Paul Boyce has written an excellent note for beginner growth hackers. He describes the following things in a more detailed way than I do.

Three helpful stages for startups

  1. Pirate Metrics frameway which was developed by Dave McLure. His model shows your product selling circle in dynamics. The main stages are:
    – acquisition – how do you find users?- activation – when user “activates” in an app, i.e. becomes a loyal user. For example, on Facebook, a user “activates” when he/she adds 7 friends (it’s a Facebook growth hackers’ decision, you’re free to choose what does the “activation” means).- retention – do users come back to your product? How do you bring back users to your app? How often? What motivates them to do this?- revenue – how do you make money?

    – referral – do users discuss your product with others? Is there vitality in it? How do your users bring their friends and acquaintances to the app?

  2. Analytics adjustment.
    – adjust Google Analytics in order to watch the total statistics: users, bounce rate, what traffic sources generate income, keywords, etc.- adjust the system for tracking your users’ behavior – Kissmetrics or MixPanel. These services also allow to carry out cohort analysis.And the main profit of such soft is tracking your conversion funnel.
  3. Automation of work with users via email.
    There are apps on the market (Intercom, Customer, Trakio, etc.) that allow you to hold a conversation with your users. For example, to ask whether they like your product or what issues have they encountered in 1-3 days after registration.

You may read about all that in a more detailed article by Paul Boyce.