The description names the domain (referral/affiliate programs) and mentions actions like 'create, optimize, or analyze,' but doesn't list specific concrete deliverables or outputs (e.g., 'design reward tiers, calculate payout structures, draft referral emails').

Clearly answers both 'what' (create, optimize, or analyze referral/affiliate/word-of-mouth strategies) and 'when' (explicit 'Use when' clause with trigger terms and a general use case statement). Also includes a helpful cross-reference to a related skill.

Excellent coverage of natural trigger terms including 'referral,' 'affiliate,' 'ambassador,' 'word of mouth,' 'viral loop,' 'refer a friend,' 'partner program,' 'referral incentive,' 'how to get referrals,' 'customers referring customers,' and 'affiliate payout' — these are terms users would naturally use.

The description carves out a clear niche around referral and affiliate programs with distinct trigger terms, and even explicitly differentiates from a related skill ('For launch-specific virality, see launch-strategy'), reducing conflict risk.

The skill is reasonably well-organized but includes some unnecessary explanatory content that Claude already knows (e.g., explaining what referral vs affiliate programs are, typical characteristics). The 'Typical Findings' statistics and some of the conceptual framing could be trimmed. The email template examples add bulk but are borderline useful.

The skill provides structured checklists, tables, and step-by-step processes, but lacks truly executable, concrete guidance. There's no code, no specific API calls, no configuration snippets. The advice is strategic/marketing-oriented rather than technically executable, which is appropriate for the domain, but much of it remains at the level of general best practices rather than specific, copy-paste-ready instructions.

The referral loop is clearly sequenced (Trigger → Share → Convert → Reward → Loop), the launch checklist provides explicit before/during/after phases, and the optimization section includes clear diagnostic flows (if X problem → Y fix). For a marketing strategy skill, the workflows are well-structured with clear sequencing.

The skill effectively uses one-level-deep references to separate files for detailed content (references/program-examples.md, references/affiliate-programs.md, tool integration guides). The main file serves as a clear overview with well-signaled pointers to deeper content. The tool integrations table with links is well-organized for discovery.