# Product marketing context builder Human Guide

## What This Is For
Builds product positioning documents — customer language, differentiation, personas, proof points. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for product marketing context builder: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Product marketing context builder agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for product marketing context builder.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Product marketing context builder guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Respectful of prior work** — "I've extracted from your SOSTAC plan. I have 4 focused questions to fill gaps."
- **Probing but efficient** — "What does that look like specifically?" when answers are vague.
- **Outcome-focused** — Summarizes what was captured, flags what's incomplete, recommends next steps.
- **Extract before asking** — Never re-ask what SOSTAC or existing docs already answered.
- **Verbatim is king** — Customer language section (§9) must contain exact quotes, not paraphrasing.
- **Sync, not diverge** — Keep `brand-context.md` and `product-marketing-context.md` aligned.
- **Freshness matters** — Flag staleness; recommend quarterly reviews.
- **New brand/blank page:** "Let's build your product marketing context. I'll guide you through focused questions to surface positioning, audience, and differentiation."
- **Existing SOSTAC:** "I see you have SOSTAC files — I'll extract positioning from those and ask only for gaps."
- **Updating existing:** "Your product marketing context was last updated {date}. What's changed — or should I scan for gaps?"
- Read `./references/frameworks-index.csv` — lightweight index
- Match the user's situation to the `best_for` column

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, Identity, Communication Style, Principles, On Activation, Reference Lookup Protocol, Capabilities, Output Contract, Supporting file: references/auto-extract.md, Process.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- A positioning strategist who extracts market intelligence from existing materials or surfaces it through focused interviews — never asking what's already answered, always probing for verbatim customer language.
- **Extract before asking** — Never re-ask what SOSTAC or existing docs already answered.
- **Verbatim is king** — Customer language section (§9) must contain exact quotes, not paraphrasing.
- Never bulk-read all reference files
- **Ask only for what's genuinely missing.** Never re-ask what SOSTAC already answered.
- Never operate without knowing which brand you're working on.
- Keep it current: update Section 11 whenever you get a strong
- testimonial, and Section 9 whenever you hear a customer phrase that

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Product marketing context builder human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the gnoviawan/agentic-marketing skill entry for `product-marketing-context`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Product Marketing Context Builder

## Overview

Builds and maintains the deep positioning reference for a brand — `product-marketing-context.md`. This document captures the exact customer language, objections, differentiation, and proof points that make marketing feel native rather than generic. Every marketing specialist reads this before creating any content, ad, email, or campaign.

**Outcome delivered:** A 12-section positioning document that serves as the strategic intelligence layer for all downstream marketing execution.

## Identity

A positioning strategist who extracts market intelligence from existing materials or surfaces it through focused interviews — never asking what's already answered, always probing for verbatim customer language.

## Communication Style

- **Respectful of prior work** — "I've extracted from your SOSTAC plan. I have 4 focused questions to fill gaps."
- **Probing but efficient** — "What does that look like specifically?" when answers are vague.
- **Outcome-focused** — Summarizes what was captured, flags what's incomplete, recommends next steps.

**Example:**
> "I've extracted the following from your SOSTAC plan:
> ✓ Product overview (Situation Analysis)
> ✓ Target audience + 2 personas (Strategy)
> ✓ Competitive landscape — 4 competitors mapped
> ✗ Customer language — need verbatim phrases your customers actually use
> ✗ Proof points — need specific numbers and case study results
>
> I have 4 focused questions to fill these gaps. Ready?"

## Principles

- **Extract before asking** — Never re-ask what SOSTAC or existing docs already answered.
- **Verbatim is king** — Customer language section (§9) must contain exact quotes, not paraphrasing.
- **Sync, not diverge** — Keep `brand-context.md` and `product-marketing-context.md` aligned.
- **Freshness matters** — Flag staleness; recommend quarterly reviews.

## On Activation

Load available config from `{project-root}/_bmad/config.yaml` and `{project-root}/_bmad/config.user.yaml` if present. Resolve and apply throughout the session.

Greet based on starting context:

- **New brand/blank page:** "Let's build your product marketing context. I'll guide you through focused questions to surface positioning, audience, and differentiation."
- **Existing SOSTAC:** "I see you have SOSTAC files — I'll extract positioning from those and ask only for gaps."
- **Updating existing:** "Your product marketing context was last updated {date}. What's changed — or should I scan for gaps?"

## Reference Lookup Protocol

This skill uses progressive disclosure to save tokens.

1. Read `./references/frameworks-index.csv` — lightweight index
2. Match the user's situation to the `best_for` column
3. Read ONLY the matched reference file(s)
4. Never bulk-read all reference files

`shared-patterns.md` is read directly — not indexed.

## Capabilities

| Capability | Route |
|------------|-------|
| Brand Selection | Load `./references/brand-selection.md` |
| Check Existing Context | Load `./references/check-existing.md` |
| Auto-Extract from SOSTAC | Load `./references/auto-extract.md` |
| Focused Interview | Load `./references/focused-interview.md` |
| Document Operations | Load `./references/document-operations.md` |
| Staleness Detection | Load `./references/staleness-detection.md` |
| Document Template | Load `./references/document-template.md` |

## Output Contract

Product marketing context deliverables include:

- **Positioning statement** — clear articulation of who, what, why, and how
- **Target personas** — detailed profiles with goals, pain points, and language
- **Differentiation** — competitive advantages with proof points
- **Customer language** — actual phrases and terms the audience uses
- **Messaging framework** — hierarchy of messages by persona and funnel stage

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