ConcertoNotes Traction Viral Engineering
Use this skill for growth loops and useful engineered assets: referral systems, viral sharing, free tools, calculators, widgets, microsites, and product-led lead magnets.
For landing-page audits, pricing-page polish, social previews, or broad
shareability reviews, use make-product-viral instead. This skill is for
designing measurable traction experiments around loops and engineered assets.
Source Traceability
Primary source: Traction, chapters 15-16 and the appendix. Authoring notes: converted lines 1997-2286 and 3349-3352.
Strategy Options
- Viral loop: users invite or expose the product to more users as part of normal use.
- Referral loop: customers are prompted and rewarded to bring in similar customers.
- Engineering as marketing: a useful free tool attracts prospects and leads them back to the core product.
Workflow
- Choose loop or tool.
- Define the target user and the moment of motivation.
- Map each step from exposure to signup to share or lead capture.
- Identify the weakest step.
- Design small tests to improve that step.
- Measure coefficient, cycle time, conversion quality, and follow-up value.
Output Format
# Viral/Engineering Growth Plan
## Growth Mechanism
- Type:
- Target user:
- Core motivation:
## Loop Or Tool Map
| Step | User Action | Metric | Weakness |
|------|-------------|--------|----------|
## Tests
| Test | Step Improved | Expected Effect | Tracking |
|------|---------------|-----------------|----------|
## Follow-Up
- Lead capture:
- Product handoff:
- Retention/referral prompt:
## Decision Rules
- Double down:
- Iterate:
- Kill:
Quality Bar
- Do not call ordinary word-of-mouth a viral loop.
- Measure the weakest step before proposing a large build.
- Keep engineered tools useful without requiring a sales pitch.
- Ensure the asset attracts the same people the product wants as customers.