Growth marketing is an approach to attracting customers and building and maintaining relationships that rely on continuous experimentation and a focus on fostering loyalty among the customer base.
Growth marketing enables organizations to find the most effective strategies in terms of cost, reach, and overall impact. Instead of rolling out the same tried-and-true tactics, growth marketing strategies are all about constant evolution. By doing constant research and being ready to pivot at any time, growth marketers help ensure that money is not being wasted on ineffective tactics.
Components of Growth Marketing Strategies
While growth marketing strategies are constantly evolving, there are three elements that have become established in the industry: A/B testing, cross-channel marketing and understanding the customer lifecycle.
A/B Testing
A/B testing uses two versions of the same marketing collateral, such as an email or advertisement. The versions may have different text, colors, imagery, etc. The results of the test are monitored and used to inform the next iteration of the email, ad or other collateral. For example, if version A of an email has a higher open rate but version B has a higher click-through rate, the next email that goes out may combine version A’s subject line with version B’s copy.
A/B testing can be used to help inform almost all of your company’s marketing campaigns and show how different audiences react to things as minute as font color.
Cross-Channel Marketing
Cross-channel marketing focuses on the consumer. Which modes of communication do they prefer? What websites do they frequently use? Finding the best ways to get in contact with the consumer, paired with A/B testing, will help your team formulate more effective campaigns.
Understanding the Customer Lifecycle
The three stages of the customer lifecycle are activation, nurture, and reactivation.
The activation stage is when the customer journey begins and the relationship between consumer and company starts. Many companies turn to free trials, money-back guarantees, and other tactics aimed at getting the customer to use the product and develop confidence in it.
Once you have the customer in the door, you want to build a relationship and keep them interested in what you have to offer. Running promotions and sales, sending out weekly newsletters and other components of the nurture stage are all effective ways to keep customers involved.
If a customer feels they have run their course with a product, they may become disinterested quickly. This is where the reactivation stage begins. By offering bonuses for loyalty, such as deals for being a subscriber for a certain amount of time, there is more incentive for the customer to stay involved.
How to Implement Growth Marketing
When it comes to implementing a growth marketing plan inside your company, focus on a more in-depth version of the customer lifecycle known as pirate metrics: Acquisition, Activation, Revenue, Retention, and Referral (AARRR).
All of the elements of pirate metrics are equally important. Pirate metrics follow the flow of customers throughout their time interacting with you and your company. By starting the focus on acquiring customers, it flows naturally into activating the customer, then turning those customers into a revenue stream. After a customer begins to pay, the focus turns to keeping the customer with your company and then referring their friends and family to the product, keeping the customer circle constantly flowing.
Growth marketing enables you to build brand awareness, a customer base, and, ultimately, a consistent revenue stream in an efficient and effective manner. The most important part is always evolving, customer-first messaging and programs that incentivize loyalty.
