ICP Research & Audience Intelligence

Part of the Problem → Solution → Communicate framework. Opens the Communicate phase — building deep audience intelligence before crafting messages.

Conduct deep audience research to understand how users think, feel, decide, and act—across identity, emotion, and behavior. Think like an anthropologist studying a unique community.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill for:

• Building or refining an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
• Understanding target audience psychology and motivations
• Gathering Voice of Customer (VoC) data
• Creating behavioral personas
• Analyzing competitive landscape from customer perspective
• Mapping customer decision journeys

Core Research Workflow

Phase 1: Define Research Scope

Before starting research, clarify:

1. Target Definition: Specify the primary audience by job role, mindset, community, or use case
2. Research Goals: Identify what decisions this research will inform (marketing, product, positioning)
3. Scope Boundaries: Determine B2C vs B2B focus, geographic markets, and audience segments

Phase 2: Multi-Platform Intelligence Gathering

Gather authentic audience data from these source categories:

Research Execution:

1. Use web search tools to find relevant communities and discussions
2. Search for controversial/top posts that reveal emotional intensity
3. Capture exact quotes with platform attribution
4. Note sentiment patterns and recurring themes
5. Cross-reference findings across minimum 4 platforms

Habitat Discovery

While gathering intelligence, document where each audience segment naturally congregates. This feeds directly into IMC channel planning.

For each platform where you find concentrated audience activity, record:

See references/habitat-mapping.md for density/engagement definitions, what to track, and cross-persona analysis.

Phase 3: Deep Psychology Analysis

Analyze audience at three pain levels:

Level 1 – Surface Pain: What they openly complain about in public forums Level 2 – Hidden Pain: What they discuss in private groups or anonymously Level 3 – Emotional Pain: Underlying fears, identity threats, status anxiety

For each pain point discovered, document:

• How long they’ve had this problem
• What triggers acute vs. manageable pain
• Daily, professional, and financial impact
• Desperation indicators in their language

Phase 4: Voice of Customer Collection

Capture minimum 15 authentic quotes across categories:

• Pain expression quotes (frustration, desperation)
• Solution-seeking quotes (what they’ve tried)
• Success/hope quotes (what worked)
• Decision criteria quotes (how they evaluate)
• Budget/price discussion quotes

For each quote, record:

• Exact wording (preserve their language)
• Platform and context
• Emotional tone
• Relevance to product/service positioning

Phase 5: Decision Psychology Mapping

Document the complete purchase decision journey:

1. Trigger: What event makes them seek solutions
2. Research: Where they gather information, how long they spend
3. Evaluation: Criteria priority, stakeholder involvement
4. Decision: What finally makes them buy vs. wait
5. Proof Requirements: What evidence they need to believe claims

Identify key influencers:

• Who they follow for advice in this category
• What publications/experts they trust
• What immediately creates distrust (red flags)

Phase 6: Competitive Intelligence

Analyze current solution landscape:

1. Status Quo: What they do without any solution
2. DIY Attempts: Homegrown tools, spreadsheets, workarounds
3. Competitor Solutions: Products they’ve tried or considered

For each competitor, document user opinions on:

• Strengths praised
• Weaknesses complained about
• Switching patterns (who leaves and why)
• Price perception

Identify market gaps:

• Features users want but can’t find
• Underserved price points
• Use cases poorly addressed

Phase 7: Persona Development

Create 2-4 behavioral personas representing distinct audience segments:

For each persona, define:

• Demographics: Age, role, industry, company size

• Behavioral Traits: How they research, decide, implement

• Pain Profile: Top 3 frustrations and triggers

• Solution Needs: Feature and service requirements

• Success Metrics: How they define success

• Audience Habitat Map: Per-persona 3-level channel hierarchy (3-5 entries each covering discovery, trust-building, and conversion environments)

  Channel Native	Channel Type	Channel Name	Density	Engagement Type	Habitat Role
  [Platform]	[Community kind]	[Specific community]	[H/M/L]	[Lurker/Engager/Creator/Subscriber/Searcher]	[Discovery/Trust/Conversion]

Map the customer journey for each primary persona from awareness through advocacy.

Phase 8: Strategic Synthesis

Compile findings into actionable intelligence:

Top 3 Emotional Drivers: Core psychological motivations behind behavior

The One Core Belief: Single belief or assumption that creates their challenges

Ideal Message Framework:

• Hook: Attention-grabbing statement that resonates
• Problem Agitation: How to intensify pain awareness
• Solution Bridge: Position as the answer
• Proof Stack: Evidence they need to believe
• Call to Action: Low-risk next step

Red Flags: Language or positioning that triggers immediate skepticism

Validation Standards

Apply these quality checks throughout research:

• Cross-reference patterns across minimum 4 platforms
• Prioritize recent conversations (last 12 months)
• Include both successful outcomes and documented failures
• Capture exact language—not sanitized corporate speak
• Distinguish public vs. private discussion tone
• Note frequency to identify dominant vs. edge patterns

Tools Integration

Web Research: Use WebSearch and WebFetch for platform exploration

Apify MCP: When available, use Apify actors for:

• Reddit scraping with subreddit targeting
• Twitter/X search for hashtags and replies
• YouTube comment extraction
• Review site aggregation

Browser Automation: Use Playwright for:

• Navigating community forums
• Capturing discussion threads
• Screenshot evidence collection

Output Deliverables

Research should produce:

1. ICP Summary Document: Demographics, psychographics, pain points
2. Voice of Customer Library: Organized quotes with attribution
3. Persona Profiles: 2-4 detailed behavioral personas
4. Competitive Landscape Map: Solutions tried, gaps identified
5. Message Framework: Hooks, proof requirements, red flags
6. Audience Habitat Map: Per-persona 3-level channel hierarchy (Channel Native → Channel Type → Channel Name) with density and engagement annotations

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For detailed checklists and templates, consult:

• references/research-checklist.md – Complete research checklist with all fields
• references/voice-of-customer.md – VoC collection and analysis patterns
• references/persona-development.md – Persona templates and journey mapping
• references/habitat-mapping.md – Habitat discovery and cross-persona analysis
• references/icp-to-imc-handoff.md – Packaging outputs for IMC planning

Scripts

• scripts/search-platforms.sh – Platform-specific search query templates

Next Steps: Using ICP Research

Your ICP research feeds directly into communication planning via mkt-imc.

See references/icp-to-imc-handoff.md for the complete handoff format, what IMC needs from each output, and integration mode details.