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5.8AdvancedModule 05 · Market Your Message

Viral Loop - Growth Loop

Your growth comes entirely from paid acquisition or your personal network. When you stop

The prompt

Copy & paste ready
5.8Viral Loop - Growth Loop
Act as a growth strategy advisor specialising in growth loops. My product : [DESCRIBE WHAT IT DOES AND HOW USERS ENGAGE] Current acquisition : [HOW YOU GET CUSTOMERS NOW] User behaviour : [WHAT USERS DO INSIDE THE PRODUCT] Step 1 : Identify which growth loop type is most natural for my product and user behaviour. Step 2 : Map the complete loop, every step from new user to loop-generated next user. Step 3 : Identify the weakest point in the loop, where do most users exit without completing it? Step 4 : Suggest 2 specific product or marketing changes to strengthen the loop's completion rate. Step 5 : What metric would I track to know the loop is working and improving?
LabelsReplace theseSwap the role below

LabelsReplace theseSwap the role below

Who should run this prompt

Module role profile

Who should build and review your marketing? Marketing fails at two points: when the message is unclear, and when it reaches the wrong people. The roles on this page cover both failure modes. Internal roles help you build, sharpen, and distribute. Outside perspectives — especially the cold customer — tell you whether what you built actually works before the campaign launches.

Choose any role to drop it into the prompt above. Only the highlighted opening clause changes — the rest of the prompt stays exactly as printed.

Internal rolesThink from inside the organisation
Outside perspectivesChallenge your blind spots

◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist outside the organisation

How to make any role sharper

  1. Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
  2. Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
  3. Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
See also: 1.3 Role Prompting - The Expert Chair

Use this when

The problem it solves

spending or posting, growth stops. You have no compounding engine every customer takes the same effort to acquire as the last.

How the framework works

From the printed page

A Growth Loop is a self-reinforcing system where each user or customer generates the conditions for the next. Unlike a funnel (linear, ends at conversion), a loop feeds itself. The four types are: Viral Loop (users invite others), Content Loop (content generates SEO or social reach that drives new users), Paid Loop (revenue from users funds ads that acquire more users), and Product Loop (using the product creates value that is visible to non- users). Andrew Chen and Brian Balfour popularised growth loops as the foundation of sustainable, compounding growth.

The method, in four moves

Do these in order
1

Map your current acquisition: is it a funnel or a loop? Most are funnels.

2

Identify which loop type is most natural given your product and user behaviour.

3

Design the loop explicitly, every step must be mapped and optimised.

4

Measure loop efficiency: how many new users does each existing user generate? Build growth that compounds, not just campaigns that spike Most founders try to build a viral loop before their product has strong retention. A leaky bucket with a viral loop just leaks faster. Fix retention first define the moment users get genuine value then build the loop around that moment. Loops only compound when the core product earns them. PRO TIP

Where the framework comes from

Andrew Chen / Brian Balfour — Growth Loops framework, 2017

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Framework5.8 of 108
Printed onPages 128129
Prompt extracted18 Sept 2026
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