Growth Playbooks

Playbooks operators actually run.

Every playbook takes one growth problem — onboarding, referrals, paid media, email, churn, AI — and hands you the structure, the benchmarks, and the steps to act on it this week. No theory. No filler. Written for people who run studios, not read about them.

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Free to every subscriber. Read them on Substack — no paywall.

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The 10-Visit Onboarding Sequence
The first 10 visits decide whether a new member stays a year or churns by month four. This is the touchpoint-by-touchpoint sequence — what to send, when, and why — that closes the retention window most studios leave wide open.
Retention · 8 min read
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Free
The Comment-Jacking Growth Playbook
The highest-ROI distribution channel almost no fitness brand uses on purpose: showing up, with a real point of view, in the comments of the accounts your future members already follow. The exact targeting, cadence, and comment structure that turns other people's audiences into yours.
Acquisition · 7 min read
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In the pipeline

What we're building next. Subscribers get them first.

Free AI for Operators · Part 1
Your $100 AI Stack
Six AI tools that quietly do the work of a part-time admin — front-desk replies, content, scheduling, reporting — for under $100 a month. What to use, what to skip, and what to never automate.
AI for Operators · Part 2
Predicting Churn Before It Happens
How to wire up a simple at-risk-member score using the data your booking software already collects — so you can spot the cancel weeks before the member does, and actually save it.
Free
The Studio Email Benchmark Card
Open rates, click rates, and send frequency from real studios — so you can tell if your email program is actually working or just busy.
The Paid Acquisition Audit
A 12-point teardown of your Meta and Google spend. Where the money leaks, what to cut this week, and where a dollar actually buys a member.
Free
The Member Referral Playbook
The referral mechanics that actually move members — incentive structures, timing, and the specific ask that converts a happy member into two.
Frequently asked
What are The Run Rate's Growth Playbooks?
Growth Playbooks are tactical, operator-ready guides for people running or marketing fitness studios and gyms. Each one takes a single growth problem — onboarding, referrals, paid acquisition, email, churn, AI tooling — and gives you the exact structure, benchmarks, and steps to act on it. No theory, no filler.
Which Growth Playbooks are free?
Foundational playbooks are free to every subscriber — including the 10-Visit Onboarding Sequence and the Comment-Jacking Growth Playbook. Deeper, data-heavy playbooks (paid acquisition audits, advanced AI systems) are reserved for paid subscribers at $8/month.
How do I get the paid Growth Playbooks?
Paid playbooks are included with a paid Run Rate subscription — $8/month or $80/year. Paid subscribers also get The Take, our twice-monthly deep dives. You can start free and upgrade any time.
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