> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.snowdoughnut.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Get started

> The setup path: which documents to fill in, in what order, where to save them, and what to link them from. Work through it once and every campaign, name, and report after that has something to check against.

This knowledge base is a set of documents your team fills in once and then reuses. Nothing here describes a specific company. Every workbook ships blank, with grayed `E.g.` examples you delete as you replace them.

Work through the seven stages below in order. Each one feeds the next, so skipping ahead means redoing work. Track your progress on the [setup checklist](/setup-checklist).

<Note>
  You do not need to finish all seven stages before running anything. Stages 1 to 3 are the minimum before your first campaign. The rest can follow.
</Note>

## How the knowledge base is organized

| Tab                           | What's in it                                                       |
| :---------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Get started**               | This page, the setup checklist, and onboarding paths               |
| **Find what you need**        | Task walkthroughs: make a campaign, write copy, name something     |
| **Concepts**                  | The reasoning behind each system, read before you fill anything in |
| **Shared standards & briefs** | The fill-in workbooks themselves                                   |
| **Platforms & channels**      | Per-platform campaign processes, briefs, specs, and checklists     |
| **Processes**                 | Recurring workflows end to end, plus every checklist               |
| **Templates**                 | Per-channel starting points you copy and fill                      |
| **Reports & library**         | The record of finished work                                        |

Two rules make the whole thing hold together:

1. **Fill a workbook once, link to it everywhere else.** A brief that pastes in the positioning statement creates a second copy that drifts. Link instead.
2. **Every finished thing gets saved to its library.** A campaign brief nobody filed is a campaign nobody can learn from.

## Stage 0: Decide where things get saved

The [asset directory](/asset-directory) already records where creative, video, copy, and landing pages live. Read it first, then agree the one thing it doesn't cover: where filled-in workbooks, finished briefs, and reports go.

| What                | Where it lives                            | Who owns it            |
| :------------------ | :---------------------------------------- | :--------------------- |
| Filled-in workbooks | *E.g. Google Drive, /marketing/standards* | *E.g. Marketing lead*  |
| Finished briefs     | *E.g. Google Drive, /marketing/briefs*    | *E.g. Marketing lead*  |
| Reports             | *E.g. Google Drive, /marketing/reports*   | *E.g. Analytics owner* |

## The setup path

<Steps>
  <Step title="Stage 1: Shared vocabulary">
    Read the [glossary](/glossary) and the [naming conventions overview](/naming-conventions-overview). Nothing to fill in. This exists so that the next six stages mean the same thing to everyone.

    **Then:** nothing to save. Move on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 2: Brand">
    Fill in the six brand workbooks in order: [positioning](/positioning), [messaging](/messaging), [brand voice and tone](/brand-voice-and-tone), [visual identity](/visual-identity), [logo usage](/logo-usage), [brand assets](/brand-assets).

    Read [brand strategy concepts](/brand-strategy-concepts) and [visual identity concepts](/visual-identity-concepts) first if you want the reasoning.

    **Then:** every creative and copy brief links to these. Nothing downstream restates them. Start at [set up your brand](/set-up-your-brand) for the walkthrough.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 3: Naming conventions">
    Decide your patterns in [campaign](/campaign-naming-conventions), [ad set, ad group and variant](/ad-set-group-naming-conventions), [ad](/ad-name-conventions), [customer profile](/customer-profile-naming-conventions), [file](/file-naming-conventions), and [event](/event-naming-conventions) naming conventions.

    **Then:** every campaign built in a platform uses these names from the first build, not renamed later. See [name something](/name-something).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 4: Tracking">
    Fill in [UTM standards](/utm-standards) after reading [UTM parameters](/utm-parameters). Then build your [event tracking plan](/event-tracking-plan) using the [event naming conventions](/event-naming-conventions) from stage 3.

    **Then:** save the tracking plan to the [event library](/event-tracking-plan-overview). Every link in every campaign is tagged from this standard. See [set up tracking](/set-up-tracking).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 5: Customer profiles">
    Fill in a [customer profile brief](/customer-profile-brief) for B2B, or [B2C customer profiles](/b2-c-customer-profiles), naming each one with the convention from stage 3.

    **Then:** save each finished profile to the [customer profile library](/customer-profile-library-overview). Briefs link to a profile by name instead of redescribing it. See [define a customer profile](/define-a-customer-profile).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 6: Reporting">
    Fill in the [marketing reporting data dictionary](/marketing-reporting-data-dictionary), then [KPI definitions](/kpi-definitions), [reporting cadence](/reporting-cadence), and [dashboard standards](/dashboard-standards). Pick a starter pack if one fits: [ecommerce](/ecommerce-metrics-starter-pack) or [sales-led](/sales-led-metrics-starter-pack).

    Read [reporting framework concepts](/reporting-framework-concepts) first for the reasoning.

    **Then:** set up the [flat file](/flat-file-template) that every report reads from. See [report on results](/report-on-results).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stage 7: Experiments">
    Define your ID pattern in the [experiment ID workbook](/experiment-id) after reading [experiment IDs](/experiment-ids).

    **Then:** every test gets an ID from this pattern before it launches. See [run an experiment](/run-an-experiment).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Once setup is done

Everything after this is ordinary work, and every task has a walkthrough under **Find what you need**. Start with the walkthrough rather than with a workbook, because it tells you which workbooks the task needs and in what order.

| Task                                   | Walkthrough                                   |
| :------------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------- |
| Launch a paid campaign                 | [Make a campaign](/make-a-campaign)           |
| Brief a designer or producer           | [Brief creative](/brief-creative)             |
| Write an ad, email, or caption         | [Write copy](/write-copy)                     |
| Build a page on your own site          | [Build a landing page](/build-a-landing-page) |
| Publish something that has to be found | [Write an article](/write-an-article)         |
| Test whether something works           | [Run an experiment](/run-an-experiment)       |
| Produce a report                       | [Report on results](/report-on-results)       |

## Related resources

* [**Setup checklist**](/setup-checklist) Tick off the seven stages as you complete them.
* [**New member onboarding**](/new-member-onboarding) What someone joining an already-set-up team reads.
* [**Glossary**](/glossary) Every term used across these documents.
* [**Make a campaign**](/make-a-campaign) The most common task, once setup is done.