# Market research & analysis Human Guide

## What This Is For
Comprehensive market research and analysis skill. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for competitive research: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Market research & analysis 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 market research & analysis.
- 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 Market research & analysis 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
- **Market Sizing** — TAM/SAM/SOM calculations
- **Competitive Analysis** — Landscape mapping and positioning
- **Consumer Research** — Surveys, interviews, behavior analysis
- **Professional Report** — 50+ page consulting-style report with LaTeX + visuals
- Product/service being analyzed
- Customer segment (who specifically)
- Time frame (current year or 5-year projection)
- Company websites (pricing, features, positioning)
- App store reviews (G2, Capterra — look for "appears X times" keywords)
- Crunchbase (funding, valuation, growth trajectory)
- Job postings (what they're investing in)
- LinkedIn (employee count trends, key hires)

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Workspace Context, Operating Contract, Quick Start, Market Sizing (TAM → SAM → SOM), Step 1: Define Scope, Step 2: Calculate TAM (Top-Down), Step 3: Calculate SAM, Step 4: Calculate SOM, Step 5: Bottom-Up Validation, Competitive Landscape Analysis.

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
- **Anti-pattern:** Never use leading questions ("Don't you think our innovative product..."). Always include negative response options.
- | `warningorange` | (255, 140, 0) | `#FF8C00` | Risk boxes, warnings |
- For major findings, insights, and important discoveries.
- Risk Box (Orange/Warning)
- For risk factors, warnings, and cautions.
- For highlighting important statistics or quotes.
- \highlight{Important text} % Blue bold
- | Capital requirements | High/Med/Low | $ required to enter |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Market research & analysis 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 manojbajaj95/claude-gtm-plugin skill entry for `market-research-analysis`.

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

# Market Research & Analysis

## Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: `strategy/brand.md` for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; `about/me.md` for personal voice; `content/ideas.md` and `content/calendar.md` for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to `content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md`, and route durable learnings back to `strategy/brand.md`, `about/me.md`, or `content/ideas.md`.

## Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.


Expert market research skill — from market sizing and competitive analysis through consumer research and professional consulting-grade reports with LaTeX formatting and visual generation.

---

## Quick Start

**Choose your workflow:**
1. **Market Sizing** — TAM/SAM/SOM calculations
2. **Competitive Analysis** — Landscape mapping and positioning
3. **Consumer Research** — Surveys, interviews, behavior analysis
4. **Professional Report** — 50+ page consulting-style report with LaTeX + visuals

---

## Market Sizing (TAM → SAM → SOM)

### Step 1: Define Scope
- Product/service being analyzed
- Geography (target regions)
- Customer segment (who specifically)
- Time frame (current year or 5-year projection)

### Step 2: Calculate TAM (Top-Down)
```
TAM = Total market demand at 100% market share
= (Total potential customer base) × (avg contract value)

Data sources: Gartner, Forrester, IBISWorld, government statistics, trade associations
```

### Step 3: Calculate SAM
```
SAM = Portion of TAM you can realistically serve
Apply filters: geographic constraints, product limitations, customer size constraints
Typically 5-20% of TAM
```

### Step 4: Calculate SOM
```
SOM = Realistic near-term market share (1-3 years)
Conservative benchmarks:
  Year 1: 0.1-0.5% of SAM
  Year 2: 0.5-2% of SAM
  Year 3: 1-5% of SAM
```

### Step 5: Bottom-Up Validation
```
Bottom-up = (realistic target customers) × (conversion rate) × (ACV)
If top-down SOM / bottom-up > 3x → revisit top-down assumptions
```

---

## Competitive Landscape Analysis

### Competitor Categories

| Type | Definition | Example |
|------|------------|---------|
| **Direct** | Same product, same customer | Asana vs Monday.com |
| **Indirect** | Different product, same problem | Asana vs Excel |
| **Substitute** | Alternative way to address need | Asana vs consultants |
| **Potential** | Could enter market easily | Microsoft, Google |

### Competitive Intelligence Sources

- Company websites (pricing, features, positioning)
- App store reviews (G2, Capterra — look for "appears X times" keywords)