Research

---
name: research
description: >
  Guided discovery process for SaaS email campaigns using the Atomic Emails method.
  Gather customer insights, campaign goals, adoption steps, obstacles, and existing
  resources (docs, videos, case studies, scheduling links) into a structured brief.
  Use when the user wants to plan an email campaign (onboarding, trial expiry, upgrade,
  customer success, lead nurture) and needs help with the discovery/research phase.
  Triggers: "plan an email campaign", "atomic emails research", "discovery for email
  campaign", "gather insights for onboarding emails", "I need to build a campaign",
  or any request to start the Atomic Emails process from scratch. This is Step 1 of 3
  in the Atomic Emails skill chain. Output feeds into the storyboard skill.
allowed-tools: Read, WebFetch, WebSearch, AskUserQuestion, TaskCreate, TaskGet, TaskUpdate, TaskList
---

# Atomic Emails Research

Conduct a structured discovery process to gather everything needed before planning a SaaS email campaign. Output a discovery brief that feeds into the storyboard skill.

## Overview

This skill covers Steps 1–2 of the Atomic Emails method:

1. **Gather insights** — customer profile, campaign goal, steps to success, main problems, and copywriting material.
2. **Gather resources** — inventory of existing assets and engagements.

## Workflow

### 1. Identify the campaign type

Using the AskUserQuestion tool, ask the user which campaign(s) they're planning. Common SaaS campaigns:

- User onboarding
- Trial expiring / upgrade-to-paid
- Customer success (post-conversion)
- Lead nurture
- Re-engagement / win-back
- Feature announcement

Multiple campaigns can share the same discovery brief.

### 2. Gather strategic insights

Using the AskUserQuestion tool, work through these questions conversationally — ask 2–3 at a time, then follow up. Adapt based on what the user already knows.

**Core four (required):**

1. **Customer** — Who's the ideal customer? Who is NOT a good fit?
2. **Campaign goal** — What's the campaign's job? (e.g. "get user from 0 to 1", "increase engagement and loyalty")
3. **Steps** — What steps must the user take to reach that goal?
4. **Problems** — What obstacles do users struggle with on their way?

**Copywriting material (gather if available):**

- What does the product do? (elevator pitch)
- Founding story
- Why do customers choose this over alternatives?
- Top 5 things customers love
- What would users do without a tool? (manual alternative)
- How should users feel while using the product?

Do not strive for perfection — current best judgment is sufficient.

### 3. Inventory existing resources

If not available already, prompt the user to provide their website. Then fetch the website to extract information and resources rather than asking redundant questions.

**Assets:** help docs, blog posts, testimonials, case studies, explainer videos/webinars, templates/worksheets.

**Engagements:** calendar links (demos, onboarding calls), concierge setup, extended trials, discounts/promo codes.

For each resource, capture: title/description, URL or location, and which step or problem it addresses.

Ask the user for any additional resources not on the website. If they provide URLs, fetch them to extract information.

### 4. Produce the discovery brief

Compile into a structured Markdown document using the template in [references/brief-template.md](references/brief-template.md). Save as `.md`, present to user for review. Remind them this feeds into the `atomic-emails-storyboard` skill.

## Guidelines

- Be conversational and encouraging. Many users procrastinate on this step.
- If the user already has information from prior strategy work, accept it and fill gaps.
- If the user provides URLs to their product, docs, or marketing site, fetch them to extract information rather than asking redundant questions.
- The brief does not need to be perfect — it's a working document.