Newsletter Ad Review

Quarterly skill that processes newsletter ad performance data from any publisher, refreshes the Tiger Den newsletter-ad-reference document, and surfaces insights for the next quarter's ad strategy. Designed to handle multiple publishers in a single review session.

When to use this skill

Processing a new quarter's ad performance data (Cooperpress reports, other publisher reports)
Updating the swipe file with new top-performing ads
Refreshing newsletter rankings and strategic recommendations
Adding a new publisher's data for the first time

When NOT to use this skill

Writing new newsletter ads (use newsletter-ad-writer)
Writing social posts or email campaigns (use social-post-writer or email-nurture-planner)

Instructions

Step 0: Pre-flight check

Read REFERENCES.md from the plugin root and run the pre-flight check described there. Call list_marketing_references() to verify Tiger Den is reachable. If it fails or the tool is not found, STOP — do not continue. Follow the error handling in REFERENCES.md.

1. Load existing performance data

Fetch the current performance doc:

Fetch: newsletter-ad-reference using get_marketing_context(slugs: ["newsletter-ad-reference"]).
If this is the first time running the review (no existing doc), note that we're creating the initial baseline.
Read the existing doc thoroughly. Note current rankings, swipe file entries, fatigue signals, and the quarterly review log.

2. Gather new data

Ask the user which publishers they have new data for and what format it's in. Accept any of:

Excel/CSV files: Cooperpress reports, GA4 exports, or custom spreadsheets. Ask for the file path.
Pasted data: Tables or raw numbers pasted into chat.
Multiple publishers: Process them all in one session. Ask: "Which publishers do you have new data for this quarter?"

For each data set, confirm:

Publisher name (Cooperpress, etc.)
Time period the data covers
What metrics are included (clicks, CTR, spend, GA4 users, conversions, etc.)

Read and process each data file provided.

3. Process per publisher

For each publisher's data, calculate and extract:

Newsletter-level metrics:

Total placements, spend, clicks, GA4 users per newsletter
Cost per GA4 user (primary ranking metric)
CTR by newsletter
Click-to-visit rate (Cooperpress clicks vs GA4 users) to detect inflation
Trend vs. prior quarter (improving, stable, declining)

Top performers:

Identify the top 5-8 placements by a combination of clicks, CTR, and eCPC
For each, extract: title, supporting text, newsletter, ad type, date, and all metrics
Draft a qualitative annotation explaining why it worked (audience fit, hook type, technical specificity, etc.)

Placement type analysis:

Primary vs Sponsored (or equivalent ad types) performance comparison

Content theme analysis:

Group placements by content theme/angle
Calculate CTR and eCPC per theme

Brand analysis (if applicable):

Compare branded vs generic title performance

Fatigue detection:

Flag any newsletter where CTR has declined for 3+ consecutive months
Flag any newsletter with click-to-visit rate below 30%
Flag any newsletter where cost per user has increased 25%+ vs prior quarter

4. Draft the updated Tiger Den doc

Merge the new data into the existing newsletter-ad-reference document structure:

For an existing publisher section:

Update the top-line numbers with the new data range
Refresh the newsletter rankings table
Update the swipe file: add new top performers, keep the best from prior quarters, prune entries that are no longer representative. Cap at ~5 examples per newsletter.
Refresh placement type, content theme, and brand analysis tables
Update fatigue signals with current quarter observations
Refresh strategic recommendations based on the new data
Add quarter-over-quarter trend comparison

For a new publisher (first time):

Create a new publisher section following the existing structure
Populate all subsections from the initial data

Cross-publisher patterns:

Review the cross-publisher patterns section
Update with any new insights that hold across multiple publishers
Remove patterns that no longer hold

Quarterly review log:

Add an entry: date, what was processed, key changes, notable shifts

5. Flag profile updates

Check if the newsletter profiles in the newsletter-ad-reference doc need updating:

New newsletters: If the data includes newsletters not in the profiles section, flag them: "New newsletter detected: [name]. I'll need audience info and character limits to add a profile."
Changed specs: If character limits or ad types appear to have changed, flag for confirmation.
New publishers: If this is a new publisher, note that a full publisher section needs to be added.

Draft any needed updates to the profiles section of newsletter-ad-reference in Tiger Den and present them to the user.

6. Present the summary

Deliver a structured summary:

Per publisher:

Newsletters trending up (improving cost/user or CTR)
Newsletters trending down (fatigue, declining performance)
New top performers added to the swipe file (with the ad copy)
Entries pruned from the swipe file
Key strategic shifts for next quarter

Cross-publisher (if multiple publishers):

Patterns that hold across publishers
Patterns that differ by publisher
Overall portfolio recommendations

Action items:

Tiger Den doc update (present the full drafted doc for review, including any profile changes)
Strategic recommendations for the next quarter's ad buys

7. User review and next steps

Present the full updated newsletter-ad-reference doc (which contains both profiles and performance data). The user will review and upload it to Tiger Den.

Include this note: "Review the updated reference doc above. Once you're happy with it, upload it to Tiger Den to replace the current version. Both newsletter profiles and performance data are in this single doc."

Output format

Present everything directly in chat as structured Markdown. For the Tiger Den doc update, present the complete document so the user can copy it directly.

Tiger Den tools used

get_marketing_context -- fetch the existing newsletter-ad-reference doc (Step 1)

Hand-off

After the review is complete, offer to:

Write next quarter's ads using the refreshed data with newsletter-ad-writer

Do not auto-trigger other skills. Wait for the user to confirm.

newsletter-ad-review