Growth Loop Framework

What is the Growth Loop Framework for?

The Growth Loop Framework is a template used by Growth Marketers to design effective Growth Loops. By using the framework you create a growth loop through the following phases:

Observe: By taking a step back and looking at the full customer journey, we ensure a higher chance of success for each growth loop, by describing the real-life scenario & the user’s motivation.
Design: Step-by-step describing the goal, the trigger, action & output + what you’ll be doing to boost the real-life scenario through your product/service.
Iterate: As Growth Hackers, we will always be improving, because you simply can’t nail it on the first try. In this phase, you describe the steps the user follows & which metrics to track.

Design instantly effective growth loops. By following the steps in the Growth Loop Model, you can be sure that your growth loops fit into the desires of the customer & are made to reinforce themselves.

This canvas is ready to be printed out (A3 or A4 size) and helps you to fill in all the steps one-by-one, and see your growth loops come to live!

Step-by-step instructions

Play Video about How to use Growth Loop Framework? - Ward van Gasteren from Grow with Ward (Tutorial)

The Growth Loop Model mostly speaks for itself, but here you have the steps for yourself.

Describe the user’s real-life scenario
The best growth tactics perfectly fit into the user’s real-life, since they are already motivated internally to do this & since it will be much more sustainable, because we help the user do what they already try to do, versus us trying to change the way they live.
Why does the user do what they do?
It’s key to understand what the user is trying to get out of the action they are already doing. We can make them happier by reaching this goal easier & better (Want exposure? We get you the bestest exposure 👱‍♂️👌), which is why we need to understand it first. In the video above, I mention the 6 reasons why people act, as mentioned in the Growth Loop Framework as well.

What is the trigger & how to mimic that through our product?
Every motion has to start somewhere – something happened in your life, in your work or just some itchy feeling. Timing is key in creating growth loops, so figure out what the trigger is & how we can get as close as possible to the exact moment through technology.
What is the user’s action & how can we make it easier/better?
This is where users start acting, and since it’s an investment of time & effort compared with a risk (social status), we need to figure out how we can make it easier or better for them: How can we save them time? How can we make this as easy as possible? And how can we make it so awesome that they have no fear to lose status?
What is the action’s output, how can we boost it’s impact & how can this feed this back into more triggers?
This is where we need to close the loop: the user wants to get a reward & we need to give them something to make the trigger happen again. Ideally, their reward is so big that they will do it over-and-over again (for example, by posting the user gets likes, which makes them happy to post again.). Also, try to give the user as much of their ‘why’ back as possible.
Define the user’s steps
So this is where we start growth hacking: We go back to the funnel-thinking, where we focus on getting the user through each step of their growth loop as smoothly as possible. Write down each step & see where the most people drop off.
Note down which metrics to track
Since the growth loops will become a vital part of your growth strategy, it’s important that you track all the different steps through simple metrics. Put a metric on each step above so that you can measure it over time.

That’s it. Good luck!

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What my clients say

“We asked Ward to train TikTok’s monetization team in growth hacking. His training was exceptional and everybody was highly engaged. The communication with him was smooth and highly efficient: Ward is always prepared.”

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Director of Global Monetization Strategy - TikTok

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Growth Specialist - Talpa Network

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