Mark paid advertising dashboard
The current plan is to prove clean first-party attribution, find a segment with affordable qualified creator leads, and only then unlock meaningful budget.
Recommended first unlock
$300
$100 is enough to smoke-test tracking. $300 lets the top three messages each receive a minimally fair read.
Spend import and funnel rollups
Import campaign spend through /api/admin/marketing-campaign-costs. Fanful then joins it to page views and creator-interest quality by utm_campaign.
Independent musicians, music teachers, composers, and small labels with direct fan activity.
/users/musiciansCampaign offerQualified creator lead under $25 in smoke tests, then under $50 with clear site-launch intent.
Teachers, coaches, and artist educators who sell bookings, workshops, or paid resources.
/users/music-teachersCampaign offerLesson/workshop lead or worksheet completion under $30; disqualify if demand is only calendar automation.
Creators with paid supporters or communities who need commerce, media, live, and email beside memberships.
/compare/patreon-alternativeCampaign offerMigration-checklist lead under $40 with a current stack and near-term launch date.
Creators with active social traffic, several outbound fan destinations, and a reason to publish a real fan home soon.
/compare/linktree-alternativeCampaign offerSetup-intent lead under $25 with named links, a first Fanful page, and no expectation of automatic migration.
Small labels, managers, collectives, studios, and creator operators with two or more creator relationships to coordinate.
/features/analyticsCampaign offerConsult or pilot lead with a named roster use case, reporting question, and acceptance that org roles, payouts, and bulk automation stay scoped.
Lead magnets
Musician lead magnet
Use this worksheet to map the current fan path from first listen to repeat support, then decide which Fanful modules should ship first.
fanful_musicians_v1
Open musician auditTeaching lead magnet
This worksheet keeps the teacher's offer, proof, lesson format, student fit, and follow-up resources beside the artist brand.
fanful_music_teachers_v1
Open lesson worksheetSwitcher lead magnet
Use this checklist to map benefits, member data, content, community promises, and cutover risks before moving paid supporters.
fanful_patreon_switchers_v1
Open migration checklistLink-in-bio upgrade
Use this setup plan to decide which links stay outbound, which fan jobs become Fanful pages, and what has to be measured before the public bio URL changes.
fanful_bio_link_upgrade_v1
Open setup planTeam ops pilot
Use this brief to decide whether a team should pilot Fanful across a small roster, what analytics matter, and which onboarding, permission, payout, and reporting boundaries stay explicit.
fanful_team_ops_v1
Open team ops briefWarm retargeting
These concepts are for people who already touched Fanful. Each one uses a public proof surface, a tagged URL, and a success metric tied to creator intent.
Warm visitors who opened musician, case-study, work-log, or musician audit pages but did not submit creator interest.
Proof source
Use the Laurel/Fanful case study, public work-log entries, and musician site-audit offer as proof that Fanful is a shipped artist-site stack.
Creative: Show the real proof chain: working Laurel artist site, Fanful case study, work-log evidence, then a musician site audit CTA.
/case-studies/laurel-harned?utm_source=meta&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=fanful_retargeting_laurel_proof_v1&utm_content=work_log_proof&utm_marketing_tactic=warm_retargetingSuccess: Return visit to the case study or musician audit, then `creator_interest_submitted` with musician/audit intent. Do not count generic homepage clicks as success.
Guardrail: Do not imply every musician category or native app parity story is complete; the case study names current gaps.
Warm visitors who opened roadmap, work-log, user-journey, or developer/agent pages.
Proof source
Use public roadmap movement, deployed screenshots, and GitHub-backed work-log entries to show Fanful ships product evidence rather than static marketing claims.
Creative: Carousel or static sequence: roadmap card, work-log card, screenshot evidence, and a CTA to compare Fanful against the creator's current stack.
/work-log?utm_source=meta&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=fanful_retargeting_shipping_proof_v1&utm_content=roadmap_work_log&utm_marketing_tactic=warm_retargetingSuccess: Work-log return visitor opens a comparison, pricing, or campaign-offer page in the same session, then submits creator interest within the attribution window.
Guardrail: Use only shipped entries and public screenshots. Do not promote roadmap items as available features.
Warm visitors who opened Linktree comparison, feature, pricing, or musician pages without starting the setup-intent form.
Proof source
Use the shipped bio-link fan-home offer and Linktree comparison page to make the next step concrete.
Creative: One-link-before/after concept: old outbound list on the left, Fanful fan home with account, media, shop, live, and email follow-up on the right.
/campaign-offers/bio-link-fan-home?utm_source=meta&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=fanful_retargeting_bio_link_proof_v1&utm_content=setup_intent&utm_marketing_tactic=warm_retargetingSuccess: Setup-intent lead with named current links, first desired Fanful page, and no expectation of automatic migration.
Guardrail: Keep the automatic-migration caveat visible; this retargeting should sell a scoped setup path, not a magic importer.
The creator refer-a-friend offer is part of the acquisition plan, not a side note. It gives artists a simple reason to invite another publisher while keeping rewards tied to paid annual publisher checkouts.
Creative assets
Budget ladder
$100
$25 each across four tightly matched ad/landing-page pairs, or $50 each across the top two if setup time is limited.
Clean attribution plus 5-10 creator leads or a clear qualified-click winner. Do not declare ROI from this budget.
$1,000
$250 each across three acquisition hypotheses, with $250 reserved for the best early performer and retargeting.
30+ qualified conversions in the winning cell, or a credible CPL range with clear lead quality and next-step intent.
$3,000-$5,000
Enough to keep 3-5 cells live for 7-14 days while retargeting warm visitors and measuring qualified creator conversations.
A repeatable qualified-lead cost and at least one path from paid visitor to signed creator pilot, paid plan, or high-intent sales call.
Attribution model
Ads get UTMs and platform click ids. The browser stores first touch and last touch. Conversion requests now forward that context to the server in a first-party header, so newsletter, booking, lesson, and checkout events keep the original campaign.
Canonical paid-social URL pattern
?utm_source=meta&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=fanful_musicians_v1&utm_id=...Global tracker: Captures page, referrer, UTM, click ids, and first/last touch.
Newsletter API: Lead capture for early interest and warm retargeting pools.
Booking API: High-intent contact signal for creators and event organizers.
Lessons API: Education/coaching purchase-intent signal.
Checkout API: Shop/support checkout intent before Stripe confirms payment.
Stripe webhook: Payment truth source. Use this for revenue, not ad-platform ROAS alone.
5 conversions
Anecdotal
Use only to catch broken tracking or obviously bad copy.
10 conversions
Directional
Useful for choosing which message deserves more budget.
30 conversions
Usable
Enough to compare cells if lead quality is similar.
50 conversions
Optimization-ready
Close to the common paid-social learning target for stable delivery.
100 conversions
Stronger read
Enough to start discussing repeatability, not just one-off luck.
Unlock $300 for the first paid smoke. If tracking is clean and one segment produces qualified creator leads, step up to $1,000 for a 7-14 day directional test.