If you haven’t already started implementing growth marketing then you need to make 2020 your year. You may have heard it called growth hacking or data-driven marketing. Regardless of what you call it, growth marketing is here and it can change your business.
Getting your hands, and heads, into growth marketing this year should be your top priority. Technology has changed the way customers are reached so it makes sense that marketing efforts should follow suit. As more and more businesses utilize growth marketing, you’ll be left spinning your wheels to reach just a small portion of the funnel while others are embracing the entire thing.
Traditional marketing efforts only look at the top of the funnel. These traditional marketing methods, such as direct mail, print, and television, may sometimes produce quick results but they’re not much help for the long-term. They’re often based on gut feelings and thrive off of set budgets, regardless of the results.
Growth marketing is different because it aims to look at the funnel as a whole and it’s driven by data. Numbers don’t lie. Think of traditional marketing as just seeing the tip of the iceberg above water, whereas growth marketing dives deeper and sees the depths of the entire iceberg. Growth marketing considers the entire customer lifecycle and how to optimize it for greater results.
The basis of growth marketing is essentially trial and error. It’s marketing based on a methodologically iterative, data-driven approach rather than subjectivity and creativity by itself. Dig deep into your memory bank and recall the scientific method you learned in school as a child because this is the foundation for growth marketing. A theory is developed around a particular area, experiments are designed and then those experiments are then tested.
It might revolve around actual data but growth marketing does require some degree of creativity. Thinking outside of the box and coming up with new ideas to reach your target audience is a great way to dive headfirst into the growth marketing scene. SEO and creative ad copy are often combined with A/B testing, Multi-Armed Bandit testing (using algorithms to optimize conversions online), and technical analysis. This allows you to see what proves fruitful and what should be left behind.
Innovation is often the driving force behind growth marketing campaigns. To reach levels you’ve never reached, you’ll have to try things you’ve never done. Going beyond the typical, boring advertising and email campaigns can get you some serious ROI or scale your business to surprising new heights. Brainstorm what issues you’d like to address and what can be done to tackle them. Sometimes asking your boots on the ground employees is a great place to start if you don’t have a dedicated growth marketing team. Give the ideas a try and see what works. Sometimes growth marketing is as simple as throwing ideas out and seeing what sticks.
With growth marketing comes failure, and that’s exactly what you want – at least part of the time. Failures are expected and it’s these shortcomings that allow for professionals with a growth mindset (as opposed to a fixed mindset) to see what does and does not work. Each failed attempt acts as a roadmap and helps to pinpoint the perfect formula for success. You should actually plan for failure and be ready with a backup plan, and the speed of learnings from failures has been posited to be a tipping point in between success and failure.
Getting ahead and growing proactively, rather than reactively, will take a well-thought strategy. A recent Harvard Business Review study has shown that purpose plays a big role in staying relevant in a fast-changing world. As purpose shapes growth strategy, you will see it makes a big difference in how you are going to plan for this year, the next, and where you want to be in the long-run. It will help you to do two things: redefining the playing field and reshaping your value proposition. How we have a positive impact on the world does really matter and is found to be at the center of high-growth companies!
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References: WikiPedia (Growth Hacking), Newbreed
Ali Jaffar has been building dazzling websites and creating amazing online experiences for over a decade. His mastery of the latest innovations in web development results in world-class website experiences set apart by show-stopping style and seamless functionality. A sought-after consultant and 50-time award-winning storyteller, UX expert, and web developer — Ali lends his talents to build and bolster digital experiences for a wide array of clients — with a keen focus on web design for nonprofit organizations, B2B, and government agencies. When Ali’s not helping his clients grow, you can find him cooking, exploring new places with his dog, or experimenting with AI & new gadgets.
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