When you open Keyword Planner and look at the list of popular search phrases, it might seem like the choice is obvious. You see hundreds of options grouped by competition and cost per click. But in reality, this data only tells you part of the story. Real conversion keywords are born not in tools, but in the minds of your clients when they encounter a specific problem.
ICP captures these very problems. Clients rarely search for "new SaaS analytics platform"; they more often search for "why reports take weeks" or "how to reduce calculation errors." This is the language of frustration, and it's precisely this that turns search queries into signals of purchase readiness.
If your keyword research relies solely on standard tools, you'll compete for generic keywords with high CPCs and low relevance. When you use ICP's Problems section, your campaigns gain access to low-volume but highly effective keywords. These are queries that reflect real pain points, and therefore lead to more targeted clicks and better ROI.
Problems as a Starting Point for Keyword Research
When you look at the Problems block in ICP, you see a concentrated description of what's hindering the client's work. These phrases aren't random: they often match what people type into Google. Harvard Business Review notes that over 70 percent of search queries begin with problematic phrases, not the product name.
Imagine the B2B SaaS segment. Clients complain that "Excel is too slow for big data analysis" or "manual reports lead to errors." These problems easily transform into keywords: "Excel is slow calculating large tables," "tired of errors in reports." When you enter these phrases into Keyword Planner or SEMrush, you find hundreds of low-volume variants that competitors rarely use.
Thus, ICP Problems becomes a starting point. You take a list of pain points and transform it into a list of hypotheses for keyword research. These aren't abstract thoughts, but concrete words that clients themselves use when searching for a solution.
Transforming Problems into Search Phrases
The next step is to learn to transform each problem into a pool of search queries. It's important to understand that clients formulate problems differently.
There are three main categories:
- Question queries. "How to speed up report preparation," "How to reduce the risk of data errors."
- Symptom queries. "Reports take too long," "It's difficult to work with Excel with large volumes of data."
- Negative queries. "Tired of manual work," "Reports in the current system are unreliable."
Each of these categories generates its own set of keywords. When you take problem statements from the ICP and organize them into these categories, you get not just a list of ideas, but a systematic map of search queries. It is from these keywords that campaigns with high click-through rates and lower cost per conversion are formed.
Integrating Problems with Keyword Research Tools
Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush remain useful, but they should be used after you've created a list of problems from the ICP. First, you take the wording of the pain points and then check how users are entering them.
For example, the ICP states, "Too much time is spent reviewing reports before investor meetings." In Keyword Planner, this might become, "Quickly prepare investor reports." The tool helps refine demand, but it won't tell you the problem itself—you already know that from the ICP.
This process saves time and money. Instead of collecting huge lists of general keywords and wasting budget on testing, you work only with queries that stem from real customer pain points. This reduces CPC and increases CTR simultaneously.
Problems and Negative Keywords
The Problems block not only helps you find new keywords but also creates a list of negative keywords. Clients often complain about free or chaotic solutions they've tried before. If you see phrases like "free tools are too limited" in your ICP, it's a signal to exclude the word "free" from your campaign.
The same principle applies to other complaints. If clients are unhappy with their "old software," you exclude competitors' branded keywords to avoid wasting budget on an audience that wants to stick with the old solution. As a result, your campaigns become cleaner: fewer random clicks and more targeted users willing to consider your offer.
Cases: How Problems Change Keyword Research Strategy
Let's consider two scenarios.
Without ICP: You collect keywords like "report automation" or "best financial software." These are generic terms, dozens of companies compete for them, and the cost per click is rapidly increasing.
With ICP: You take the problem "Reports take too long" and transform it into keywords like "reduce report preparation time" and "quickly automate Excel reports." Competition is lower, the audience is more specific, and clicks lead to users who are genuinely looking for a solution to their pain.
Experience shows that such keywords lead to higher conversion rates. According to HubSpot, using ICP insights in keyword research increases the likelihood of lead generation by 23 percent because keywords become a reflection of the audience's real needs.
Conclusion
ICP Problems isn't just a list of customer complaints. It's direct access to their search language. When you use this block for keyword research, your campaigns begin to perform differently: keywords become more relevant to real queries, CPC decreases, and ROI increases.
Standard tools remain useful, but only for testing hypotheses. The main source of ideas is in ICP because it captures the problems the client is actually trying to solve.
And if your goal is to get not just clicks but targeted leads, relying on ICP Problems transforms keyword research from a mechanical process into a strategic growth tool.
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