/deepen-plan — Plan Enhancement with Parallel Research

The second pass. Takes an existing marketing plan and strengthens it with targeted research — audience data, competitive intel, keyword gaps — then merges findings back in.

For brand memory protocol, see /cmo rules/brand-memory.md.

On Activation

1. Read brand/ files if they exist (voice-profile.md, audience.md, competitors.md, positioning.md, keyword-plan.md). They enhance but never gate.
2. Identify the plan to deepen — the user will either point to a file or have one in context.

Phase 0: Assess the Plan

Read the existing plan and classify it:

If no plan is found or provided: "I need an existing plan to deepen. Either point me to a file or run /brainstorm or /launch-strategy first to create one."

If the plan is embedded in conversation context (not a file): extract the key sections and work with them inline. Note in the handoff that the deepened plan should be saved to a file.

Phase 1: Gap Analysis

Score the plan across 5 dimensions. For each, rate as strong, weak, or missing:

### Plan Gap Analysis

| Dimension | Status | Evidence |
|-----------|--------|----------|
| Audience clarity | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Competitive positioning | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Keyword/search strategy | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Distribution plan | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |
| Success metrics | [strong/weak/missing] | [What the plan says or doesn't] |

Show this table to the user. Explain which gaps you'll fill and why they matter: "Your campaign brief has strong messaging but no audience data backing it. The competitive section is a single sentence. I'm going to research both in parallel — this will take a few minutes but will make the plan 3x more actionable."

If all dimensions are strong: "This plan is solid. I don't see gaps worth researching. If you want me to dig deeper on a specific section, tell me which one."

Quality Gate

A dimension is strong when it contains:

• Specific data points (numbers, names, quotes) rather than vague statements
• Actionable details an agent or human could execute on
• Evidence of research, not just assumptions

A dimension is weak when it:

• States the obvious without specifics ("target tech-savvy users")
• Has the right structure but lacks data backing
• Makes claims without evidence

A dimension is missing when:

• The section doesn't exist at all
• It's a single vague sentence

Phase 2: Parallel Research

Spawn research agents based on the gaps found. Use the Agent tool to run up to 3 agents simultaneously in a single message:

When audience is weak or missing:

Spawn mktg-audience-researcher:

• Provide: the product/project name, what it does, who the plan currently targets (if stated)
• Agent writes to brand/audience.md
• Tell it: "Research the target audience for [product]. The current plan says [quote relevant section]. Find buyer personas, where they hang out online, what language they use, and what objections they have. Write findings to brand/audience.md."

When competitive positioning is weak or missing:

Spawn mktg-competitive-scanner:

• Provide: the product/project name, market space, any competitors mentioned in the plan
• Agent writes to brand/competitors.md
• Tell it: "Research competitors for [product] in the [space] market. The current plan mentions [competitors if any]. Find 3-5 competitors, their positioning, pricing, strengths, and weaknesses. Write findings to brand/competitors.md."

When keyword/search strategy is weak or missing:

Do NOT spawn an agent. Instead, note that keyword research should be run after deepening:

• Add to the synthesis: "Keyword strategy gap identified. After this deepening pass, run /keyword-research to fill this with real search data."

When distribution is weak or missing:

Do NOT spawn an agent. Distribution gaps are filled during synthesis by cross-referencing audience data (where they hang out) with the plan's channel strategy.

When success metrics are weak or missing:

Do NOT spawn an agent. Metrics are filled during synthesis based on the plan type and channels.

Minimum research: At least 1 agent must be spawned. If no gaps warrant an agent, skip to Phase 3 with a note.

Fallback: If agents are not installed (mktg doctor shows agents missing), read the corresponding skill files and execute the research inline — first audience, then competitive. This is slower but works everywhere.

Phase 3: Synthesize

After all research agents complete, merge findings into the plan. Follow these rules:

1. Read the research outputs — brand/audience.md, brand/competitors.md, or any other files the agents wrote.
2. Do not rewrite the plan. Add to it. The user's original thinking is preserved.
3. For each gap that was researched, add a new subsection within the relevant part of the plan:

### Audience Research (Added [YYYY-MM-DD])
[Synthesized findings from audience-researcher, tailored to this plan's context]

### Competitive Landscape (Added [YYYY-MM-DD])
[Synthesized findings from competitive-scanner, tailored to this plan's context]

4. Strengthen existing sections — If the plan had a weak audience section, enhance it with specifics from the research. Add quotes, data points, persona details. Don't replace the original text; build on it.
5. Fill distribution gaps using audience data — "Your audience is active in [communities/platforms]. Add these to your distribution plan: [specific channels]."
6. Fill metrics gaps based on plan type:
   • Brand strategy -> awareness metrics (search volume, social mentions, brand recall)
   • Campaign brief -> campaign metrics (CTR, conversion rate, CAC)
   • Content calendar -> content metrics (organic traffic, time on page, email signups)
   • Launch plan -> launch metrics (day-1 signups, activation rate, press mentions)

Phase 4: Handoff

1. Write the updated plan back to its original file location. If the plan was provided inline (not from a file), write to marketing/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-deepened.md.
2. Append a deepening log at the bottom of the plan:

---

## Deepened on [YYYY-MM-DD]

**Gaps addressed:**
- [List each gap and what was added]

**Research agents used:**
- [agent-name]: [one-line summary of findings]

**Remaining gaps:**
- [Any gaps not addressed and recommended next skill]

**Suggested next step:** /[skill-name] — [why]

3. Append to brand/learnings.md (if it exists):

- [YYYY-MM-DD] [/deepen-plan] Deepened [plan-type] for [project]. Key finding: [most surprising or actionable insight from research].

4. Tell the user what changed: "Plan deepened. Here's what I added: [2-3 sentence summary]. The biggest insight from research was [highlight]. Your plan now has [strong count]/5 dimensions covered. Suggested next step: /[skill] to [reason]."

Anti-Patterns

YAGNI Principles

• Don't research what's already strong. A solid audience section doesn't need more audience research.
• Don't add sections the plan doesn't need. A content calendar doesn't need a pricing analysis.
• Don't create a new plan. This skill enhances, it doesn't generate.
• Don't run keyword research inline. That's a dedicated skill with its own methodology.
• The gap analysis table is the decision framework. If it shows all strong, you're done.

Related Skills

• brainstorm: When no plan exists yet and the user needs direction
• launch-strategy: When the plan to deepen is a launch plan, or when no plan exists
• keyword-research: For filling keyword/search strategy gaps identified in gap analysis
• audience-research: For deep-dive audience work beyond what the researcher agent provides
• competitive-intel: For deep competitive analysis beyond the scanner agent