Book · Multi-week program
Retention + Engagement (Reforge program)
Brian Balfour and Reforge · Reforge Paid Intermediate
Reforge is where the modern retention playbook is written down, and this program treats retention as the power plant of growth rather than a marketing afterthought. It gives you frameworks that flex by business model: defining a retention metric as Frequency x Core Behaviour x Who, mapping the organic habit loop (Trigger, Action, Reward), and separating manufactured loops from environment loops. That model-specific framing is exactly what tells you why a subscription and a transactional product need different retention motions. (The program is paid and behind login, so treat this as the canonical pointer.)
- A retention metric is not one number: define it as Frequency (how often), Core Behaviour (the action that signals value), and Who (which segment).
- Retention sits on activation plus engagement plus resurrection, so a leaky product problem often traces back upstream, not to the reactivation email.
- Growth loops beat funnels for repeat usage: build the trigger to action to reward loop into the product instead of relying on outbound nudges alone.
