marketing-automation

What this skill does

# Marketing Automation

## When to Use This Skill

Activate this module when the user's request involves any of the following:

- **Workflow Design**: Building, mapping, or optimizing automated marketing workflows and sequences
- **Lead Scoring**: Creating or refining lead scoring models, defining MQL/SQL thresholds, or troubleshooting scoring accuracy
- **Nurture Sequences**: Designing email nurture campaigns, drip sequences, or lifecycle-stage-based communication flows
- **Drip Campaigns**: Time-based or behavior-based automated email series for onboarding, education, or conversion
- **Behavioral Triggers**: Setting up event-based automation triggers (page visits, form fills, email engagement, product usage)
- **Lifecycle Marketing**: Mapping and automating communication across subscriber, lead, MQL, SQL, customer, and advocate stages
- **Marketing Operations**: Data hygiene, process optimization, tech stack management, deliverability, and compliance automation
- **Platform Strategy**: Selecting, configuring, or migrating between marketing automation platforms (HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Marketo, Pardot)
- **Integration Patterns**: Connecting MAP to CRM, CDP, analytics, ad platforms, or custom data sources
- **Reporting & Attribution**: Measuring automation performance, sequence attribution, and lifecycle velocity
- **Cross-Channel Orchestration**: Coordinating automated touchpoints across email, SMS, push notifications, in-app messaging, and retargeting

**Trigger phrases**: "automation workflow," "lead scoring," "nurture sequence," "drip campaign," "behavioral trigger," "lifecycle stage," "marketing ops," "HubSpot," "ActiveCampaign," "Klaviyo," "Marketo," "Mailchimp," "Pardot," "marketing automation," "lead nurture," "welcome series," "abandoned cart," "re-engagement," "win-back," "onboarding sequence," "scoring model," "MQL," "SQL," "lead handoff," "automation platform," "MAP," "marketing operations," "data hygiene," "deliverability," "consent management," "preference center"

## Brand Context (Auto-Applied)

Before producing any marketing output from this module:

1. **Check session context** — The active brand summary was output at session start. Use the brand name, industry, voice settings, channels, goals, compliance, and competitors shown there.
2. **If you need the full profile**, read: `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/profile.json`
3. **Apply brand voice** — Formality, energy, humor, authority levels must shape all content tone and word choices
4. **Check compliance** — Auto-apply rules for brand's target_markets and industry using `skills/context-engine/compliance-rules.md`
5. **Reference industry benchmarks** — Consult `skills/context-engine/industry-profiles.md` for the brand's industry
6. **Use platform specs** — Reference `skills/context-engine/platform-specs.md` for character limits and format requirements
7. **Check campaign history** — Run `python campaign-tracker.py --brand {slug} --action list-campaigns` before planning new work
8. **If no brand exists**, say: "No brand profile found. Use /digital-marketing-pro:brand-setup to create one, or I can proceed with general best practices."
9. **Check brand guidelines** — If `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/guidelines/_manifest.json` exists, load and enforce: `restrictions.md` for banned words, restricted claims, and mandatory disclaimers; `channel-styles.md` for channel-specific tone overrides (may differ from base voice); `messaging.md` for approved key messages, taglines, and positioning language; `voice-and-tone.md` for detailed voice rules beyond the 4 numeric scores. If producing content for a specific channel, channel style rules take precedence over base voice settings.

Do not ask the user for information that already exists in their brand profile.

## Required Context

Before executing automation work, gather:

1. **Business Model**: B2B SaaS, B2B services, B2C e-commerce, B2C subscription, D2C, local business, etc.
2. **Sales Motion**: Product-led, sales-led, hybrid, or self-serve (determines automation complexity)
3. **Current Platform**: Which MAP is in use? CRM? CDP? (or is this a greenfield selection)
4. **Lifecycle Stages**: Are stages defined? What criteria determine each stage transition?
5. **Lead Volume**: Monthly inbound leads, website traffic, list size (determines scoring model complexity)
6. **Sales Team Structure**: SDRs, AEs, self-serve — who receives handoffs and at what threshold?
7. **Content Library**: What content assets exist for nurture (blog posts, case studies, webinars, whitepapers)?
8. **Current Automations**: What workflows already exist? Are they performing?
9. **Integration Stack**: CRM, analytics, ad platforms, webinar tools, chat, billing — what connects to what?
10. **Compliance Requirements**: GDPR, CCPA, CAN-SPAM, CASL — what regions and regulations apply?

For quick requests (e.g., "build me a welcome sequence"), infer reasonable defaults from the business model and deliver immediately. For strategic automation architecture, gather full context.

## Capabilities

- **Workflow Design & Architecture**: End-to-end automation workflow mapping, trigger design, branching logic, wait steps, goal conditions, and exit criteria for any marketing scenario
- **Lead Scoring Models**: Explicit scoring (demographic/firmographic fit), implicit scoring (behavioral engagement), negative scoring (disqualifiers), score decay, and threshold calibration for MQL/SQL handoff
- **Nurture Sequence Design**: Stage-specific nurture campaigns with content mapping, cadence optimization, personalization layers, and progressive profiling strategies
- **Drip Campaign Engineering**: Time-based and behavior-based drip architectures for welcome series, abandoned cart recovery, post-purchase follow-up, onboarding, re-engagement, and win-back
- **Behavioral Trigger Systems**: Event-based automation using page views, email engagement, form submissions, product usage events, purchase history, and custom events
- **Lifecycle Stage Management**: Stage definitions, transition criteria, automated stage progression, stage-based content strategy, and lifecycle velocity tracking
- **Cross-Channel Orchestration**: Coordinating email, SMS, push notifications, in-app messaging, direct mail triggers, and retargeting audiences within unified workflows
- **Marketing Operations**: Data hygiene automation (deduplication, normalization, enrichment), process optimization, campaign request workflows, QA checklists, and approval gates
- **Deliverability Management**: Sender reputation monitoring, authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), IP warm-up planning, list hygiene automation, and inbox placement optimization
- **Compliance Automation**: Consent management workflows, preference center design, suppression list management, GDPR/CCPA automated data handling, and unsubscribe processing
- **Platform Strategy**: MAP selection criteria, feature comparison across HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Marketo, and Pardot — migration planning and implementation roadmaps
- **Integration Architecture**: CRM sync patterns, bi-directional data flows, webhook design, API integration strategy, and data transformation logic between systems
- **Reporting & Attribution**: Automation performance dashboards, sequence-level attribution, lifecycle velocity metrics, engagement scoring analysis, and ROI measurement for automation programs

## Process

**Primary Workflow: Automation Strategy & Build**

1. **Lifecycle Stage Definition**
   - Map the full lifecycle from anonymous visitor through advocate
   - Define explicit criteria for each stage transition (scoring threshold, action trigger, or time-based)
   - Identify which stages are marketing-owned vs. sales-owned
   - Establish SLAs for stage transitions (e.g., MQL-to-SQL response time)

2. **Lead Scoring Model Design**
   - Build explicit scoring based on demographic/firmographic fit
   - Layer implicit scoring from behavioral eng