PixelUp Agency — Lesson 3

What If I Went Viral?

@ZaraPlays just posted a video that's blowing up. PixelUp needs to know: how much more money will she actually make — and which of our creators are on track to hit their revenue targets?

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Today's Scenarios
Normal Month
× 1.0
Business as usual
Steady Growth
× 1.5
New series launched
Viral!
× 7.0
Views explode
🎯
New skills you'll use
  • IF function — automatically flag creators as "On Track" or "Needs Work"
  • MAX and MIN — instantly find the best and worst performers
  • Named ranges — name your Growth Multiplier cell
  • Sorting — rank creators by projected revenue
  • Scenario modelling — change one cell, see everything update
Task 1

Import & Set Up

The L3 starter CSV includes each creator's current total revenue and their monthly target. Import it and set up your Growth Multiplier.

📂
Import the L3 starter.csv
1
Import starter.csv into a new Google Sheet
Go to File→Import. Upload the L3 starter.csv. Choose Replace current sheet and Comma separator.
2
Check your columns
You should have: Creator (A), Platform (B), Monthly Views (C), Total Revenue (D), Target Monthly Revenue (E), Growth Multiplier (F — currently all 1.0).
3
Add a Growth Multiplier input cell
Insert a row above your headers. In A1 type Growth Multiplier and in B1 type 1.0. This is your single control for all three scenarios.
4
Name cell B1 as "Growth_Rate"
Click B1, then click the Name Box (top-left, currently showing "B1"). Type Growth_Rate and press Enter.
Tasks 2 & 3

Projected Views & Revenue

Use the Growth Multiplier to calculate what happens to views and revenue when a creator grows.

📈
Task 2 — Projected Views
1
Add a "Projected Views" column
In your first empty column after the existing data, add the header "Projected Views".
2
Write the formula for the first creator
Projected Views = Monthly Views × Growth_Rate. Assuming Monthly Views is in column C (row 3 is the first creator row):
=C3*Growth_Rate
Or using the absolute reference equivalent:
=C3*$B$1
3
Copy the formula down for all 5 creators
Drag the formula down from row 3 to row 7. Format the column as a number with comma separator.
💷
Task 3 — Projected Revenue
4
Add a "Projected Revenue (£)" column
Next empty column after Projected Views.
5
Write the formula
This lesson's starter data includes the current Total Revenue. Apply the Growth Multiplier to get Projected Revenue. Assuming Total Revenue is in column D:
=D3*Growth_Rate
Note: This simplifies the model by assuming all revenue scales proportionally. In reality, only ad revenue scales with views — sponsorships and merch don't. The extension task explores this more accurately.
6
Copy down and format as currency
Format column as currency (£). Go to Format→Number→Currency.
Task 4

IF Function — Status Column

Write an IF formula that automatically labels each creator as "On Track" or "Needs Work" based on whether their projected revenue beats their target.

🚦
Build the Status column
1
Add a "Status" column header
In the next empty column, add the header "Status".
2
Write the IF formula
Compare Projected Revenue to Target Monthly Revenue. Assuming Projected Revenue is in column H and Target is in column E:
=IF(H3>E3,"On Track","Needs Work")
Read as: "If Projected Revenue is greater than Target Revenue, show 'On Track', otherwise show 'Needs Work'."
3
Copy the formula down for all 5 creators
The row reference (H3, E3) will shift automatically (H4, E4 etc.) — this is correct, because each creator has their own projected revenue and target.
💡 Check: At Growth_Rate = 1.0 (no growth), how many creators are currently "On Track"? Look at your data — does it match what you'd expect from the L2 model?
⚠️ Common mistake: Forgetting the quote marks around text. "On Track" must have quotes — without them, Google Sheets will show an error because it thinks "On" and "Track" are separate cell references.
Tasks 5 & 6

MAX, MIN & Sorting

Find the top and bottom performers, then sort your data so the best creators appear first.

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Task 5 — Find MAX and MIN
1
Add a summary area below your data
In a row below your five creators (e.g., row 9), add two labels: "Highest Projected Revenue" and "Lowest Projected Revenue".
2
Write the MAX formula
Assuming your Projected Revenue column is H, rows 3–7:
=MAX(H3:H7)
3
Write the MIN formula
=MIN(H3:H7)
Format both as currency. These values will update automatically as you change the Growth Multiplier.
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Task 6 — Sort by Projected Revenue
4
Select your data range (not the summary rows)
Select from your header row down to the last creator row. Do not include the MAX/MIN summary rows below.
5
Sort descending by Projected Revenue
Go to Data→Sort range→Advanced range sorting options. Tick "Data has a header row". Choose your Projected Revenue column. Select Z → A (largest first). Click Sort.
Task 7

Test Your Scenarios

Your model is ready. Now ask the question that matters: what actually happens when @ZaraPlays goes viral?

🧪
Run the three scenarios
1
Scenario A — Normal (Growth_Rate = 1.0)
Change B1 to 1.0. Record your answers below — who's on track? Who's the top earner?
2
Scenario B — Steady Growth (Growth_Rate = 1.5)
Change B1 to 1.5. How many creators are now "On Track"? Does the ranking change?
3
Scenario C — Viral (Growth_Rate = 7.0)
Change B1 to 7.0. Now how many creators hit their target? What is the highest projected revenue?
📝
Record your findings
Extension Task

Going Further

Make the viral scenario more realistic by splitting it into its actual components.

Extension
Nested IF — Three-Level Status

Instead of just "On Track" or "Needs Work", create a three-level system using a nested IF:

  • "Smashing It" — if Projected Revenue > 120% of target
  • "On Track" — if Projected Revenue is between 90% and 120% of target
  • "Needs Work" — if Projected Revenue < 90% of target

Nested IF formula structure:

=IF(H3>E3*1.2,"Smashing It",IF(H3>E3*0.9,"On Track","Needs Work"))
Extension
More Realistic Viral Revenue

The current model applies the growth multiplier to ALL revenue. But in reality, going viral only affects ad revenue (more views = more ads). Sponsorship and merch stay the same (deals are already signed).

  1. Split the Projected Revenue formula into two parts: Ad Revenue (scaled by multiplier) + Sponsorship + Merch (not scaled)
  2. You'll need to bring in the individual revenue columns from your L2 model
  3. How much lower is the "viral" revenue compared to your simplified model?
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Lesson 3 Complete

Scenario Model — Built!

You can now answer "what if" questions with real data. Next lesson: making sure the data going in is always valid.

✅
What you learned today
  • How to model "what if" scenarios by changing a single input cell
  • How to use =IF(condition, value_if_true, value_if_false)
  • How to use =MAX(range) and =MIN(range)
  • How to sort a dataset in Google Sheets without scrambling the rows
  • Why realistic input values are critical — "garbage in, garbage out"
Coming up in L4: A new PixelUp staff member has been entering brand deal data — but they keep making mistakes. We'll add data validation rules and conditional formatting to prevent bad data from ever entering the spreadsheet.