ETS Performance / Growth Strategy
Systematizing word-of-mouth growth. A framework for engineering, measuring, and accelerating the invisible channel that drives 60–80% of ETS evaluations.
Section 01
The gap between what analytics report and how parents actually discover ETS is not a measurement error. It is the most important strategic insight in this business.
"Most ETS evaluations come from conversations analytics cannot track. A dad at men's group. A text between moms. A PT forwarding a VALD report. These interactions show up in your dashboard as 'direct traffic' — indistinguishable from someone typing a URL. They represent the majority of your growth."
Research consistently shows 80–90% of social sharing happens through private channels — texts, DMs, email, in-person conversations. For ETS, the ratio skews even further toward dark because the purchase decision involves entrusting a child's physical development to another adult. That decision is made through trust transfer, not advertising.
Estimated Channel Contribution (Mature Location)
The Covenant Keeper
A dad Matt respects at men's group says: "Check out ETS. Proverbs on the walls. Coach knows my kids by name."
Matt tells Sarah. She Googles "ETS Performance," checks Instagram, reads reviews.
Sarah texts a mom friend: "Have you heard of ETS? David from church says it's really good."
Matt mentions it to another dad at lacrosse: "Same coach for two years. They test every six weeks."
Matt books the evaluation. "How did you hear about us?" — "A friend from church."
Every step invisible to analytics. No pixel. No UTM. No referral header. Dashboard shows: "direct traffic."
The Evidence Seeker
A PT colleague texts Rachel a screenshot: "Look at this VALD report from a patient's kid. ETS. ForceDecks at the youth level."
Rachel screenshots the report. Texts back: "Where is this?"
Rachel Googles "ETS Performance VALD force plate." Finds website. Checks Instagram. Sees data content.
Rachel books evaluation. "A colleague referred me."
The colleague's text — the event that caused the evaluation — is invisible to every analytics tool in the stack.
If ETS's marketing team only measures what the analytics dashboard can see, they will over-attribute growth to paid ads and under-attribute growth to community. They will then over-invest in paid and under-invest in community — which is exactly backwards for a business where the majority of growth comes from trust-based referral.
60–80%
of evaluations originate in dark social
$0
customer acquisition cost
60–75%
conversion rate (vs. 20-30% paid)
Section 02
The most important question in ETS's growth model: "How did you hear about us?" — asked in person, by the director, at every evaluation.
Matt will write "word of mouth" on a form. But when the director asks him conversationally, he will say "David from Calvary Lutheran — we're in the same men's group." That specificity is the difference between useless data and a referral map.
Asked during the evaluation debrief, after VALD testing, when the parent is relaxed and engaged.
Director Script
"Before we wrap up — I'm curious, how did you find out about us? Was it someone you know, or did you find us online?"
| Initial Response | Follow-Up Probe | What to Record |
|---|---|---|
| "A friend told me" | "That's great — who was it? I'd love to thank them." | Referrer name, relationship, connection context |
| "Someone at church" | "Which church? I'd love to know which communities are sending families our way." | Church name, context (men's group, Bible study, bulletin board) |
| "My kid's coach" | "Which team or school? That means a lot coming from a coach." | School/club name, coach name, sport |
| "My physical therapist" | "Which clinic? We work with several and I want to close the loop." | Clinic name, clinician name, formal vs. casual referral |
| "Instagram / Facebook" | "Was it our account, or did a friend share something?" | If friend shared: dark social via digital channel. If brand: organic. |
| "I Googled you" | "What made you decide to search for us? Had someone mentioned us?" | Often reveals the dark social trigger behind the search |
| "I've driven past" | "Had anyone mentioned us before, or was it just seeing the building?" | Often reveals a prior dark social mention |
Discovery Source
Dropdown: Church / Member referral / Coach / Clinical / Facebook / Instagram / Google / Paid ad / Drive-by / Event / Other
Primary attribution category
Discovery Detail
Free text: "David Johnson, Calvary Lutheran men's group" or "Dr. Patel, Summit PT"
Captures specificity
Referrer Name
Linked to member record if applicable. Enables referral graph analysis.
Identifies top referrers
Referrer Relationship
Dropdown: Church friend / Sideline / Family friend / Colleague / Coach / Clinician / Online
Predicts channel investment
Dark Social Flag
Boolean. True if source was private/personal channel (text, DM, conversation, church, sideline).
Enables aggregate reporting
Trigger Context
Full narrative: "Heard at men's group Wed. Wife Googled Thu. Booked Fri."
Captures the complete journey
Dark Social Event
Text, DM, church conversation, sideline mention. Invisible to analytics.
Prospect Action
Google search, website visit, evaluation booking. Trackable as "direct" or "organic."
Evaluation Intake
Director asks the question. Records source, referrer name, and channel detail.
CRM Record
Tagged: "Dark Social — Church referral — from Matt Hargrove — Calvary Lutheran men's group"
Attribution Reporting
Monthly aggregation: dark social %, top referrers, referral clusters, channel comparison.
Strategic Investment Decisions
"43% of evaluations from church referrals. Invest more in church partnerships, less in Instagram ad spend."
Section 03
Each channel has its own dynamics, trust mechanics, and enablement requirements. One-size-fits-all referral programs fail because they ignore these differences.
Mom-to-mom and dad-to-dad text threads are the primary dark social infrastructure. Groups of 3–8 parents coordinate carpools, share schedule changes, and exchange recommendations. When a parent sends a re-test graphic in this context, it carries the weight of personal endorsement — not advertising.
A recommendation from church carries the weight of shared values, not just shared geography. When Matt's men's group friend says "check out ETS — Proverbs on the walls," that endorsement is backed by the trust infrastructure of the entire faith community. This is Matt's primary buying trigger.
Track "Church/faith community" as discovery source. Target: 10–30 referrals per church per year at well-built relationships.
"Where does your kid do off-season training?" is the most natural question in youth sports. Saturday morning games, Tuesday evening practices, travel tournament weekends — these are where sports parents talk. The conversation starts from context (both watching their kids play) and moves naturally to training programs.
Self-reported "heard at a game/practice" at intake. Track seasonality — sideline referrals spike during fall and spring sports seasons.
Carpool networks are dark social infrastructure hiding in plain sight. When three families coordinate ETS drop-offs and pickups, those rides become rolling recommendation conversations. The parent driving a neighbor's kid to ETS is making a visible endorsement every Tuesday and Thursday — and the neighbor's parent sees it.
Track referral clusters by school/neighborhood. When 3+ families from the same school enroll within 90 days, a carpool network is likely active.
Rachel does not respond to ads. She responds to clinical evidence shared through her professional network. A colleague texting a VALD report is the highest-trust referral channel for the Evidence Seeker persona. This also compounds: clinician refers patient, director sends VALD report back, clinician texts report to another colleague. The referral chain is self-reinforcing.
Director visits clinic. Clinician evaluates, refers patient. Director sends VALD report back. Clinician texts colleague: "Look at this report." Colleague refers their own patients. Loop compounds through the clinical network.
Track by clinic and clinician name. Target: 5–15 referrals per active clinic partnership per year.
Local youth sports Facebook Groups (200–2,000 members) like "Ankeny Youth Soccer Parents" are where "Where should my kid train?" threads appear regularly. Parents screenshot Group posts and text them to friends outside the Group. The key: the messenger determines the message. A recommendation from a fellow parent looks genuine. A post from the ETS brand account looks like advertising.
Instagram DM share counts. Self-reported "a friend sent me something online." Track Facebook Group mentions via ambassador self-report, not monitoring.
Section 04
What makes content "textable." Dark social content is fundamentally different from public social content. Public rewards novelty and entertainment. Dark rewards relevance, trust, and personal utility.
When Matt sends a text about ETS, he is putting his reputation on the line. He will not forward a flashy ad. He will share something that makes him look thoughtful, informed, and helpful to the specific person he is texting.
Content makes the parent look good, not ETS. Re-test graphic with their child's data — not an ETS ad with their child in it.
"My daughter's bilateral asymmetry went from 23% to 14% in six weeks" beats "ETS has great training." Specificity is credibility.
Designed to look good as a screenshot in a text thread. Clean layout, readable at phone resolution, no tiny text.
A photo of phones-in-the-bucket with no caption provokes more curiosity than a branded explainer video. Provoke "wait, what is that?"
No "Book your free evaluation" on shareable assets. The parent IS the call to action. The moment it feels like an ad, it stops being shared.
Logo small, bottom corner. Brand colors on border, not billboard. The child's progress is the story. ETS is the footnote.
The single most shareable asset in the ETS system
| Format | PNG, 1080x1080 (text) / 1080x1920 (Stories) |
| Key numbers | Readable at 50% zoom (text thread thumbnail) |
| Branding | Subtle. Logo corner. Brand color border. |
| Data shown | 3–4 metrics, before/after. Accessible to Matt, respected by Rachel. |
| Personalization | "Maya N. — Club Soccer — 6-Week Progress" |
Dark Social Spread Path
Target: 15–25% of re-tested families share within 48 hours
Typographic statements designed to be screenshotted and texted
"Every place says 'character development.' None of them can describe a single mechanism for how character is actually built."
Matt sends to: dad at church frustrated with youth sports
"Your daughter is 2–8x more likely to tear her ACL than her male teammates. We train deceleration specifically."
Rachel sends to: colleague treating youth ACL injuries
"70% of kids quit sports by 13. Not because they're not good enough. Because the adults made it stop being fun."
Sarah sends to: Bible study group text, volleyball parent group
"You've spent thousands on showcases where nobody remembered your kid's name."
Matt sends to: dad who just paid $800 for a travel showcase
Spec: Bold typography, clean background, ETS brand colors. No CTA. No URL. No "Book now." Readable as text thread thumbnail. 1080x1920 for Stories.
A genuine buyer's guide that happens to describe ETS's strengths
Spread path: Parent downloads via bio link. Friend asks "where should my kid train?" Parent forwards: "Here's a checklist we used. Ask these questions anywhere you visit."
Objects that start conversations in the physical world
Section 05
The director is the engine. Dark social does not scale through marketing automation — it scales through 50+ directors building authentic community relationships, one facility at a time.
| Habit | Frequency | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Send re-test graphics via text within 24 hours of walkthrough | Every re-test cycle (6 weeks per member) | 2-3 min/family |
| Ask "How did you hear about us?" at every evaluation | Every evaluation | 2-3 min/eval |
| Record attribution data in CRM same day | Every evaluation | 1-2 min/eval |
| Respond to ambassador warm referrals within 1 hour | As they arrive (2–5/month) | 5 min/referral |
| Visit one church, school, or clinic relationship | Monthly | 30-60 min |
| Review top referrer list and thank top referrers personally | Monthly | 15-25 min |
Re-test Graphic Template
Canva template for personalized, shareable progress graphics. Used after every re-test walkthrough.
Attribution Script
"How did you hear about us?" conversational guide with follow-up probes. Every evaluation.
Ambassador Nomination
Checklist for identifying parents who should join the ambassador program. Monthly review.
Clinical One-Pager
VALD specs, methodology, credentials. Clinical format. For PT/sports medicine clinic visits.
Church Relationship Guide
How to build authentic faith community relationships over 90 days. Maintained quarterly.
Warm Referral Protocol
Response template for ambassador-surfaced referrals. 1-hour SLA. Personal text to prospect.
Not sending the re-test graphic
The entire dark social pipeline loses its fuel. Build it into the post-re-test workflow. Not optional.
Asking attribution on a form
Parents write "word of mouth." In conversation, they say "David from Calvary Lutheran men's group." Specificity is everything.
Treating church visits as sales calls
Matt can smell a sales pitch from the parking lot. Attend as a community member. Offer value. Build over months.
Slow warm referral response
Dark social referrals have a short half-life. Saturday mention, Wednesday follow-up = lost momentum. 1-hour SLA, always.
Notebook instead of CRM
Attribution data in a notebook cannot be analyzed or aggregated. CRM entry same day. Every evaluation. No exceptions.
Ignoring "I Googled you"
The search was often triggered by a dark social mention. Always probe: "What made you decide to search for us?"
Section 06
How to measure the unmeasurable. The four-layer attribution model combines what machines can track with what humans can report.
Director asks every evaluator. Free-text + categorized response. High accuracy for proximate trigger.
Primary
Record specific referrer name linked to evaluation record. Creates a referral graph. Identifies top referrers and clusters.
Secondary
Correlate "direct" traffic spikes with content publishing calendar. If re-test graphics go out Tuesday and direct traffic spikes Wednesday — the graphics triggered dark sharing.
Supplementary
Director's knowledge: who talks to whom, which families are connected, which churches are represented. Things no dashboard can show.
Ongoing
| Metric | How to Measure | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Dark social % of evaluations | Evaluations with Dark Social Flag = True / Total evaluations | 50–70% |
| Dark social conversion rate | Enrollments from dark social evaluations / Dark social evaluations | 60–75% |
| Dark social revenue | Dark social enrollments x $2,628 annual membership value | 40–60% of new revenue |
| Top referrer identification | Individuals who referred 2+ families in past 12 months | 10–20 per location |
| Referral community ranking | Churches/schools/clinics ranked by referral volume | 3–5 high producers |
| Re-test graphic share rate | Families who reported sharing / Families who received | 15–25% |
| Ambassador referral volume | Total evaluations attributed to formal ambassadors | 2–5 per ambassador/yr |
Model visualization — mature location, steady state
"Direct" traffic to evaluation page with no prior session
If >40% of evaluation page traffic: dark social is working. Invest more in shareable assets.
Evaluation booking spikes correlated with re-test cycles
If spikes align with re-test weeks: the graphic is working. Increase share rate by improving graphic quality and director prompting.
Google branded search volume growth
If branded search grows faster than paid/organic: dark social awareness is building. Optimize website for visitors who already know the name.
Instagram DM share count exceeds public share count
Content is resonating in the dark social way that matters. Optimize for DM shareability, not public virality.
Self-reported "I Googled you after a friend mentioned it"
Reveals the dark social to search pipeline. Conversion path: mention, then search, then website, then booking.
Section 07
If 60–80% of evaluations come from word-of-mouth at $0 CAC, the equivalent paid media value is the single most important number in the marketing budget.
Monthly Dark Social Evaluations
across all locations
Monthly Enrollments
from dark social
Annual Revenue from Dark Social
at $0 acquisition cost
Equivalent Paid Media Spend
to generate the same evaluations
Dark social is not a marketing channel. It is the business model's competitive moat. Every facility where a director builds authentic community relationships, sends re-test graphics, and closes warm referrals within an hour is a facility that needs less paid media, retains more members, and compounds growth through trust.
The word-of-mouth engine already runs. This playbook makes it run faster, captures what it produces, and directs investment toward the channels and communities that generate the most trust.
"ETS cannot make dark social visible without destroying it. A parent sharing their child's re-test data in a private text thread is powerful precisely because it is private, personal, and peer-to-peer."