Traction Paid Acquisition
Use this skill to design paid acquisition experiments that validate customer quality and economics before scaling spend.
Source Traceability
Primary source: Traction, chapters 9-11 and the appendix. Authoring notes: converted lines 1233-1627 and 3335-3340.
Channels
- SEM: test high-intent search demand and conversion economics.
- Social and display ads: test targeted audiences, creative, and offer resonance.
- Offline ads: test channels that competitors may ignore, especially niche podcasts, local media, or audience-specific placements.
Workflow
- State the buying intent or audience hypothesis.
- Select one paid channel strategy, not a broad paid marketing mix.
- Define the conversion event that matters.
- Set a small budget and time box.
- Create a minimal landing path with tracking.
- Estimate break-even CAC from price, margin, and LTV.
- Run the test and compare CAC, conversion quality, and reachable volume.
Output Format
# Paid Acquisition Test
## Hypothesis
[Audience/intent + offer + expected conversion.]
## Channel Strategy
- Channel:
- Audience or keywords:
- Offer:
- Budget:
- Duration:
## Economics
| Metric | Estimate |
|--------|----------|
| Price/LTV | |
| Gross margin | |
| Break-even CAC | |
| Target CAC for test | |
## Creative/Copy
- Ad angle 1:
- Ad angle 2:
- Landing page promise:
## Tracking
- Conversion event:
- Attribution method:
- Customer quality check:
## Decision Rules
- Double down:
- Iterate:
- Kill:
Quality Bar
- Track conversions, not only clicks.
- Compare CAC against LTV or expected customer value.
- Keep early tests narrow enough to interpret.
- Avoid large budgets before one strategy has signal.
Source: hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins → plugins/LVTD-LLC/skills/skills/traction-paid-acquisition/SKILL.md