# Growth strategy Human Guide

## What This Is For
Growth strategy for product-led and loop-driven growth systems. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for growth marketing: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Growth strategy agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for growth strategy.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Growth strategy guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Growth follows product-market fit, never precedes it
- Retention is the foundation; acquisition without retention is a leaky bucket
- The best growth is product-driven, not marketing-driven
- Compound effects beat linear efforts
- Every growth channel eventually saturates
- Network effects are the ultimate moat
- Premature growth destroys companies
- Early: High reach, low competition
- Mid: Reach peaks, competition grows
- Late: High competition, diminishing returns
- [ ] `<title>` — unique, 50-60 chars, primary keyword
- [ ] `<meta name="description">` — 150-160 chars

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Workspace Context, Operating Contract, Quick Reference, Part 1: Core Principles, Foundational Truths, Growth Is Not Marketing, Part 2: Growth Loops Framework, Why Loops, Not Funnels, Loop Types, Critical Patterns.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Growth follows product-market fit, never precedes it
- | Product Must Own Growth | Can't be marketing-only function |
- [ ] `robots.txt` not blocking important resources
- Calculate required sample size
- Fix retention first, then scale acquisition. Leaky buckets don't fill.
- Don't: Run ads to drive signups when Week 1 retention is 20%
- Don't: Try 10 channels at 10% effort each
- LTV = $100, CAC = $120 → Fix product or targeting, don't scale

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Growth strategy human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the manojbajaj95/claude-gtm-plugin skill entry for `growth-strategy`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Growth Strategy

## Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: `strategy/brand.md` for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; `about/me.md` for personal voice; `content/ideas.md` and `content/calendar.md` for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to `content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md`, and route durable learnings back to `strategy/brand.md`, `about/me.md`, or `content/ideas.md`.

## Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.


Growth strategy for compounding growth systems. Use this skill for growth loops, distribution bets, network effects, PLG strategy, and scaling decisions. Route tactical SEO, page/form CRO, and experiment design to the specialist skills.

## Quick Reference

| Situation | Use This Skill For |
|-----------|-------------------|
| SEO, page CRO, or experiment execution | Route to specialist skills |
| Building growth engines | Growth Loops Framework |
| Strategic growth planning | Strategy & Frameworks |
| Distribution strategy | Channel & Platform Strategy |
| Network effects | Product-Led Growth |

---

## Part 1: Core Principles

### Foundational Truths

- Growth follows product-market fit, never precedes it
- Retention is the foundation; acquisition without retention is a leaky bucket
- The best growth is product-driven, not marketing-driven
- Compound effects beat linear efforts
- Every growth channel eventually saturates
- Network effects are the ultimate moat
- Premature growth destroys companies

### Growth Is Not Marketing

Growth is the systematic application of product, engineering, and data to create compounding user acquisition, activation, and retention. It's a mindset, not a department.

---

## Part 2: Growth Loops Framework

### Why Loops, Not Funnels

**Funnels**: Linear. Pour effort in, get results out, start over.
**Loops**: Each cycle generates fuel for the next cycle.

The key shift: Move from "How do we get more users?" to "How does each user we acquire generate more users?"

### Loop Types

| Loop Type | Description |
|-----------|-------------|
| **Content Loops** | Users create content → attracts more users → more content |
| **Viral Loops** | Users invite others → exponential spread |
| **Sales Loops** | Customers generate revenue → fund more acquisition |

### Critical Patterns

| Pattern | Insight |
|---------|---------|
| Funnels vs Loops | Funnels are linear; loops compound |
| Paid ≠ Loop | Paid acquisition doesn't compound — it's buying users |
| Founder-Led First | Can't outsource finding growth model |
| Product Must Own Growth | Can't be marketing-only function |
| One Primary Loop | Others supplement but won't save you |
| Earned Over Paid | Invest 80%+ in earned/owned channels |

### Platform Cycles

New platforms open, then close. Time your bets correctly:
- Early: High reach, low competition
- Mid: Reach peaks, competition grows
- Late: High competition, diminishing returns

---