What is a skill, really?

A skill is like a standard playbook for Claude. You drop in rules and context once, and Claude uses them automatically on every prompt.

Instead of saying "write in marketing tone" over and over, you build a skill → done.

🎯 The 4 must-have skills for marketers

1. Brand Guidelines skill — Claude always writes in your tone
2. Content Calendar skill — automated content planning in your format
3. Competitor Analysis skill — structured analyses on your system
4. Document Formatting skill — every output looks like your templates

📋 Step by step: build your first skill

Step 1: Create the skill folder (2 min)

On your computer, create a new folder:

my-skill/
  ├── SKILL.md
  └── example.txt

Step 2: Write the SKILL.md (5 min)

Create a file named SKILL.md (any editor like TextEdit or Obsidian works) and use this template:

# My Marketing Skill

## Description
I'm a skill that tells Claude how to [what your skill does].

## Context
[Put 5-10 things here that Claude should keep in mind]

Example:
- Always write in second person ("you")
- Max 3 sentences per paragraph
- No filler words like "basically", "kind of"
- Structure: problem → solution → action

## Example prompt
User: [example prompt]
Skill output: [desired output]

## Versioning
Version 1.0 - [your name]

Fill it with your rules. Brand-voice example:

# Brand Voice Skill – Your Company

## Context
- Tone: expert but approachable, no arrogance
- Format: short paragraphs, max 15 words per sentence
- Structure: hook → insight → action
- Forbidden words: "basically", "essentially", "simply"

Step 3: Zip it (2 min)

Folder my-skill/ → right-click → Compress to ZIP

File name: my-skill.zip

Step 4: Install in Claude (5 min)

1. Go to claude.ai
2. Click your profile picture (top right) → Settings
3. Open Skills (left menu)
4. Click "Add Skill"
5. Upload your my-skill.zip
6. Done! ✅

Step 5: Test (4 min)

Try a test prompt with and without the skill active:

• Without skill: "Write an email for our list"
• With skill: same prompt → Claude follows your rules automatically

The difference should be obvious!

🔗 Direct link to get started

claude.ai → Settings → Skills → Add Skill