The complete operating system we use at Growth Marketing Machines to manage paid media accounts. Foundational principles, diagnostic frameworks, and platform-specific playbooks — all in one place.
Built around one idea: there are five atomic metrics (Spend, CPM, CTR, CVR, AOV) that govern all paid media performance. Diagnose the five, and you can solve any problem in any ad account on any platform.
Written by Brenden DelaRua, who runs Growth Marketing Machines (a paid media consultancy) and Stella (a marketing measurement platform that operationalizes the framework in this repo).
This repo has two halves. Read the SOPs first to learn the framework, then use the platform playbooks as a reference when you're working in a specific channel.
/sops — The Framework
How to think about paid media, regardless of platform. Read 01-philosophy.md first.
| # | Document | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Philosophy | The mental model. Five metrics, contribution margin, three pillars of measurement. Start here. |
| 02 | Metric Definitions | Precise definitions for the five core metrics and everything derived from them. |
| 03 | Time Windows | When to use 30-day vs 7-day vs day-over-day analysis. |
| 04 | Diagnostic Engine | Decision trees for identifying what broke when performance changes. |
| 05 | Creative Metrics | Hook rate, hold rate, view-through CVR — the layer beneath CTR. |
| 06 | Metric Interactions | What it means when metrics move in opposite directions. |
| 07 | Action Playbook | What to do, in what order, on what timeline — for every diagnosis. |
| 08 | Attribution Windows | 7dc, 1dv, engaged view — how attribution settings change the numbers. |
| 09 | Incrementality Bridge | Connecting platform metrics to true business impact. |
| 10 | Contribution Margin | Why ROAS is a vanity metric and profit is the job. Read twice. |
| 11 | Creative Volume | How much creative you need and why. |
| 12 | Weekly Optimization Cadence | The week-over-week rhythm of running an account. |
| 13 | Three Pillars of Measurement | MTA + Surveys + Causal. The full picture. |
| 14 | Creative Strategy & Briefing | How we brief and write creative. |
/platforms — Platform-Specific Playbooks
How each platform's algorithm actually works and how we run it.
- Operators running paid media for ecommerce or DTC brands
- Marketers who want to think in terms of profit instead of ROAS
- Teams that want a shared language and a shared playbook for managing accounts
Released under the MIT License — copy it, adapt it, share it. If it helps you, mention where you got it.
Brenden DelaRua runs Growth Marketing Machines, a paid media consultancy working with DTC brands at $2M+ scale. He also owns Stella — a marketing measurement platform that closes the loop on incrementality and turns causal insights into action.
If this is useful and you want to go deeper:
- Want someone to run paid media for your brand? Book a strategy call → (it's a paid call — keeps the spam out, and we both come prepared)
- Want a measurement platform that operationalizes this framework? Try Stella →
- Have a question or a comment on the framework? Open a Discussion
If these helped you, ⭐ star the repo — that's how more operators find them.