LSDCP: The Full-Funnel Marketing Framework for Consumer Apps

I often share growth tactics in specific areas like content automation, creator management, or distribution farms. These can deliver strong results on their own, but without a broader system, they rarely move the needle. You don’t grow a consumer app through scattered tactics. You grow it with a full-funnel approach, where each layer drives the next and compounds over time.

That’s where the LSDCP framework comes in. It’s the full-funnel marketing system we use to grow all the consumer apps at THE QUEST. Built around five key stages (Lab, Scale, Distribution, Creators, and Paid ), each step feeds into the next, working together to drive exponential growth.

In this edition, I’ll break down the full funnel so you can get a clear picture of how each layer connects and drives compounding growth.

When I first started distributing apps, I was mostly experimenting with trendy tactics & hacks I found online. Things like email sequences, AI-generated content, or influencer outreach. But I quickly realized I was approaching growth the wrong way.

It was like hiring a full sales team (which sounded like a good idea), but doing it before ever testing the pitch (which turned it into a bad one). I burned a lot of money and energy doing that, without actually learning what worked.

So I went back to basics. I picked up my phone, started creating content, found a few wins, scaled them, hit a wall in distribution, fixed it, and scaled again. First through content, then creators, then paid. That’s how the LSDCP framework was born. By doing, breaking, and rebuilding the system until it worked end to end.

Some of you have probably read my tactics on distribution (Building TikTok & Instagram Farm) or creators (Find & Work with Creators), but it’s not always clear how everything connects. The goal of this edition is to break down the entire funnel so you can see the big picture and allocate your time & resources based on your current stage.

1/ Lab

📍I haven’t written a full article on lab yet, but we do have a dedicated channel for the lab in the Mobile Consumer Club (Discord).

The Lab (or creative lab) is the first step of the framework. The objective is to find & produce high-performing creatives.

To find high-performing creative ideas, you first need to understand what makes a creative truly perform. The best creatives aren’t the ones with the most views, they’re the ones that combine views with strong engagement metrics like saves, shares, and comments. Saves indicate strong intent, meaning users plan to return. Shares reflect built-in virality, as users actively spread the content. Comments, (especially tags and referrals), signal k-factor with a content that drives organic growth through social loops.

These signals help you understand if the creative is just being watched, or actually driving action.

Creative score formula

To objectively compare creatives, you should build a simple formula that reflects engagement quality. This formula should be tailor to your app category. Comments are key for multiplayer apps, where users often tag friends or drop referrals. Saves matter more for utility apps, since people tend to revisit valuable content. Shares are especially important for social apps that rely on network effects.

Here’s the formula I use for my last app:

Creative Score = [(Comments × 4) + (Saves × 3) + (Shares × 2)] ÷ Views × 100

Example:

Video A (1M views, 3K saves, 1K shares, 1K comments) = 1.0 %
Video B (500K views, 4K saves, 1K shares, 2K comments) = 2.6 %

Even though Video A reaches more people, Video B performs stronger on key interaction signals, like comments, which tend to correlate better with conversion

Chasing replicability

Finding creatives that convert is only part of the game. You also need to focus on replicable formats: content you can easily reproduce to scale production, expand distribution, and maximize reach.

For a format to be truly replicable, you need full control over the production process. It shouldn’t rely on third parties. For example, influencer videos are hard to replicate because the raw footage comes from the influencer, and you don’t control it.

You also need to keep replication costs lower than testing costs. A format like an educational slideshow is a good example as new variations only require changing the text with a simple Figma + Json script. If your creative relies on expensive one-off footage, it likely won’t be worth replicating.

Get inspired

You can find replicable high-performing creative ideas using two core approaches, each with its own strengths. One is rooted in analyzing what already works in the market, while the other is about tapping directly into the insights of your users.

1/ Copycat approach
Find replicable high-performing creative ideas by studying what already works. Analyze top content in your category (and adjacent ones) on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, or wherever your audience spends time. Focus on identifying intent signals in the creatives that catch your eye, and rate them using the Creative Score formula. This gives you a clear filter to focus only on high-potential ideas worth testing.

2/ Creative approach
Find replicable high-performing creative ideas by building original content rooted in a deep understanding of your users. The goal is not just to ask for feedback, but to study what they consume, what holds their attention, and what influences their decisions. Talk to power users. Look at their socials feeds. See what made them stop, click, download, or share. These signals reveal cultural patterns and emotional triggers you can translate into content that truly resonates.

Produce creative

The second challenge is to produce, test, and iterate until you find your replicable high-performing creative. That means getting your hands dirty. Shoot your own footage. Make your own edits. Test daily. Isolate variables. Learn what actually drives performance.

It’s all about precision. Log every test. Track results. Build a system. This is where creativity meets process. Each test should answer one specific question. Each answer makes the next iteration smarter.

2/ Scale

📍I haven’t written a full article on scale yet, but we do have a dedicated channel for the scale in the Mobile Consumer Club (Discord).

The Scale (or content scale) is the second step of the framework. The objective is to produce a large volume of variations of the high-performing creatives from the Lab.

Finding a high-performing creative isn’t enough. If you don’t reproduce it consistently, you’ll leave growth on the table.

Not every creative can be reproduced easily. That’s why we focus on finding creatives that are replicable. A 1M-view creative you can replicate is far more valuable than a 10M-view one-shot creative. You won’t be able to replicate the 10M one, but you can likely replicate the 1M one 20 to 50 times, vertically in your core market and horizontally across new regions.

Content scale structure

The content scale structure is a documented framework that defines exactly what makes your creative work, so you can reproduce it reliably. Your scale structure should include:

1/ Footage requirements
Define exactly what raw content you need:

Type of footage (screen recordings, gameplay, UGC, etc.)
Composition (key features, CTAs, use cases)
Specific criteria (duration, emotions, framing)

2/ Editing output
Set clear rules for the final edit:

Number of steps (e.g. 4-step structure)
Variables per step (dynamic elements tied to each part)
Added elements (text overlays, fonts, placement)

3/ Distribution final edit
Define the last edits you’ll make directly in the social app to avoid being flagged as non-original:

Text (caption, logo, POV label)
Music (trending, original, platform-native)
Zoom (in/out adjustments)

Producing content at scale

Once your structure is locked, you shift into production mode. How you scale depends entirely on the format. Not all content can be scaled the same way, but there are two main approaches:

1/ Automated content
This works well for slideshows, POV + demos, gameplay videos, interview-style formats, and anything built on a repeatable structure. The goal is to capture as much raw footage as possible, define the key variables (hooks, CTAs, transitions, etc.), de-rush and tag every shot by variable, and use Python scripts or automated tools to generate thousands of creative variations at scale.

2/ Delegated content
This works well for motion design or animated formats. The idea is to find a freelancer or small team already producing the style you want in another niche. Hire them with a clear system and tight creative brief, then use their output to feed your distribution engine consistently.

The goal is to find the right balance between quality and volume.

In Lab, you will found creative that works. In Scale, you will have to produce enough variations to publish across platforms, audiences, and geographies without burning out your team or budget. Done right, you’re producing 100+ creatives per week.

3/ Distribution

📍I’ve written a few articles on distribution: Building TikTok & Instagram Farm & Create an Automated TikTok & Instagram Farm. We also have a dedicated channel for the distribution in the Mobile Consumer Club (Discord).

The Distribution is the third step of the framework. The objective is to distribute as much content as possible without getting flagged by socials.

If you’ve read my articles on building undetectable TikTok & Instagram farms, you know what I’m talking about. Make sure you’ve already found winning content in Lab and scaled it properly in Scale before optimizing your distribution.

Once you have found high-performing creatives and produced a large volume of associated creatives, a new problem shows up: how do you distribute all your content across your socials without burning accounts, getting shadow-banned, or wasting content?

That’s when Distribution becomes mission-critical. You need proper infrastructure, clear systems, and people focused on running content logistics. You’ve two distribution channels:

1/ Internal farm

The internal farm is a setup made of physical phones you control, each connected to a specific proxy to simulate a regional location, and linked to social accounts that you own and manage. This is your fully controlled distribution network.

Phase 1: 1–10 devices
Start simple. Buy dedicated phones, plug them into proxies located in the regions you’re targeting. Each phone becomes a unique account with clean device fingerprints and IP addresses. Manual management works at this scale.

Phase 2: 10–25 devices
Use OTG whops. This lets you control multiple devices from a single computer, dramatically reducing time spent tapping through phones manually. Your workflow becomes centralized. One person can manage 20+ devices efficiently.

Phase 3: 25+ devices
Hire a dedicated Head of Distribution. At this scale, device management, content deployment, account health monitoring, and performance tracking becomes a full-time job. This person needs to be technical, detail-oriented, and obsessed with platform compliance.

I’ve covered the full technical setup in two deep-dive articles:

2/ Reposters network

The reposters network is a distributed network composed of real dedicated accounts in target markets, operated by multiple individuals managed in a reposter program.

Start with TikTok and Instagram outreach. Find young creators (16–22 years old typically) in your target regions and pay them to post content you provide weekly. These aren’t influencers, they’re everyday users with 500–5,000 followers who look organic and fly under platform radar.

How to structure it:

Pay $50–100/month per reposter (varies by market)
Provide them with 5 ready-to-post creatives weekly
Give them flexible posting windows, not rigid schedules
Track performance per reposter and optimize your roster monthly

Building distribution system workflow

Distribution is pure logistics. Once you reach scale, the creative side takes a back seat, and operational execution becomes the bottleneck. You need tight systems that eliminate manual tasks, reduce human error, and allow your team to deploy large volumes of content across multiple accounts and platforms, every single day. Without structure, distribution breaks. With the right setup, it becomes a competitive advantage.

My distribution workflow is built around five steps:

1/ Content scale folder

All creatives from the Scale team are uploaded to a dedicated drive.
Content is categorized by format.
File naming follows a specific, standardized structure.

2/ Distribution calendar

A weekly sync call is held between the Scale and Distribution teams.
The Head of Distribution builds the content calendar for the week.
The calendar includes: What content will be posted / Which accounts will post it / What day and time each post goes live

3/ Socials account folder

Each socials account (internal account / reposter) has its own drive.
Each drive contains only the content assigned to that account.
Account drive follow a consistent naming format

4/ Content in Draft

All assigned content is uploaded to the drafts section of each account.
Drafts are prepped and reviewed by the distribution team
This ensures no manual uploading is needed during the week.

5/ Daily Publication

Account warm-up (open, scroll, engage) is automated daily (with OTG).
Final publishing is done manually for safety and precision.
One last edit is made in-app (text, music, zoom, etc.) before each post.

Once this system is in place, distribution stops being a bottleneck and becomes a true growth lever.

4/ Creators

📍I’ve written an article on creators: Find & work with creators. We also have a dedicated channel for the creators in the Mobile Consumer Club (Discord).

The Creators is the fourth step of the framework. The objective is to drive performance globally through creator-led production & distribution.

“Creators” is vague, it could mean top-tier influencers with millions of followers, micro-influencers, random content creators... We’ve tested every type of creator collaboration, and here’s what actually works at scale: high-volume partnerships with everyday content creators in your target markets.

We’re not talking about large creators. We’re talking about active TikTok & Instagram users with 1K-50K followers who post regularly and liked socials. This is the type of creators we work with and turn them into ambassadors.

A lot of people think hiring ambassadors will help them discover new creative formats. Most of the time, it won’t. The creators in your ambassador program are mainly a way to scale your winning content horizontally into their own markets. They’ll publish content you’ve already tested, but with their own twist, adding value through personal style or regional nuance. Most of your ambassadors will amplify content that already works. If you’re lucky, a few might occasionally create original pieces that feed back into the Lab.

Your creators will take the replicable creatives you’ve already validated in the Lab and adapt them in their own voice, on their own accounts, to their own audiences. This is distribution through authenticity at scale.

To manage well creators, you will need to master 2 subjects:

1/ Sourcing
Find active creators in your target countries. You can reach out manually or use dedicated marketplaces to streamline the process. Focus on creators who already produce content in the style or niche you’re targeting.

2/ Management
Give clear direction on what to post, how to post it, and when. Once you’ve identified new replicable, high-performing creatives, share them with your creators so they can adapt and publish variations.

I’ve covered the full creator sourcing & onboarding tactic in one deep-dive article: Find & work with creators [Playbook]

5/ Paid

📍I haven’t written a full article on paid yet, but we do have a dedicated channel for the paid in the Mobile Consumer Club (Discord).

The Paid is the fifth and final step of the funnel. The objective is to boost performance through paid advertising.

Paid isn’t worth it for every app. The economics have to work. If your product has low ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) / LTV (Lifetime Value), paid ads will likely burn your budget faster than they generate profitable users. Competition drives CPMs up, platform infrastructure fees eat margins, and attribution gets murkier every year. You need strong unit economics before you touch paid.

When paid becomes interesting

Once you’ve improved your ARPU/LTV to sustainable levels, paid advertising becomes the ultimate funnel multiplier. This is where you scale beyond what organic and creator channels can deliver on their own.

The beauty of the LSDCP framework is that everything you’ve done in the previous four steps sets you up for paid success.

1/ Creatives from the Lab

The top-performing creatives from the Lab, especially those with high saves, shares, and comments, will almost always be your top performers in paid campaigns too.

Why? Because those engagement signals already told you the creative resonates. Saves mean intent. Shares mean viral potential. Comments mean emotional response. These are the exact signals that predict conversion in paid environments.

2. Scale non-replicable creatives

What’s powerful about paid ads is that you can boost creatives that the Scale team couldn’t replicate. Maybe you got a one-shoot creative that went viral and converted well, but it relied on expensive production and can’t be reproduced. In organic, that kind of creative dies after one posting cycle. With paid, you can keep it running across thousands of ad sets, audiences, and geos (until you’ve squeezed out every last dollar of value).

3/ Leverage your creators to get winning ad variants

Your creators becomes a content factory for paid ads. These are real people who’ve already proven they can produce converting content in your winning formats.

Commission new variations of your best-performing paid creatives from your top ambassadors. Pay them $100–500 per creative (depending on production complexity), and you’ll get authentic UGC-style ads that outperform polished brand content.

Our paid strategy

1/ Start with multiple proven winners

Your first paid campaigns should be:

Top 10 Lab creatives
Creatives that drove the most saves and shares
Formats your ambassadors have already validated across dozens of accounts

2/ Rapid creative iteration

Paid platforms burn through creative faster than organic. A creative that works for 3 months organically might fatigue in 2 weeks in paid. You need volume. This is where your Scale systems become critical. If you can produce 50–100 creative variations per week, you can refresh ad sets constantly and avoid creative fatigue.

3/ Platform-specific optimization

Each platform has different creative best practices:

Meta (Facebook/Instagram): UGC-style content outperforms polished ads. Use creator content, testimonials, and authentic feeling videos.
TikTok: Native-feeling content wins. Make ads that don’t look like ads. Use trending sounds, creator-style content, and fast-paced editing.
Snapchat: Young audience, fast consumption. Short, punchy creatives with immediate hooks. Heavy text overlays work well.

4/ Budget allocation

Start small, scale what works. The classic approach:

Week 1–2: Test $50–100/day across 5–10 ad sets in one ad group with your top creatives
Week 3–4: Kill the bottom 50%, double down on winners, add new creative variations
Month 2+: Scale winning ad sets aggressively

Organic and creator channels scale, but they have natural ceilings — algorithm reach limits, content fatigue, ambassador capacity. Paid removes those ceilings. With enough budget and the right creative systems, you can acquire millions of users per month. But only if the previous four steps are working.

Lab -> finds what converts
Scale -> produces it in volume
Distribution -> spreads it organically
Creators -> amplify it through authentic voices
Paid → captures more value with data-driven predictable acquisition

When all five work together, you have a consumer app marketing machine that compounds. Each piece feeds the others. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

That’s the LSDCP framework.

👋 Awesome you made it to the end — hope this helps!

If you wanna chat about mobile apps, feel free to DM me on X.
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