Strategies, tactics, techniques, frameworks, campaigns …there are a lot of different words to describe what marketers do. In growth marketing, many of these terms overlap, but each one is distinctly different from the rest.
A growth marketing technique, for instance, refers to the specific way traditional marketing executes something like SEO. A growth marketing strategy applies to the larger goal or game plan. A campaign is a specific iteration of that strategy for a certain event or period of time.
What about a growth marketing framework? Let’s take a look at what a framework is in digital marketing and how it can positively influence your growth marketing campaign.
Let’s start by differentiating the term “framework” from all of the other growth marketing terms out there.
In marketing, a marketing plan is the overarching blueprint for all of the promotional activity that is to come. It is the master plan. The 10,000-foot view. The big picture. Once you have that, a framework then details how you will put that marketing plan into motion. It considers the tools, techniques, and resources that you have available to take your plan on paper and turn it into marketing content for your audiences.
Avoid using growth hacking tactics, like email marketing. While you may experience rapid growth initially, sustainable growth won't be
That means a marketing framework comes at the beginning of the process before you’ve put actions and tactics in motion. If you’re looking at your marketing as a top-down process, it should flow as follows:
To put it simply, a marketing framework is the first step in putting your marketing into action. It lays the groundwork for what’s to come.
When it comes to applying the marketing framework to growth marketing, there’s a bit of nuance involved. Growth marketers don’t just create a blueprint and then put it in motion. They weave proven marketing methods and principles into a brand’s unique vision. They align basic growth marketing needs, like improving visibility or building credibility and authority, with business goals.
A good growth marketing framework is comprehensive. It considers all of the growth-oriented resources you have available — things like digital PR, content marketing, technical SEO, and social media. A marketer also considers various growth marketing channels, techniques, and other factors that can help put a growth marketing plan into action.
Okay, so we understand what a framework is in growth marketing. But is it worth investing in one? If you’re already up to your neck in building strategies and executing campaigns with various tactics and techniques, do you really need to throw a growth framework into the mix?
The answer is yes. It’s really worth the time, guys. Here’s why.
When you have a growth marketing framework in place, it gives you something to go back to every time you update, improve, or adjust your more detailed marketing activity.
The benefits of having a framework to guide you over time go beyond inspiration, too. A good growth marketing framework:
If you have a growth marketing framework in place, it makes everything easier for your organization.
If you’re sold on creating a growth marketing framework, here are five steps to help you get started:
If this feels like too much for you to handle, you can always work with a third-party growth marketing team. A growth team can bring the experience, tools, and techniques required to create an effective growth marketing framework that can pay for itself over time.
Growth marketing frameworks are a foundational part of healthy long-term growth marketing. Without a framework in place, it’s easy to drift from your vision over time.
A framework gives you a blueprint that you can return to time and again as you create various strategies and campaigns over time. It keeps you accountable and creates sustainable growth to ensure that your promotional efforts bear fruit not just in the present but in the future, too.
