| name | market-research |
| description | Deep web research skill using Firecrawl MCP. Use when estimating market size (TAM/SAM/SOM), analyzing trends, or scraping competitors. For competitor teardowns, see competitor-analysis. |
Market Research Skill
When to Use
- During Phase 0 (Idea) → Market Research, Competitor Analysis, Opportunity Mapping
- During Phase 1 (Validation) → Demand Testing
- Any time you need structured intelligence about a market, niche, or competitor
Tools Required
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
firecrawl_search | Web search for market data, trends, competitors |
firecrawl_scrape | Extract structured data from specific pages |
firecrawl_extract | Pull pricing, features, positioning from competitor sites |
firecrawl_map | Discover all pages on a competitor's site |
Instructions
1. Define Research Scope
Before starting any research, clarify with the user:
- Market/Industry: What space are we researching?
- Geography: Global, US, EU, LATAM, specific country?
- Depth: Quick scan (30 min) or deep dive (2+ hours)?
- Focus: TAM estimation, competitor landscape, trend signals, or all three?
2. TAM/SAM/SOM Estimation
Execute these searches in parallel:
firecrawl_search: "{industry} market size 2024 2025 report"
firecrawl_search: "{industry} SaaS revenue growth forecast"
firecrawl_search: "{niche} total addressable market"
Structure the output as:
| Metric | Value | Source | Confidence |
|---|
| TAM | $X B | {source} | High/Med/Low |
| SAM | $X M | {source} | High/Med/Low |
| SOM | $X M | {source} | High/Med/Low |
3. Competitor Landscape
For each competitor identified:
firecrawl_extract:
urls: ["{competitor_url}"]
prompt: "Extract: company name, tagline, pricing tiers, key features, target audience, tech stack indicators"
schema: {
name: string,
tagline: string,
pricing: [{ tier: string, price: string, features: [string] }],
target_audience: string,
key_features: [string]
}
Compile into a comparison matrix:
| Feature | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C | Our Opportunity |
|---|
4. Trend Analysis
Search for:
firecrawl_search: "{industry} trends 2025 2026"
firecrawl_search: "{niche} emerging technology"
firecrawl_search: "{industry} pain points users complain"
Categorize trends as:
- Tailwinds (market forces working in our favor)
- Headwinds (forces working against us)
- Wildcards (unpredictable but high-impact)
5. Output Format
Save all research to the relevant PLAYBOOK.md directory as RESEARCH.md with:
- Executive Summary (3 sentences max)
- TAM/SAM/SOM table
- Competitor matrix
- Trend analysis (tailwinds/headwinds/wildcards)
- Key insight + recommended action
- Sources list with URLs
Quality Gates
- Minimum 3 independent sources for any TAM claim
- Competitor data must be scraped, not assumed
- All monetary values must include year and currency
- Trends must be dated (no stale 2022 data presented as current)
