Idea Cross-Reference — 139 Marketing Ideas Mapped to AARRR

The marketing-ideas skill catalogs 139 proven marketing tactics. This doc is the source-of-truth mapping: every idea assigned to a primary AARRR stage, with notes for when it's typically active and what category constraints apply.

The plan's Section 12 ("Tactical idea bank") uses this mapping as the base, then layers client-specific filters: brand voice rules might skip some ideas; funding stage might shift Q-status; client category might rule out others.

How to read this doc

• 139 unique ideas, 144 entries. Five ideas cross-cut multiple AARRR stages and appear under each stage they serve (#79 Early-Access Referrals, #86 Lifetime Deals, #91 In-App Upsells, #114 Moneyball Marketing, #117 Product Competitions). Each duplicate row carries a cross-cut note.
• "Entries" counts rows; idea IDs are unique. Section header counts reflect rows in this doc, not unique ideas from marketing-ideas.
• Numbers correspond exactly to the marketing-ideas skill ordering. If marketing-ideas reorders or expands, update this doc.

AARRR assignment for all 139 ideas

Acquisition (116 entries)

These ideas primarily serve top-of-funnel awareness, traffic, and lead generation.

Activation (8 entries)

Retention (8 entries)

Referral (5 entries)

Revenue (2 entries — most monetization is strategy not tactic)

Skipped from Revenue: #86 Lifetime Deals appears under Launches (Acquisition section) only. It's generally off-brand for subscription products because it damages LTV math; recommend in Section 12's Skip list with rationale, not in stage totals.

Cross-cutting / brand foundation (2 entries)

Developer-specific / dev tool products (2 entries)

How to apply this to a specific client

For Section 12 of the plan:

Step 1 — Filter for category fit

For each idea, ask:

• Does this idea apply to the client's category? (e.g., #16 Importers only for SaaS; #19 Chrome Extensions only for browser-relevant; #136 DevRel only for dev tools)
• Skip ideas that don't apply, with a note

Step 2 — Filter for brand voice

For each idea, ask:

• Does this idea conflict with the client's brand voice?
• Common conflicts:
  • Lifetime Deals (#86) — conflicts with premium positioning
  • Twitter Giveaways (#83) — often off-brand for serious / clinical / luxury voices
  • Humor Marketing (#122) — off-brand for serious / clinical voices
  • Cameo Marketing (#118) — off-brand for most voices
  • Reality TV Marketing (#112) — off-brand for most voices

If conflict, place in Skip list with explicit rationale.

Step 3 — Set timing status

For ideas that pass filters, set status:

• Now (Q1) — already in 90-day plan OR can run alongside without new capacity
• Q2 — post-bedrock-fix, post-foundation; second-quarter layer-in
• Q3+ — post-seed-close, post-GA; expansion moves
• Q4+ — long-game / large-investment

Use the "Typical stage available" column as the default. Shift earlier if client has unusual capability (e.g., a celebrity founder shifts Conference Speaking #70 from "Now" to "Now and high-leverage").

Step 4 — Write the client-specific note

Every "Now / Q2 / Q3+" idea gets a one-line client-specific note. Examples:

• For idea #11 Competitor Comparison Pages: "Quietude vs. Calm / Headspace / Brain.fm / Endel / Wavepaths — high-intent SERPs"
• For idea #133 Investor Marketing: "Alex's seed raise — leverage angel backchannel for PR + intros"
• For idea #15 Engineering as Marketing: "HRV interpretation guide; nervous system self-assessment; sound bath finder directory"

Step 5 — Sum the bank

After all five AARRR tables + skip list:

### Idea-bank summary

- {Acquisition count} ideas applicable to Acquisition (the dominant stage at {client}'s current stage)
- {Activation count} to Activation, {Retention count} to Retention
- {Referral count} to Referral
- {Revenue count} to Revenue
- {cross-cutting count} cross-cutting
- {skipped count} ideas skipped for brand / business-model fit

**What this proves:** the plan is roughly X% of the available tactical surface area, not 100%. {appropriate or not for the stage} — as capacity unlocks across Q2 → Q3 → Series A, the cross-reference becomes the inventory to scale activity without losing strategic coherence.

How to maintain this doc

If marketing-ideas adds new ideas (it's a living skill — the 139 may become 145 or 160 over time):

1. Read skills/marketing-ideas/references/ideas-by-category.md in the marketingskills repo
2. Assign each new idea to a primary AARRR stage using the rules above
3. Add to this doc's tables
4. Update SKILL.md's idea-count reference

Sources

• skills/marketing-ideas/SKILL.md (in the marketingskills repo)
• skills/marketing-ideas/references/ideas-by-category.md (in the marketingskills repo)