| name | mkt-icp |
| description | Build or refine an ideal customer profile so every skill speaks to the right person. Triggers on: "target audience", "buyer persona", "ideal customer", "who am I selling to", "ICP", "customer avatar", "who buys this", "audience research". Two modes: Interview (build from founder knowledge) or Research (extract from URLs, reviews, social signals). Produces brand_context/icp.md. Foundation skill — run before execution skills that read audience context. Does NOT trigger for positioning, voice extraction, or content writing.
|
ICP — Ideal Customer Profile
Generic marketing talks to everyone and resonates with no one. A sharp ICP doesn't just describe demographics — it captures how the customer thinks, what words they use, what they've already tried, and why they're still stuck.
Outcome
brand_context/icp.md — a customer profile detailed enough that any skill can write copy, choose angles, or build content that feels like it was written by someone who knows the reader personally.
Context Needs
| File | Load level | How it shapes this skill |
|---|
brand_context/positioning.md | Summary | The chosen angle tells us which audience segment to focus on |
context/learnings.md | ## mkt-icp section | Apply previous insights about what resonates |
Load if they exist. Proceed without them if not.
Before You Start
Check if brand_context/icp.md exists.
If it exists → Update mode. Read the file, show a one-paragraph summary, and ask what they'd like to change. Offer targeted updates (add a segment, refine language, update objections) rather than rebuilding from scratch.
If it doesn't exist → Mode selection. Ask:
"Do you already know who your ideal customer is, or should I research them?
- I know them — ask me questions and I'll describe them
- Research them — I'll pull signals from reviews, forums, and social media
- Both — interview me, then validate with research"
If the user provides a URL or mentions a specific platform in their opening message, skip to Research mode.
Mode 1: Interview
Best for: founders who know their customer but haven't documented the profile systematically.
Read references/interview-questions.md for the full question bank.
Ask a maximum of 8 questions. Prioritise based on what you already know from context. If positioning.md is loaded, skip questions it already answers.
Focus on surfacing their customer's own language — not marketing language. The words a customer uses to describe their problem are more valuable than how the founder frames it.
Mode 2: Research
Best for: validating assumptions, finding customer language, or starting without founder knowledge.
Read references/research-methods.md for the full process.
Sources to mine (in priority order):
- Customer reviews of the product or competitors (Amazon, G2, Capterra, app stores)
- Reddit/forum threads where the target audience discusses their problem
- Social media comments on competitor content
- YouTube comments on related videos
- Survey data or testimonials (if the user provides them)
The goal is to extract patterns in: how they describe the problem, what they've tried, what frustrated them, and what outcome they're after — in their exact words.
Mode 3: Interview + Research
Run Interview mode first to build a hypothesis, then Research mode to validate and enrich with real customer language. Flag any gaps between founder assumptions and actual customer signals.
Step 4: Build the Profile
After gathering inputs from either mode, synthesise into the ICP profile.
Read references/icp-template.md for the exact output format.
The profile must include all of these (each explained in the template):
- Who they are — not just demographics, but situation and identity
- Primary pain — the problem that keeps them up at night, in their words
- What they've tried — alternatives and why those didn't work
- Desired outcome — what "after" looks like for them
- Objections — why they hesitate, what makes them skeptical
- Their language — exact phrases, words, and framings they use
- Where they hang out — platforms, communities, publications they trust
- Buying triggers — what pushes them from "considering" to "buying"
Step 5: Validate
After building the profile, present a validation check:
Write 2 sentences as if speaking directly to this customer about their primary pain — one that should resonate, one that shouldn't.
Ask: "Would your ideal customer read that first sentence and think 'this person gets me'?"
- Yes → save
- Close but off → ask what feels wrong, adjust, retest
- Not right → dig deeper on language and pain
Cap at 3 rounds.
Step 6: Save Output
Write brand_context/icp.md using the format in references/icp-template.md.
If the file already existed, show what changed and confirm before overwriting.
After saving, show the user actual excerpts — the primary pain statement and 3-4 key phrases from their language section.
Rules
Updated automatically when the user flags issues. Read before every run.
Self-Update
If the user flags an issue with the output — wrong audience, bad language, missed segment, incorrect assumption — update the ## Rules section in this SKILL.md immediately with the correction and today's date. Don't just log it to learnings; fix the skill so it doesn't repeat the mistake.
Troubleshooting
Founder describes the customer too broadly: Push for specifics. "Entrepreneurs" is too broad. "Solo founders making $5-15k/month who do their own marketing" is useful.
Can't find customer language online: Ask the founder to share actual emails, DMs, or support tickets from customers.
Multiple distinct segments emerge: Build the primary ICP for the most valuable segment. Note secondary segments at the bottom of the file for future reference.
Positioning not loaded: Proceed, but note that the positioning angle would help prioritise which segment to focus on.
ICP and positioning conflict: Flag it. The ICP might reveal the positioning angle needs adjustment — that's valuable signal.
