Becoming a leader in your industry typically doesn’t happen overnight. For most individuals and companies, it’s a long process with numerous components. There are the trials and tribulations of tasks such as development, funding, and scaling amongst other necessities. But after you’re up and running, how do you become the “go to” choice in your field?
The first option that comes to mind might be a huge blast of advertising. If your budget allows, you can flood the internet with announcements, posts, videos, and other techniques. If you’re rolling out a new product or need people to initially hear your name, it’s an effective method. The downside is that after the initial flurry of interest from your efforts, the buzz quickly recedes.
For those who want to see long-term results that strongly establish their brand as an authority, growth marketing is a better play. But how does it work? What does the process entail?
Whether you attempt to do it on your own or hire a growth marketing agency, you need clear metrics of success and an understanding of the process. Here are the ways that growth marketing works and how you can create a plan for achieving your growth marketing goals.
Growth marketing is a data-driven, long-term method for building industry ownership. Unlike growth hacking, which tends to focus on awareness, growth marketing strengthens all parts of the sales funnel. It is also a flexible system that allows for strategy pivots in response to data analysis.
Growth marketing is essential for those who want to attain a connection with their intended audiences. Being thought of as a brand authority is far more than who has the best product or service on the market. From facial tissues to robot vacuums, there are typically one or two brands that are considered to be the gold standard of the industry. Even though competitors have comparable — or in some cases superior — alternatives, those household brands have become top of mind in their respective fields.
Want to be the go-to name for your industry? We have some suggestions on how to get started here.
Since growth marketing hinges on data-driven decision making, it’s important to know where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Some weaknesses aren’t immediately apparent, especially to someone who has no marketing experience.
For example, your website might look pleasing to the eye, but that doesn’t mean it’s performing well. To really figure out what’s going on, you’ll need to dig a little deeper. There are various analysis tools available such as Google Analytics. Alternatively, you could hire a professional to perform a thorough audit.
Whether you decide to do the work yourself or bring in professionals, gathering data is essential to the growth marketing process from beginning to end.
Now that you know where you’re at, it’s time to figure out where you want to go. Goals can either be data focused or results focused. This is the difference between a goal of increased web traffic and a goal of increased sales. Both are trackable, and both tend to have a correlation toward overall success. However, one tends to be an indicator of ongoing or upcoming success while the other is a bottom line, end goal.
So what sort of goals might you set for a growth marketing campaign? Common ones include search engine rankings for select keywords, lead generations, sales, and website traffic. Each type of goal will have different strategies behind making them a reality.
If you are wanting to rank higher for certain keywords, you’ll need to put certain SEO efforts into practice. This could include backlink building or a redesign of your website. One thing to note is that your goals should be in line with reasonable expectations. For example, if you're creating a B2B brand strategy, it's important to set high yet obtainable goals.
In determining what goals are reasonable, it often boils down to budget. Ranking for a highly competitive keyword is very unlikely if you only have $3,000 a month available for that purpose. Going after less competitive keywords that are more specific to your brand is more likely to move the needle within your means.
The bottom line is to figure out what you can do. Then choose from those options to make a plan for what you should do.
Focusing on one aspect of growth marketing is not nearly as effective as integrating your strategies. It’s truly a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
That is why the best marketing strategies incorporate multiple aspects to build your credibility, authority, and visibility. It makes sense from a cooperative standpoint. A redesigned website might be optimized for SEO purposes but still be inhibited by having a neglected blog. Search engines typically respond better to entities that are more rounded. Sudden bursts of activity in only one technique might be considered to be disingenuous by a search algorithm.
If you’re worried about too many moving pieces, you have a couple of options to help keep your game plan straight. First, you can engage an agency to either provide growth marketing services or assist with your plan. The other option is using a detailed growth marketing plan template to keep you on track.
Growth marketing is a way to avoid being a flash in the pan. While results are cumulative and sometimes slow, it’s a game changer for building a sustainable business with a strong sales funnel. So get a clear picture of where you’d like to be and get a growth marketing plan together that takes you there.
