sales-skills/sales-delve

Delve AI Platform Help

Delve AI (delve.ai) is an analytics-connected AI persona generator and market-research tool. Unlike the prompt-only generators (InstantPersonas, PersonaGen, Personadeck) that invent a persona from a one-line description, Delve builds data-backed personas from your real data — GA4 visitor/converter behavior, Search Console, uploaded/connected CRM records, social audiences, and public data (40+ sources: reviews, forums, competitor sites) — and auto-updates them as your audience shifts. On top of the personas sit Digital Twins (chat with a persona in 15+ languages) and Synthetic Research (run surveys/interviews against AI personas instead of real respondents), plus a Marketing Advisor.

It's a research and messaging copilot, not proof of demand — a persona (even a data-grounded one) is a model of who's already visiting, not evidence a stranger will pay. Delve's closest sibling in this catalog is Marketing Mary (also data-grounded/conversational); Delve is the more established option and the one with an actual API — though it's a paid, gated add-on (JSON export, enabled on request, no public docs portal).

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask only what you can't infer:

1. What do you want from Delve AI?
   • A) Generate a data-backed persona (which type: Website/Live, Social, Competitor, Customer, Research/Audience, Employee?)
   • B) Use Digital Twins (chat with a persona) or Synthetic Research (surveys/interviews)
   • C) Connect a data source (GA4, Search Console, CRM upload) or fix a thin/generic persona
   • D) Export or automate personas (the API add-on, bulk report export)
2. What data can you connect? A live GA4 property with real traffic → Website/Live Persona. Just a product idea and no traffic → only the Research/Audience Persona (a description-based hypothesis).

Skip-ahead: if the user wants the validate-before-building method or to compare persona/idea tools across the market, that's a /sales-idea-validation question — route in Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the user's question is about… | Route to | |---|---| | The validate-before-building method, or comparing persona/idea tools across the market | /sales-idea-validation {question} | | The conversational, data-grounded sibling (interactive personas + B2B buying-committee mapping) | /sales-marketing-mary {question} | | Prompt-only persona generators (build a persona from a short description, no data connection) | /sales-instantpersonas, /sales-personagen, or /sales-personadeck | | Growing a pre-launch waitlist / capturing real demand | /sales-audience-growth {question} | | Building the smoke-test landing page itself | /sales-funnel {question} |

When routing, give the exact command: "This is a {domain} question — run: /sales-idea-validation {original question}"

Otherwise, answer Delve-specific questions using Step 3.

Step 3 — Delve AI platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — the six persona types and the data each needs, pricing/plan gates, the gated API add-on, Digital Twins/Synthetic Research, integrations, and export/automation recipes. For the API surface specifically, read references/delve-api-reference.md.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

You no longer need the platform guide — focus on the user's specific situation.

• Match the persona type to the data the user actually has. Live/Website Persona needs a connected GA4 property with real traffic; Social needs a connected brand account; Competitor needs a domain (but its data is estimated); Customer needs uploaded/connected CRM records; Research/Audience works from just a description (it's the closest to a prompt-only guess). If they have no traffic, say so — only the Research persona is available and it's a hypothesis, not a data-backed finding.
• Always caveat that a Delve persona is directional input, not validated demand. It models people already on your site or in public data; it can be confidently generic. Keep the surfaced goals/objections/channels, but take any go/no-go from a real behavior test (a smoke-test landing page, a reply/click, a pre-sale) — route to /sales-idea-validation, /sales-funnel, or /sales-audience-growth.
• Set expectations on accuracy: persona quality tracks the volume and quality of connected data — a low-traffic site or thin CRM yields a generic persona; Competitor persona data is estimated (from SimilarWeb/public sources), not verified traffic; and generated personas can't be manually edited, so fix the input data, not the output.
• On the API: it's a paid add-on, enabled on request (there's no public docs portal and no self-serve key). It returns JSON for all persona attributes/segments (excludes sample user journeys). Tell the user to request it (via [email protected] / their account) and treat any endpoint/field shapes as best-effort until confirmed against their issued credentials — don't invent routes. If the add-on isn't available, point them to the scheduled bulk report export (Agency > Reports) as the no-code fallback.
• Any time you state a price, plan tier, free-plan limit, persona/credit allotment, or traffic cap, flag it as best-effort and tell the user to confirm the current numbers at delve.ai/pricing — this applies to free-plan questions too, not just paid tiers (bundles are gated by monthly website traffic; API/competitors/filters are separate add-ons).

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research (2026-07) — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.

• A data-backed persona is still not validated demand. It describes your current audience/public data, not future buyers. Don't let a polished persona substitute for a real demand test.
• Generated personas can't be manually edited. If a field is wrong, you fix the connected data or re-generate — there's no free-text override of persona attributes.
• Competitor personas are estimates. They're built from SimilarWeb/Mozlinks/public data, not verified competitor traffic — useful for direction, not for hard numbers.
• Low traffic → generic persona. Website/Live personas need enough GA4 sessions to segment; a new or low-traffic site yields thin, generic output. Accuracy also depends on a correctly configured GA4 property.
• The API is a paid, gated add-on with no public docs. It's enabled on request and credentials are issued directly; there is no self-serve developer portal. Returns JSON persona data (no user journeys).
• "CRM integration" ≠ live two-way sync. The Customer Persona ingests uploaded/connected CRM data; Delve does not maintain an ongoing bidirectional HubSpot/Salesforce sync or email-platform connection.
• Pricing is traffic-tiered and add-on-heavy. Bundle price scales with monthly website visits, and API/extra competitors/filters cost extra — always confirm current pricing on the site.

Related skills

• /sales-idea-validation — Validate an idea before building it (the method + the AI-validator/persona tool landscape). Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-idea-validation -a claude-code
• /sales-marketing-mary — The conversational, data-grounded sibling (interactive personas + B2B buying-committee mapping). Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-marketing-mary -a claude-code
• /sales-instantpersonas — Prompt-only AI persona generator (build a persona from a short description). Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-instantpersonas -a claude-code
• /sales-imario — Synthetic-research canvas with reusable Synthetic Individuals (persistent memory) run across six jobs on a visual Canvas — the reusable-persona sibling of the study tools (Pro-gated, undocumented API). Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-imario -a claude-code
• /sales-funnel — Build the smoke-test landing page to test real demand. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-funnel -a claude-code
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code

Examples

Example 1 — data-grounded persona from real traffic

"I connected Google Analytics to Delve but my persona looks really generic — what's wrong?"

Explain that Website/Live personas need enough GA4 sessions to segment: a low-traffic site produces a thin, generic persona, and accuracy depends on a properly configured GA4 property. Suggest waiting for more traffic, checking the GA4 setup, and treating the persona as directional. Note the persona can't be hand-edited — fix the input data, not the output.

Example 2 — is a synthetic persona proof?

"Delve's Digital Twin loved my product idea. Does that mean I should build it?"

No — a Digital Twin is a model of your existing/public data and can be confidently wrong; a chat with a synthetic persona is directional input, not validated demand. Keep the surfaced objections/angles, then run a real behavior test. Route: /sales-idea-validation, and /sales-funnel for a smoke-test page.

Example 3 — automation/API (developer)

"How do I pull my Delve personas into our data warehouse as JSON on a schedule?"

Explain the API is a paid add-on enabled on request (no public docs portal / self-serve key) that returns JSON for all persona attributes and segments (excluding sample user journeys). Steps: request API access via [email protected] / the account, get issued credentials, then poll the persona export endpoint on your schedule. As a no-API fallback, use the scheduled bulk report export (auto-emails reports when personas are generated). Point to references/delve-api-reference.md; don't invent endpoints.

Troubleshooting

Generated persona is thin / generic Symptom: persona reads like a bland stereotype. Cause: not enough connected data (low GA4 traffic, small CRM upload) or a mis-configured GA4 property. Fix: increase/verify the data source; use the Research/Audience persona only as a description-based hypothesis when you have no traffic. Personas can't be manually edited.

Competitor persona numbers look off Symptom: competitor audience figures seem inflated/wrong. Cause: competitor personas are estimated from SimilarWeb/Mozlinks/public data, not verified traffic. Fix: treat them as directional only; don't quote the numbers as fact.

Can't find API docs / no developer key Symptom: no self-serve API key or public documentation. Cause: the API is a paid add-on activated on request with no public docs portal. Fix: request access via [email protected] / your account to get credentials; until then, use the scheduled bulk report export. Don't build against invented endpoints.