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Part 12 — Growth Ops & Data: Turn Intuition into Repeatable Growth

  • kitkat53
  • 2 days ago
  • 7 min read

Short promise: stop guessing. Build a small measurement system, a disciplined experiment cadence, and ops that turn winners into scaled revenue. You’ll get a paste-ready KPI dashboard CSV, an event-mapping doc, six experiment briefs you can run this week, a weekly growth-ops template + meeting agenda, and an attribution & ROAS cheat-sheet with exact formulas. Do the plumbing once, run short tests, and let compounding do the heavy lifting.

Tone: warm, practical, and a little wry — because numbers are less scary when they pay for your studio coffee.

Why this matters (quick)

You already ship products, run funnels, and test creatives. Growth Ops makes those efforts repeatable and accountable. Instead of chasing every shiny idea, you test the things that move revenue, scale the winners, and stop the leaks. It’s the difference between growth as chaos and growth as a working system.

What’s included here

  1. KPI Dashboard (Google Sheets CSV you can import)

  2. Event map: which system fires what (purchase, upsell, pin click, cohort join)

  3. Six experiment briefs (copy/paste-ready)

  4. Decision rules for scaling winners (simple and defensible)

  5. Weekly Growth Ops template + 45-minute meeting agenda

  6. Attribution & ROAS cheat-sheet with exact formulas and a worked example

  7. 90-day action plan (week-by-week) you can follow

1 — Paste-ready KPI Dashboard (CSV)

Copy this into a new Google Sheet (File → Import → Upload CSV) and you’ll have a dashboard starter. Replace sample numbers with your data; formulas are in the notes below.

Month,Visits,Leads,Purchases,Revenue,Ad_Spend,AOV,Conversion_Rate,ROAS,New_Members,Churn,Ambassador_Referrals
Month 1,6000,420,120,2040,300,17,0.0200,6.80,10,0.060,5
Month 2,7500,600,140,2380,350,17,0.0187,6.80,25,0.050,12
Month 3,9000,810,160,2720,600,17,0.0178,4.53,50,0.040,20

Notes & formulas to paste into cells:

  • AOV (Average order value) = Revenue / Purchases

  • Conversion_Rate = Purchases / Visits (as decimal)

  • ROAS = Revenue / Ad_Spend

Worked ROAS example (digit-by-digit): Month 1 Revenue = 2040, Ad_Spend = 300. ROAS = 2040 ÷ 300. 300 goes into 2040 exactly 6 times (6×300 = 1800) with remainder 240. 240 ÷ 300 = 0.8. So ROAS = 6 + 0.8 = 6.8.

Tip: make a second sheet called Calculations with the explicit formulas so your ops person can trace numbers back to raw data.

2 — Event mapping (who fires what)

Fill this into a small doc or sheet so everyone knows the signals you track.

Event name

Source system

Triggers

Payload (useful fields)

Downstream uses

lead_opt_in

Typeform / ConvertKit

new lead form

email, name, utm_source, magnet_name

add tag, append to Leads Log

purchase

StanCart / Stripe webhook

payment_succeeded

order_id, sku, price, buyer_email, utm

deliver product, tag customer, sales_log

upsell_click

Redirect webhook

upsell link clicked

order_id, buyer_email, utm

mark Upsell_Clicked

upsell_purchase

StanCart

payment_succeeded (upsell sku)

order_id, sku, price

deliver upsell, update sales_log

pin_click

Ads platform / landing UTM

ad click with utm

creative_id, utm, timestamp

attribution, creative test

member_join

Member platform

new subscription

email, tier, start_date

welcome flow, cohort assignment

Use consistent field names (e.g., utm_campaign, utm_content, order_id) across all systems — that makes joins and dashboards sane.

3 — Six experiment briefs (run each in 2 weeks or less)

Each brief includes goal, metric, sample size note, and a stop/scale rule.

Experiment 1 — Pin Creative A/B (fast)

  • Goal: find a creative that yields higher CTR to product page.

  • Metric: CTR (clicks / impressions) and landing CVR.

  • Variant A: lifestyle hero. Variant B: flatlay product + overlay text.

  • Budget: $5–$10 per variant / day × 3 days.

  • Stop/Scale rule: pick winner if CTR + landing CVR combined lift ≥ 30% and p-value is plausibly low (or sample shows consistent lead quality). Otherwise iterate creative copy.

Experiment 2 — Tripwire Price Test ($7 vs $9)

  • Goal: maximize revenue per visitor on tripwire funnel.

  • Metric: conversion rate to tripwire and revenue per visitor (RPV = conversion_rate × price).

  • Variants: $7 (A) vs $9 (B).

  • Sample: 1,000 visitors per variant if possible; if not, run until 200 conversions accumulated total.

  • Decision rule: choose price with higher RPV (not just higher conversion). Example calculation digit-by-digit: if conv_A=8% at $7 → RPV_A = 0.08 × 7 = 0.56; conv_B=6% at $9 → RPV_B = 0.06 × 9 = 0.54 → choose A.

Experiment 3 — Subject-line test for welcome series

  • Goal: increase open rate and downstream CTR for email #2 in welcome funnel.

  • Metric: open rate → CTR → 7-day conversion.

  • Variants: “Welcome + quick win” vs “3 tiny things to start”

  • Sample: equal send to 50% of new leads for 7 days.

  • Decision: scale variant with statistically higher 7-day conversion to purchasing.

Experiment 4 — Post-purchase upsell copy (Benefits vs Scarcity)

  • Goal: increase upsell conversion while protecting customer experience.

  • Metric: upsell conversion rate and refund/chargeback signals.

  • Variants: Benefits (use + outcome) vs Scarcity (limited time/limited seats).

  • Decision: scale copy with better conversion and no uptick in tickets/complaints.

Experiment 5 — Membership onboarding sequence (personalized vs standard)

  • Goal: lift activation (complete Week 1 assignment).

  • Metric: Activation rate (members who post or complete assignment in first 7 days).

  • Variations: Dynamic personalization tokens + recommended_for_you vs plain.

  • Decision: choose variant with ≥ 20% lift in activation.

Experiment 6 — Marketplace Hero Image Test (lifestyle vs studio)

  • Goal: increase Add-to-Cart on Wayfair / Etsy listing.

  • Metric: Add-to-Cart rate and Click-to-Cart.

  • Action: swap hero image only; run for 14 days with marketplace promoted listing budget.

  • Decision: scale top image and update other SKUs.

4 — Experiment decision rules (simple, defensible)

Use consistent thresholds and keep emotions out of it.

  • Primary rule: require at least two success signals before scaling: relative improvement ≥ X% and absolute metric good enough (e.g., CTR increase ≥30% and landing CVR ≥ baseline).

  • Sample rule thresholds (tune to business):

    • Creative CTR lift threshold: 30%

    • Conversion lift threshold: 20%

    • ROAS threshold to scale ad creative: ≥ 3.0 (three dollars back per ad dollar)

  • Stop rule: if an experiment decreases the primary KPI by ≥ 25% or causes quality signals (refunds, tickets) to increase, stop immediately.

  • Replication rule: once a winner is chosen, replicate on 2 other assets within 14 days before full budget scale.

5 — Weekly Growth-Ops template + 45-minute meeting agenda

Run a short weekly huddle to keep momentum.

Weekly Growth Ops Template (shared doc)

Sections: Last Week Wins | Current Week Tests | Blockers | Data snapshot | Next Steps

45-minute meeting agenda (timeboxed)

  1. 0–5 min — Quick wins & urgent flags (ops lead)

  2. 5–15 min — KPI snapshot (ROAS, Conversion, AOV trends)

  3. 15–30 min — Experiment review (status: running / winner / fail)

  4. 30–40 min — Decisions (scale/stop/iterate)

  5. 40–45 min — Assignments & owners

Use shared doc with embedded charts (Sheet widgets) and keep decisions logged so you can audit later.

6 — Attribution & ROAS cheat-sheet (exact formulas + worked example)

Core formulas (copy/paste)

  • Conversion Rate = Purchases ÷ Visits

  • AOV = Revenue ÷ Purchases

  • ROAS = Revenue ÷ Ad_Spend

  • Revenue per Visitor (RPV) = Revenue ÷ Visits

  • CAC (per channel) = Ad_Spend_channel ÷ New_Customers_from_channel

Multi-touch attribution (simple practical approach)

  • Start with last non-direct click attribution for revenue and ROAS per channel — it's easy and actionable.

  • Parallel: run experiments with UTM tagging and keep a Test_Log sheet to map creative_id → revenue so you can attribute wins to creatives.

Example calculation (worked, digit-by-digit)

Suppose Ad_Spend = $400, Revenue attributed = $1,200.ROAS = Revenue ÷ Ad_Spend = 1200 ÷ 400. 400 × 3 = 1200, remainder 0, so ROAS = 3.0.

If Visits = 2,500 and Purchases = 50:Conversion Rate = 50 ÷ 2500 = 0.02 = 2.0%.If Revenue = $850, AOV = 850 ÷ 50 = 17. 50 × 17 = 850 so AOV = $17.

7 — 90-day implementation plan (week-by-week with owners)

Pick one person (you or a hire) as Growth Ops lead. Execute the plan below.

Week 0 — Plumbing & baseline

  • Owner: Growth Ops lead

  • Tasks: create Sales_Log, Leads_Log, KPI_Dashboard (import CSV above), map webhooks for purchase and lead_opt_in.

  • Deliverable: dashboard baseline filled with last 3 months (if available).

Weeks 1–2 — Run creative & tripwire tests

  • Implement Experiment 1 (Pin Creative) and Experiment 2 (Tripwire Price).

  • Track metrics daily; log raw data into Experiment_Log (sheet with timestamps).

  • Deliverable: winner creative and RPV result for tripwire.

Weeks 3–4 — Implement Recipe B automation (Purchase → deliver → tag → sheet)

  • Automate delivery and logging (Zapier or n8n).

  • Validate with $1 sandbox purchases.

  • Deliverable: reliable Sales_Log append on purchase.

Weeks 5–6 — Personalization pilot & email subject test

  • Run Experiment 3 and Experiment 5 (welcome personalization).

  • Deliverable: activation lift result and adopted email variant.

Weeks 7–8 — Upsell & membership polish

  • Run Experiment 4 (upsell copy). Implement cart abandonment flow if not present.

  • Deliverable: upsell conversion % and updated flow.

Weeks 9–10 — Marketplace creative test & scale

  • Run Experiment 6 for top SKU on marketplace. If winner emerges, apply image across similar SKUs.

  • Deliverable: improved Add-to-Cart and listing updates.

Weeks 11–12 — Review, automate scale, hire if needed

  • Review KPI dashboard (90-day changes). Decide top 2 experiments to scale.

  • Hire/retain a fractional Growth Ops person or Content Ops to automate replication.

  • Deliverable: documented SOPs for tests + scaling checklist.

8 — Operational templates (copy/paste)

Quick experiment log (sheet columns)

Experiment_ID, Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Variant_A, Variant_B, Primary_KPI, Secondary_KPI, Winner,Notes

Experiment brief template (short)

  • Name:

  • Owner:

  • Hypothesis:

  • Metric:

  • Variants:

  • Sample/Duration:

  • Budget:

  • Decision rule:

  • Notes / creative assets links:

Weekly report snippet (email)

Subject: Weekly Growth Ops — Week [#] snapshotBody: Top-line metrics (visits, purchases, revenue, ROAS), running experiments (status), winners scaled, blockers, next steps — 5 bullets.

9 — Quick hires & roles for Growth Ops

  • Growth Ops lead (part-time) — glue role: runs tests, owns dashboard, and runs weekly ops.

  • Content Ops — executes creative replication and populates assets.

  • Ads specialist (contract) — runs paid tests and scales winners.Hire on a 2-week trial task: e.g., “run 3 creatives for $5/day, report CTR + landing CVR” — measurable and low risk.

10 — Final thoughts — the small habits that win

  • Measure before you scale. You’ll be tempted to raise budgets; don’t. Validate a creative or funnel repeatedly then scale.

  • Ship fast, fail cheap. Short cycles, low budgets, clear decision rules.

  • Automate the boring. If you still manually deliver after this quarter, automate it — the ROI is immediate.

  • Document everything. Experiments, decisions, and SOPs are the gift you give your future self and any hire.

  • Keep voice > vanity. Data points matter, but keep your brand voice and customer intent at the center of decisions. Cheers!

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