Generate 15 marketing ideas for my [business type]. Goal: [awareness/traffic/conversion/retention]. Budget: [amount or low/medium/high]. Timeline: [this week/this month/this quarter]. I've already tried: [what you've done]. Give me ideas I probably haven't considered, with one-line descriptions for each.

---
name: marketing-ideas
description: Generate and categorize marketing tactics. Taxonomy by goal, channel, and effort. Generation frameworks for ideas that fit your constraints. Use when brainstorming or exploring tactics.
---

# Marketing Ideas

Generate and categorize marketing tactics. This skill works as both a library (browsing tactics by category) and a generator (frameworks for producing ideas tailored to your specific business, constraints, and goals).

## When to Use This Skill

- Brainstorming marketing approaches for a new initiative
- Looking for tactics you haven't tried
- Need ideas within specific constraints (budget, timeline, resources)
- Adapting what works in other spaces to your business
- Filling gaps in your marketing mix
- Exploring options before prioritizing

## The Tactics Taxonomy

### By Goal

| Goal | What You're Trying to Accomplish | Tactic Categories |
|------|----------------------------------|-------------------|
| Awareness | Get on people's radar | Content, social, PR, partnerships, community, display ads, podcasts |
| Traffic | Drive visitors to your site/product | SEO, paid search, social, referral, email, guest content, aggregators |
| Conversion | Turn visitors into customers | CRO, offers, pricing, landing pages, onboarding, retargeting, demos |
| Retention | Keep customers engaged and paying | Email sequences, product, community, loyalty, support, education |
| Referral | Turn customers into advocates | Referral programs, incentives, viral mechanics, partner channels |

### By Effort Level

| Effort | Time to Execute | Resource Requirement | Examples |
|--------|-----------------|---------------------|----------|
| Quick wins | Hours to 1 day | Solo execution | Copy tweaks, email send, social post test, CTA change |
| Medium lifts | Days to 1 week | Solo or small team | Landing page, content piece, partnership outreach, ad campaign |
| Major projects | Weeks to months | Team or external help | Product feature, rebrand, new channel launch, event |

### By Channel

| Channel | Subtypes | Typical Effort |
|---------|----------|----------------|
| Content | Blog, video, podcast, newsletter, guides, tools | Medium to high |
| Social | Organic, paid, community, influencer | Low to medium |
| Search | SEO, paid search, local | Medium to high |
| Email | Newsletter, sequences, campaigns, transactional | Low to medium |
| Paid | Display, social ads, retargeting, sponsorships | Medium |
| Partnerships | Co-marketing, affiliates, integrations, guest content | Medium |
| Product | Viral mechanics, referral, onboarding, features | High |
| Offline | Events, direct mail, PR, speaking | Medium to high |

### By Business Type

| Business Type | High-Fit Tactics | Lower-Fit Tactics |
|---------------|------------------|-------------------|
| SaaS | Content, SEO, product-led, free trials, webinars | Flash sales, influencer seeding |
| Ecommerce | Paid social, email, retargeting, UGC, reviews | Gated content, demos |
| Services | Referral, case studies, partnerships, thought leadership | Viral mechanics, product-led |
| Content/Media | SEO, social, newsletter, community, syndication | Paid ads (usually), demos |
| Marketplace | SEO, community, network effects, local | Single-channel focus |

## Generation Frameworks

When you need new ideas, not just browsing existing ones.

### The Constraint Framework

Generate ideas by defining constraints first:

```
CONSTRAINTS:
- Goal: [Awareness / Traffic / Conversion / Retention / Referral]
- Channel preference: [Any / Specific channels]
- Budget: [$ amount or Low / Medium / High]
- Timeline: [This week / This month / This quarter]
- Resources: [Solo / Small team / Agency available]
- Skills available: [Writing / Design / Technical / Ads / etc.]

PROMPT: Given these constraints, what tactics could work?
```

**Why it works:** Most ideas fail because they don't fit constraints. Filtering before generation produces actionable ideas.

### The Competitor Theft Framework

Systematically mine what's working elsewhere:

| Source | Question | How to Find |
|--------|----------|-------------|
| Direct competitors | What marketing are they doing? | Follow their content, ads library, social |
| Adjacent spaces | What works in similar markets? | Identify businesses with similar customers |
| Historical | What worked before that's been abandoned? | Industry case studies, old campaigns |
| Other industries | What tactics could transfer? | Study fast-growing companies |

**Process:**
1. List 5-10 competitors or adjacent companies
2. Document their visible marketing (content, ads, emails, social)
3. Identify what seems to be working (consistent investment = likely working)
4. Adapt for your business and audience

### The Customer Journey Framework

Map the journey, find the gaps, generate ideas for each gap:

| Stage | Questions | Idea Opportunities |
|-------|-----------|-------------------|
| Discovery | How do people find you now? What's missing? | New channels, content gaps, partnerships |
| Consideration | Where do they research? What objections arise? | Comparison content, case studies, demos |
| Conversion | What stops them from buying? | Offer optimization, friction reduction |
| Onboarding | Where do new customers struggle? | Welcome sequences, education, quick wins |
| Retention | Why do people leave? | Engagement loops, value delivery |
| Referral | Why don't they tell others? | Referral programs, shareable moments |

**Process:**
1. Map your actual customer journey (interviews, data)
2. Identify the biggest drop-off points
3. Generate ideas specifically addressing each gap
4. Prioritize gaps by impact

### The Asymmetric Bet Framework

Ideas where downside is limited but upside is large:

| Question | Generates |
|----------|-----------|
| What could we test in a day that might 10x a metric? | Quick experiments |
| What would we try if it only had to work 1 in 10 times? | Bold bets |
| What's the "crazy" idea everyone dismisses? | Unconventional tactics |
| What worked elsewhere that no one in our space does? | Transfer opportunities |
| What's the smallest version of a big idea? | MVPs to test |

**Principle:** Not every idea needs to be safe. Some should be high-risk, high-reward experiments that cost little if they fail.

### The Combination Framework

Combine existing tactics in new ways:

| Combination | Example |
|-------------|---------|
| Channel + Format | Podcast + Email course |
| Tactic + Audience | Referral program + Power users only |
| Content + Offer | Guide + Free tool |
| Partnership + Product | Integration + Co-marketing |

**Process:**
1. List your current tactics
2. List potential new elements (channels, formats, audiences)
3. Create combinations
4. Evaluate which combinations might outperform individual tactics

## Quick-Start Idea Lists

### 10 Quick Wins (Hours to Execute)

1. Rewrite one headline on your highest-traffic page
2. Add testimonial to checkout/signup flow
3. Send email to recent churned customers asking why
4. Test new ad creative against current winner
5. Add exit-intent offer to key pages
6. Reach out to 10 potential partners
7. Respond to relevant social/forum discussions
8. Add urgency element to existing offer
9. Create one piece of content from customer questions
10. Run a poll asking audience what they want

### 10 Medium Lifts (Days to Execute)

1. Build landing page for specific audience segment
2. Create email welcome sequence
3. Write comparison content (you vs. alternatives)
4. Launch simple referral program
5. Guest post or podcast on relevant platform
6. Run small-scale paid campaign to test messaging
7. Create lead magnet for top-of-funnel
8. Set up retargeting for key pages
9. Build case study with successful customer
10. Host webinar or live Q&A

### 10 Major Projects (Weeks to Execute)

1. Launch content hub or resource center
2. Build free tool related to your product
3. Develop partner/affiliate program
4. Create course or certification
5. Host or sponsor event
6. Major SEO initiative (technical + content)
7. Product-led growth feature (viral mechanics)
8. Community launch or expansion
9. Rebrand or repositioning
10. New channel launch (YouTube, podcast, etc.)

## Red Flags

- [ ] Generating ideas without constraints (too broad)
- [ ] Only considering tactics that match current skills
- [ ] Ignoring what competitors are doing
- [ ] No connection to customer journey gaps
- [ ] All safe bets, no asymmetric experiments
- [ ] Ideas disconnected from business goals
- [ ] Copying tactics without adapting to context
- [ ] Generating dozens of ideas without prioritization

## Output Format

When generating marketing ideas:

```
## Marketing Ideas: [Business/Initiative Name]

### Constraints
- Goal: [What we're trying to accomplish]
- Budget: [Available budget]
- Timeline: [When we need results]
- Resources: [Who can execute]
- Already tried: [What we've done]

### Ideas Generated

**Quick Wins (can execute this week):**
1. [Idea] — [One-line description]
2. [Idea] — [One-line description]
3. [Idea] — [One-line description]

**Medium Lifts (1-2 weeks):**
1. [Idea] — [One-line description]
2. [Idea] — [One-line description]
3. [Idea] — [One-line description]

**Bigger Bets (month+):**
1. [Idea] — [One-line description]
2. [Idea] — [One-line description]

**Asymmetric Experiments (low cost, high potential):**
1. [Idea] — [One-line description]
2. [Idea] — [One-line description]

### Recommended Starting Point
[Which idea to prioritize first and why]

### Next Steps
1. [Action]
2. [Action]
```

## Chaining to Other Skills

Marketing ideas is the first step in the ideation pipeline:

- **Have ideas, need to prioritize** → Chain to `idea-prioritization`
- **Top idea identified, need to validate** → Chain to `rapid-validation`
- **Idea involves ads** → Chain to `ad-copy`, `campaign-structure` (Issue #4)
- **Idea involves content/SEO** → Chain to SEO skills (Issue #3)
- **Idea involves conversion optimization** → Chain to CRO skills (Issue #2)

When chaining, pass along: the ideas generated, constraints, and any initial ranking.

Help me prioritize my marketing backlog. Here are my ideas: [list]. My constraints: [resources, budget, timeline]. First apply kill criteria and remove non-starters. Then score survivors using ICE. Tell me which 3 to test first and why.

---
name: idea-prioritization
description: Filter marketing ideas ruthlessly. Kill criteria, ICE/RICE scoring, ranking backlogs. Use when overwhelmed by options or deciding what to execute next.
---

# Idea Prioritization

Filter marketing ideas ruthlessly. This skill covers kill criteria for fast elimination, scoring frameworks for ranking survivors, and the process for getting from 50 ideas to 3 worth testing. The goal is decisive filtering, not endless deliberation.

## When to Use This Skill

- Marketing backlog is overwhelming
- Can't decide what to execute next
- Need to justify priorities to stakeholders
- Want to stop chasing every new tactic
- Team disagrees on what to prioritize
- Limited resources require hard choices

## The Prioritization Problem

A backlog of 50 ideas is anxiety, not strategy. Most of those ideas will never get executed, and that's correct. The skill isn't collecting ideas. It's killing them.

**Common failure modes:**
- Scoring everything instead of eliminating first
- All ideas score similarly (no real differentiation)
- Re-prioritizing constantly instead of executing
- Prioritizing by who suggested the idea
- HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) decides

## The Prioritization Process

### Step 1: Dump Everything

Get all ideas in one place. Don't filter yet.

Sources to check:
- Notes and documents
- Bookmarked articles
- Team suggestions
- Competitor observations
- Customer requests
- Past "we should try..." conversations

### Step 2: Kill Fast (First Pass)

Before scoring, remove ideas that fail basic filters. This eliminates half the backlog in minutes.

**Kill Criteria:**

| Criterion | Question | Kill If |
|-----------|----------|---------|
| Resource fit | Do we have the skills/people to execute? | No |
| Timeline fit | Can we execute in the timeframe we need? | No |
| Budget fit | Can we afford to test this properly? | No |
| Strategic fit | Does this align with where we're going? | No |
| Audience fit | Does this reach our actual target customer? | No |
| Dependency | Does this require something else we don't have? | Yes, unmet |

**Process:**
1. Review each idea against kill criteria
2. Any "no" = killed or deferred (not scored)
3. Move fast—this is elimination, not evaluation
4. Don't debate edge cases—when in doubt, kill

### Step 3: Score Survivors

For ideas that pass kill criteria, apply a scoring framework.

## Scoring Frameworks

### ICE Score (Simple, Fast)

| Factor | Question | Scale |
|--------|----------|-------|
| **Impact** | If this works, how big is the outcome? | 1-10 |
| **Confidence** | How sure are we it will work? | 1-10 |
| **Ease** | How easy is this to execute? | 1-10 |

**Calculation:** Impact × Confidence × Ease (or average for smaller spread)

**Example:**

| Idea | Impact | Confidence | Ease | Score |
|------|--------|------------|------|-------|
| Referral program | 8 | 6 | 5 | 240 |
| New landing page | 6 | 7 | 8 | 336 |
| Podcast launch | 7 | 4 | 3 | 84 |
| Email sequence | 5 | 8 | 9 | 360 |

**Best for:** Quick prioritization, small teams, most marketing decisions.

### RICE Score (More Nuanced)

| Factor | Question | How to Estimate |
|--------|----------|-----------------|
| **Reach** | How many people will this affect? | Number per time period |
| **Impact** | How much will it affect each person? | 0.25 (minimal) to 3 (massive) |
| **Confidence** | How confident in estimates? | 100% / 80% / 50% |
| **Effort** | How much work required? | Person-weeks or days |

**Calculation:** (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort

**Example:**

| Idea | Reach | Impact | Confidence | Effort | Score |
|------|-------|--------|------------|--------|-------|
| Homepage CTA | 10,000 | 0.5 | 80% | 0.5 | 8,000 |
| New feature | 2,000 | 2 | 50% | 4 | 500 |
| Email campaign | 5,000 | 1 | 80% | 1 | 4,000 |

**Best for:** Product decisions, larger teams, when you have data on reach.

### Custom Scoring

Build your own based on what matters to your business:

| Factor | Weight | Scale |
|--------|--------|-------|
| Revenue potential | 3x | 1-10 |
| Speed to results | 2x | 1-10 |
| Learning value | 1x | 1-10 |
| Competitive advantage | 2x | 1-10 |

**Process:**
1. Identify 3-5 factors that matter for your business
2. Weight them by importance
3. Score each idea on each factor
4. Calculate weighted total

### Scoring Guidelines

**Impact scoring:**
- 10: Would transform the business
- 7-9: Significant improvement to key metric
- 4-6: Moderate improvement
- 1-3: Marginal improvement

**Confidence scoring:**
- 10: We've done this before, we know it works
- 7-9: Strong evidence it will work
- 4-6: Reasonable hypothesis, some evidence
- 1-3: Pure speculation

**Ease scoring:**
- 10: Can do it today, one person, no dependencies
- 7-9: Straightforward, few days, minimal coordination
- 4-6: Moderate effort, some complexity
- 1-3: Major project, many dependencies

### Step 4: Rank

Sort by score. This is your prioritized list.

### Step 5: Sanity Check

Does the ranking make sense? Sometimes scores produce counterintuitive results.

**Check for:**
- Does #1 feel right? If not, what's the score missing?
- Are there obvious errors in individual scores?
- Did confidence get scored honestly?
- Are all "ease" scores realistic?

Adjust if there are clear errors, but don't overthink. The goal is directional, not precise.

### Step 6: Pick Top 3

That's your testing queue. Three ideas maximum.

- #1: Start validation immediately
- #2: Ready when #1 is decided
- #3: Backup if #1 and #2 fail

### Step 7: Archive the Rest

Move everything else to an archive. Not deleted, not debated, just parked.

Review the archive quarterly, not weekly.

## Prioritization Templates

### Quick Prioritization (15 minutes)

For small backlogs (under 20 ideas):

```
1. List all ideas
2. Apply kill criteria (remove non-starters)
3. Quick ICE score (gut feel, 30 seconds each)
4. Sort by score
5. Take top 3
```

### Full Prioritization (1-2 hours)

For large backlogs (20+ ideas):

```
1. Gather all ideas in one list
2. Kill criteria pass (remove ~50%)
3. Group remaining by theme/type
4. ICE score each (2-3 minutes each)
5. Rank by score
6. Sanity check top 10
7. Select top 3
8. Archive rest
```

### Team Prioritization

When multiple people are involved:

```
1. Each person scores independently
2. Aggregate scores (average)
3. Discuss where scores differ significantly
4. Reach consensus on top 3
5. Document reasoning
```

## Handling Common Situations

### "Everything is high priority"

If all ideas score 8+ on impact, you're not being honest. Force rank: "If you could only do ONE, which would it be?"

### "We need to test everything"

You can't. Pick 3. Run them properly. Then pick the next 3. Parallel testing dilutes resources.

### "This idea came from leadership"

Score it like every other idea. If it wins, great. If it doesn't, present the prioritized list with reasoning. Let data argue.

### "But this is a quick win"

Quick wins are great. But a quick win that moves a vanity metric still shouldn't beat a medium lift that moves revenue. Impact matters.

### "The scores are all the same"

Differentiate more aggressively. Use 1-3 (low), 4-6 (medium), 7-10 (high) and force ideas into buckets. Or add factors to your scoring.

## Red Flags

- [ ] Scoring everything the same (no differentiation)
- [ ] All high scores (not being honest about confidence/ease)
- [ ] Skipping kill criteria (scoring ideas you can't execute)
- [ ] Re-prioritizing every week (execute, don't reorganize)
- [ ] Prioritizing by who suggested it
- [ ] Analysis paralysis on the framework
- [ ] No clear top 3 after scoring
- [ ] Archive never gets reviewed

## Output Format

When prioritizing marketing ideas:

```
## Prioritization: [Backlog Name]

### Constraints
- Timeline: [When we need results]
- Budget: [What we can spend]
- Resources: [Who can execute]

### Ideas Evaluated: [Total count]

### Killed (Failed Kill Criteria): [Count]
[List with brief reason for each kill]

### Scored Survivors: [Count]

| Rank | Idea | Impact | Confidence | Ease | Score |
|------|------|--------|------------|------|-------|
| 1 | [Idea] | X | X | X | XXX |
| 2 | [Idea] | X | X | X | XXX |
| 3 | [Idea] | X | X | X | XXX |
| 4 | [Idea] | X | X | X | XXX |
| 5 | [Idea] | X | X | X | XXX |

### Top 3 to Test

**#1: [Idea]**
- Why: [Reasoning]
- First step: [Action]

**#2: [Idea]**
- Why: [Reasoning]
- First step: [Action]

**#3: [Idea]**
- Why: [Reasoning]
- First step: [Action]

### Archived
[Count] ideas moved to archive for quarterly review

### Next Step
Validate #1 using rapid-validation skill
```

## Chaining to Other Skills

Prioritization sits between generation and validation:

- **Need ideas first** → Chain from `marketing-ideas`
- **Top idea identified, need to test** → Chain to `rapid-validation`
- **Ready to execute** → Chain to relevant execution skill (CRO, ads, SEO, etc.)

When chaining, pass along: the top 3 ideas with scores, constraints, and any notes on why they ranked highest.

Design a validation test for this marketing idea: [idea]. I want to know if it's worth pursuing before building it fully. Time budget: [hours/days]. What's the core assumption to test, what's the fastest way to test it, and what results would tell me to proceed vs. kill it?