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The Growth Loop is Admiral Media’s six-phase framework for scaling mobile apps through performance marketing. It covers everything from initial strategy to creative optimisation and channel diversification, used daily by our team across hundreds of app campaigns.
Used by 100+ app companies · Framework by Andre Kempe, Founder of Admiral Media
The Growth Loop is not linear. After Optimise and Scale, you return to Plan with new data. Each cycle compounds on the last. The framework applies whether you are spending €5,000 per month or €5M per month. The phases stay the same; the complexity scales with your budget and team.
Define strategy before spending a single euro.
“Two or three North Star KPIs is the maximum. More than that and you have no north star at all.”Thomas Petit, Growth Advisor
Build the measurement foundation. What you cannot measure, you cannot optimise.
Wider audiences outperform narrow targeting. Trust the algorithm with enough data.
Weekly structured reporting outperforms daily panic checks every time.
“A strong reporting ecosystem forms the backbone of performance marketing. With clearly defined metrics, naming conventions, and charts, looking at the evolution and trajectory of any campaign can make a world of difference.”Tobias Borner, Co-Founder, Fastic
Beauty does not equal performance. One in four A/B tests drives meaningful lift. Run more tests.
“In 7 years of performance marketing, beautiful ads rarely convert. Ads exist to make sales, not win awards. If your CTR and CAC are horrendous yet you did everything right, you’ve failed to communicate your value proposition.”Sandra Wu, Director of Growth, Himalaya
“We go into every creative campaign with a ‘learn first’ mentality. We see great results in refreshing successful ads, and this drives a heavy iterative strategy.”Dan Walters, Director of Art, Rewardify Games
One working channel, then 30% budget into testing the next. Never build on a single-channel foundation.
“Instead of spending everything on one channel and becoming highly dependent on it, distribute your bets. Make sure you have one working channel and start investing 30% of your budget into testing new ones. Evaluate based on complexity, resources, scalability, and product fit.”Gessica Bicego, Senior Director Growth, Blinkist
The Growth Loop incorporates direct contributions from growth experts who have scaled apps to millions of users.
“Two or three North Star KPIs is the maximum. More than that and you have no north star at all.”
“A strong reporting ecosystem forms the backbone of performance marketing. Looking at trajectory and evolution can make a world of difference.”
“Without proper measurement, the growth loop will never be achieved. A company’s success may hang on the balance of pure luck.”
“Beautiful ads rarely convert. If your CTR and CAC are horrendous, you’ve failed to communicate your value proposition.”
“We go into every creative campaign with a ‘learn first’ mentality and see great results in refreshing successful ads.”
“Distribute your bets. Have one working channel and invest 30% into testing new ones. Evaluate based on complexity and product fit.”
“A strong reporting ecosystem forms the backbone of performance marketing. With clearly defined metrics, naming conventions, and charts, looking at the evolution and trajectory of any campaign can make a world of difference.”
“Without proper measurement, the growth loop will never be achieved. If a company is unable to retrace what actually worked, what caused certain results, a company’s success may hang on the balance of pure luck.”
“Instead of spending everything on one channel and becoming highly dependent on it, distribute your bets. Make sure you have one working channel and start investing 30% of your budget into testing new ones.”
UA budget scaled after implementing the full Growth Loop: structured measurement, iterative creative testing, and disciplined channel expansion drove consistent ROAS improvement across markets.
Paid social scaled by more than 200% after the team restructured campaign architecture, established a naming convention, and applied the iterative creative process from the Optimise phase.
Install volume grew 280% after building the reporting ecosystem described in the Analyse phase, enabling the team to make faster optimisation decisions and scale winning creative iterations.
If you want to map out where your app is in the loop and where the biggest growth opportunity lies, we offer a free audit. No commitment required.
What is the Admiral Growth Loop?
The Admiral Growth Loop is a six-phase performance marketing framework developed by Admiral Media. The phases are Plan, Setup, Launch, Analyse, Optimise, and Scale. It is designed as a continuous loop, not a linear process. After each Scale phase, new data feeds back into the Plan phase to start the next cycle at a higher performance baseline.
How is the Growth Loop different from a standard marketing funnel?
A funnel is linear and ends at conversion. The Growth Loop is cyclical. Each completed cycle generates data that improves the next cycle. The loop also covers the full operational stack, including measurement infrastructure, team structure, creative testing, and channel diversification, not just campaign execution.
What size of app company benefits from the Growth Loop?
The framework applies across all stages. Early-stage companies use the Plan and Setup phases to validate product-market fit and build measurement foundations. Growth-stage companies benefit most from the Optimise and Scale phases. The framework scales from €5,000 per month budgets to multi-million euro spend.
How long does one loop cycle take?
A typical first loop cycle takes 60 to 90 days. The Plan and Setup phases take two to four weeks. Launch and early Analysis take four to six weeks. Optimise and Scale decisions can be made from week six onward once enough cohort data is available. Subsequent cycles are faster because the measurement foundation is already in place.
How does Admiral Media apply the Growth Loop for clients?
Every Admiral Media client goes through the Growth Loop framework from onboarding. Each client gets a dedicated performance team, a creative production team, and automated reporting dashboards. The framework governs how we allocate budget, test creatives, and scale to new channels. Clients typically see their first meaningful optimisation signals within 30 to 45 days of launch.
