Paid front-end course · sold via Stripe · fueled by the $1,000 ad campaign (flight assumed Jul 15 – Aug 15)
Data coverage: revenue shown is Thinkific-visible only. Good Back Basics purchases and checkout upsells sit in Stripe and are absent from these files (verified: zero GBB transactions, zero buyer-email matches).
Buyers (total)
17
paid via Stripe on goodbackacademy.com
Ad-window buyers (Jul 15–31)
11
≈$68 acquisition cost each
Stripe revenue
not in data
front-end + upsells — export needed for ROAS
Finishers (≥75% viewed)
6
prime upsell prospects
Never started
6
refund risk — need activation
Weekly new-student signups 2026
Amber = assumed ad flight. Clear lift from ~Jul 15… then zero signups Aug 1–8 during a supposedly live campaign. Confirm status/budget.
Buyer outcomes
The cohort splits perfectly in three: 6 finish nearly everything, 5 are partway, 6 never press play.
Lesson-by-lesson funnel (18 buyers)
Lessons 1 & 4 are anomalies: ~1 view, 0 completions, ~5 seconds total vs 8–11 viewers on neighbors — likely broken or hidden. Retention through lesson 18 is otherwise excellent.
Time invested per buyer (minutes)
Engaged buyers spend ~2 hours — the full course. Green = finisher, amber = warming, red = never started.
Macro picture
This is your growth engine — flying blind. The $1,000 ad buys paying customers at ≈$68 each, some take a checkout upsell, and none of that revenue reaches Thinkific reporting. Whether the campaign profits is decided by numbers currently locked in Stripe.
Product–market fit signal is strong: of buyers who start, most finish — 6 of 11 engaged buyers consumed 75–100% and invested ~2 hours. Content is not the constraint.
The funnel breaks at both ends: activation (6 of 17 never start = refund risk) and monetization (no upsell motion after the course ends).
Micro picture
Signups stopped dead Aug 1 — zero in 8 days. The flight either ended Jul 31 or the budget exhausted early.
Lessons 1 ("Understanding Back Pain Intro") and 4 ("Core Activation Techniques") get skipped by everyone — check publishing status and video files.
Finishers look like professionals: Craig Smith (doctors.org.uk, 100%), Matthew Weiner (esq. domain, 95%), Thomas Funcik (drfuncik.com). Willingness to pay is high.
Chris Rose was active Aug 8 — the warmest lead in the whole business right now.
Ad buyers were also enrolled in Acute Back Pain Guide but all sit at 0% there — the second product in the package is invisible to them.
July's two Thinkific payments were 2025-customer renewals, not ad sales — don't credit the campaign with them.
What's working / what's not
✔ Working
Ad targeting — buyers are engaged professionals
Course length & format — finishable in ~2h, and people do
Do-along videos (Triad, McKenzie, foundational 5)
Checkout upsell exists (per Stripe) — the mechanism is there
✘ Not working
Activation: 35% of buyers never start (refund exposure)
Lessons 1 & 4 — broken or hidden
Attribution: no UTMs, revenue split across Stripe/Thinkific
Post-course path: finishers get… nothing
Ad delivery stopped without anyone noticing
Restructuring strategy
Make GBB the official front door: ad → GBB purchase (+ order-bump) → activation emails → finish → "graduate" offer into the Academy. One measured pipeline.
Fix before refuel: repair lessons 1 & 4 and launch the activation sequence before renewing ad spend.
Instrument everything: UTM-tag the ads, pass campaign data into Stripe metadata, and reconcile Stripe + Thinkific weekly. Judge the ad on cost per engaged buyer and front-end→upsell rate, not signups.
Graduate offer now: email the 6 finishers (minus any Stripe shows already upgraded) a 25–50% deadline offer on the Academy. Do not train this audience on 90%-off.
UX & sales ideas
Day-0 email: "Start with the 13-minute Triad video" deep link; day-2 nudge; day-5 progress check to the no-starts.
Completion page: congratulations + certificate + Academy offer with countdown.
Upsell banner on the final 3 lessons ("keep going — here's the full system").
Ask the 6 finishers for a testimonial — use in the next ad creative.
Buyer cohort — all 17
Green = finisher (upsell prospect — cross-check Stripe for who already upgraded). Gray = never started (refund risk). Click headers to sort.
Buyer
Viewed
Done
Enrolled
Last active
Time
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Who should I contact today and why?Is the ad worth renewing?What do I need from Stripe exactly?
Compiled Aug 8, 2026 · Thinkific exports + video stats · Stripe direct sales not included · Ad flight dates assumed — verify