ICP Research
Build comprehensive ideal customer profiles for targeted marketing, including community discovery and voice-of-customer language extraction.
Install
git clone https://github.com/thatrebeccarae/claude-marketing.git && cp -r claude-marketing/skills/icp-research ~/.claude/skills/
Workflow
1. Gather Product Context
- What do you sell?
- Key features and differentiators
- Pricing model and range
- Current customers (who buys today?)
2. Define Market
- Industry / vertical
- Company size (employees, revenue)
- Geography
- B2B vs. B2C vs. B2B2C
3. Build Persona
Demographics:
- Job title and seniority level
- Department and reporting structure
- Company size and revenue range
- Industry and sub-vertical
- Geography and timezone
Psychographics:
- Daily responsibilities (what fills their calendar)
- Goals they are measured on (KPIs, OKRs)
- Frustrations and daily friction
- Career aspirations
- How they stay informed (publications, podcasts, communities)
Buying Behavior:
- Who influences the decision?
- Who approves the budget?
- What is the buying process? (self-serve, demo, RFP, committee)
- Evaluation criteria (price, features, support, integration)
- Typical buying timeline
4. Map Pain Points
| Category |
Questions to Answer |
| Time |
What takes too long? What manual work do they hate? |
| Money |
Where are they wasting budget? What costs too much? |
| Risk |
What keeps them up at night? What could go wrong? |
| Quality |
Where is output inconsistent or error-prone? |
| Growth |
What blocks them from scaling? |
Score each pain point: Frequency (1-10) x Intensity (1-10) = Priority Score
5. Identify Objections
| Objection Type |
Response Strategy |
| Price |
ROI calculation, cost of inaction, payment flexibility |
| Time |
Quick setup, done-for-you options, time-to-value metrics |
| Trust |
Social proof, case studies, free trial/pilot, guarantees |
| Need |
Cost of status quo, competitor pressure, market trends |
| Authority |
Executive summary, ROI one-pager, pilot proposal |
6. Map Buying Triggers
External triggers:
- New funding round or budget cycle
- Leadership change (new CMO, VP)
- Competitor pressure (lost deal, feature gap)
- Regulatory change (compliance deadline)
- Failed vendor or tool (contract end, outage)
Internal triggers:
- Missed targets (revenue, growth, efficiency)
- Team complaints (process pain, tool frustration)
- Process breaking at scale
- New initiative requiring new capabilities
- Budget cuts forcing consolidation
7. Community Research
Discover where your ICP gathers online and extract their exact language.
Platforms to search:
- Reddit (subreddits by industry/role)
- Facebook Groups
- Discord and Slack communities
- LinkedIn Groups
- Quora and Stack Exchange
- Industry forums
- YouTube comments
- App review sites (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot)
Search templates:
"[industry/role] frustrating OR annoying"
"why is [process] so hard"
"alternatives to [competitor]"
"[tool] vs [tool]"
"best [tool type] for [use case]"
"I switched from [tool] because"
What to extract:
- Exact phrases and vocabulary they use (voice-of-customer)
- Pain points with emotional language
- Evaluation criteria they mention
- Competitors they compare
- Objections they raise
Classify community members:
- Actively seeking: ready to buy, asking for recommendations
- Aware but stuck: know the problem, not acting on it
- Venting only: complaining but unlikely to change
8. Craft Messaging Angles
For each pain point, create:
- Headline: attention-grabbing statement
- Supporting proof: data point, case study, or testimonial
- CTA: specific next step
Output Format
See REFERENCE.md for the complete ICP profile template.
Key Principles
- Real language over marketing language. Use the exact words your ICP uses, not polished marketing copy.
- Pain over features. Lead with what hurts, not what you built.
- Specificity wins. "VP of Marketing at a 50-person SaaS company" > "Marketing leaders."
- Validate with data. Community research > assumptions.
- One ICP per profile. If you serve different personas, create separate profiles.
For templates and frameworks, see REFERENCE.md.
1---2name: icp-research3description: Build detailed ideal customer profiles with pain points, objections, buying triggers, and messaging angles. Includes community research to find where ICPs gather online and extract their exact language. Use when researching audiences, creating buyer personas, or developing targeted messaging.4license: MIT5---67# ICP Research89Build comprehensive ideal customer profiles for targeted marketing, including community discovery and voice-of-customer language extraction.1011## Install1213```bash14git clone https://github.com/thatrebeccarae/claude-marketing.git && cp -r claude-marketing/skills/icp-research ~/.claude/skills/15```1617## Workflow1819### 1. Gather Product Context2021- What do you sell?22- Key features and differentiators23- Pricing model and range24- Current customers (who buys today?)2526### 2. Define Market2728- Industry / vertical29- Company size (employees, revenue)30- Geography31- B2B vs. B2C vs. B2B2C3233### 3. Build Persona3435**Demographics:**36- Job title and seniority level37- Department and reporting structure38- Company size and revenue range39- Industry and sub-vertical40- Geography and timezone4142**Psychographics:**43- Daily responsibilities (what fills their calendar)44- Goals they are measured on (KPIs, OKRs)45- Frustrations and daily friction46- Career aspirations47- How they stay informed (publications, podcasts, communities)4849**Buying Behavior:**50- Who influences the decision?51- Who approves the budget?52- What is the buying process? (self-serve, demo, RFP, committee)53- Evaluation criteria (price, features, support, integration)54- Typical buying timeline5556### 4. Map Pain Points5758| Category | Questions to Answer |59|----------|-------------------|60| **Time** | What takes too long? What manual work do they hate? |61| **Money** | Where are they wasting budget? What costs too much? |62| **Risk** | What keeps them up at night? What could go wrong? |63| **Quality** | Where is output inconsistent or error-prone? |64| **Growth** | What blocks them from scaling? |6566Score each pain point: **Frequency** (1-10) x **Intensity** (1-10) = **Priority Score**6768### 5. Identify Objections6970| Objection Type | Response Strategy |71|---------------|-------------------|72| **Price** | ROI calculation, cost of inaction, payment flexibility |73| **Time** | Quick setup, done-for-you options, time-to-value metrics |74| **Trust** | Social proof, case studies, free trial/pilot, guarantees |75| **Need** | Cost of status quo, competitor pressure, market trends |76| **Authority** | Executive summary, ROI one-pager, pilot proposal |7778### 6. Map Buying Triggers7980**External triggers:**81- New funding round or budget cycle82- Leadership change (new CMO, VP)83- Competitor pressure (lost deal, feature gap)84- Regulatory change (compliance deadline)85- Failed vendor or tool (contract end, outage)8687**Internal triggers:**88- Missed targets (revenue, growth, efficiency)89- Team complaints (process pain, tool frustration)90- Process breaking at scale91- New initiative requiring new capabilities92- Budget cuts forcing consolidation9394### 7. Community Research9596Discover where your ICP gathers online and extract their exact language.9798**Platforms to search:**99- Reddit (subreddits by industry/role)100- Facebook Groups101- Discord and Slack communities102- LinkedIn Groups103- Quora and Stack Exchange104- Industry forums105- YouTube comments106- App review sites (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot)107108**Search templates:**109```110"[industry/role] frustrating OR annoying"111"why is [process] so hard"112"alternatives to [competitor]"113"[tool] vs [tool]"114"best [tool type] for [use case]"115"I switched from [tool] because"116```117118**What to extract:**119- Exact phrases and vocabulary they use (voice-of-customer)120- Pain points with emotional language121- Evaluation criteria they mention122- Competitors they compare123- Objections they raise124125**Classify community members:**126- **Actively seeking:** ready to buy, asking for recommendations127- **Aware but stuck:** know the problem, not acting on it128- **Venting only:** complaining but unlikely to change129130### 8. Craft Messaging Angles131132For each pain point, create:133- **Headline:** attention-grabbing statement134- **Supporting proof:** data point, case study, or testimonial135- **CTA:** specific next step136137## Output Format138139See REFERENCE.md for the complete ICP profile template.140141## Key Principles1421431. **Real language over marketing language.** Use the exact words your ICP uses, not polished marketing copy.1442. **Pain over features.** Lead with what hurts, not what you built.1453. **Specificity wins.** "VP of Marketing at a 50-person SaaS company" > "Marketing leaders."1464. **Validate with data.** Community research > assumptions.1475. **One ICP per profile.** If you serve different personas, create separate profiles.148149For templates and frameworks, see [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md).
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