Growth funnel

01What is it?
Guides growth using the AARRR framework (Pirate Metrics), five stages of the customer lifecycle. What sets it apart is how it narrows growth marketing into one specific workflow rather than a broad, generic prompt.
02Inputs
Context for growth marketing: your goals, audience, constraints, and any source material the skill asks for.
03Output
A ready-to-use result for growth marketing: the analysis, copy, or recommendations the agent produces.
Paste-ready

Install as a package

Installs this one skill package for your coding agent, including any supporting files that skill ships with — not every skill in the repository. Read the tutorial.

Terminal
$ npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill growth-funnel

Use in Profound

Copy this file into a new Profound Skill. That's it, nothing else to install.

Copy and create in Profound
SKILL.md

Strategies: Growth Funnel (AARRR)

Guides growth using the AARRR framework (Pirate Metrics)—five stages of the customer lifecycle. Created by Dave McClure (500 Startups) to focus on actionable metrics over vanity metrics. Use this skill when diagnosing growth bottlenecks, prioritizing improvements, or aligning product, marketing, and customer success.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

AARRR Framework

StageQuestionKey metrics
AcquisitionHow do users discover you?CAC, CPA, conversion by source
ActivationDo users reach "aha moment"?Activation rate, time-to-first-value
RetentionDo users return?D1/D7/D30 retention, churn
ReferralDo users recommend?Referral rate, NPS, viral coefficient
RevenueDo users pay?Conversion rate, ARPU, LTV

Principle: Define behavior-based events per stage; analyze by cohort. Quality over volume—channels bringing fewer but more activated users often outperform.

Per-Stage Actions

StageActionsRelated skills
AcquisitionSEO, paid ads, content, partnerships, directories, marketplacescold-start-strategy, seo-strategy, paid-ads-strategy, directory-submission, distribution-channels
ActivationOnboarding, use-case guidance, FAQ, case studies, free trials, trust signalsconversion-optimization, faq-page-generator, customer-stories-page-generator
RetentionSupport, churn analysis, feedback, loyalty, dunningretention-strategy, email-marketing
ReferralReferral program, affiliate, case study sharingreferral-program, affiliate-marketing
RevenuePricing, conversion optimization, CAC vs LTV analysispricing-strategy, conversion-optimization, paid-ads-strategy

Tactics by Stage

StageTactics
AcquisitionGoogle ads (keywords, display); organic SEO; social (LinkedIn, YouTube, X, blog); partnerships (NGOs, SMBs); directories, marketplaces
ActivationUse-case guidance; video + blog tutorials; FAQ; case studies; free trials/credits; new-feature promotion; email; trust signals (reviews, media)
RetentionTimely support; churn analysis; feedback collection; loyalty perks (credits, early access)
ReferralReferral credits; signup email with referral CTA; enterprise case sharing; affiliate program
RevenueConversion optimization; platform attribution; CAC vs LTV; post-campaign traffic analysis

Post-campaign: Analyze traffic and conversion by channel; reallocate budget to top performers.

Implementation

  • Events: Define precise, behavior-based events for each stage
  • Cohorts: Analyze by cohort, not aggregate; compare cohorts over time
  • Bottlenecks: Identify stage with largest drop-off; prioritize there first
  • Cross-functional: Product, marketing, customer success share common language

Output Format

  • Stage assessment (where are you strong/weak?)
  • Metrics per stage (current, target)
  • Actions prioritized by bottleneck
  • Related skills for each stage

Related Skills

  • cold-start-strategy: Acquisition for 0→1; first users
  • retention-strategy: Retention and churn prevention
  • conversion-optimization: Activation, revenue conversion
  • referral-program: Referral stage tactics
  • gtm-strategy: Full GTM; growth-funnel is lifecycle view
  • integrated-marketing: Channel mix across stages

How do I install Growth funnel in Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex?

Run npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill growth-funnel in the project where you want it, then ask your agent for the skill by name. The --skill flag installs only Growth funnel, not every skill in the repository.

Where does Growth funnel come from and what license is it under?

Growth funnel comes from the kostja94/marketing-skills repository on GitHub. That repository has 691 GitHub stars. The skill is published under the MIT license.

Prefer plain text? Read the Growth funnel guide as markdown.