy: When the plan to deepen is a launch plan, or when no plan exists
- keyword-research: For filling keyword/search strategy gaps identified in gap analysis
- audience-research: For deep-dive audience work beyond what the researcher agent provides
- competitive-intel: For deep competitive analysis beyond the scanner agent