4 Ways to Crush Your Growth Marketing Goals

Whether you’ve been implementing growth marketing for a while or are new to the practice, you want to succeed. Nobody likes to miss a goalpost. There is a lot at stake in business. Failure to meet your goals can lead to disappointed stakeholders, future layoffs and financial losses. But to achieve success with growth marketing, you must be willing to learn from failures.

Unlike traditional marketing, there is some experimentation involved. Growth marketers approach their strategies and tactics like scientists. Data and observation fuel a hypothesis, which is being tested to determine what retains water and what does not. Nevertheless, growth marketing offers proven tactics to help businesses thrive. Here are four ways to meet and even crush your growth marketing goals.

1. Use more than one channel

The marketing landscape is more dynamic than ever. TV, radio and print are still there, but companies are also reaching consumers through social media and guerrilla marketing tactics. New approaches like native advertising are reaching audiences in unexpected ways. To exceed growth expectations, marketers need to expand the number of channels or media types they use.

Attempting to reach leads and customers through various forms of media is known as cross-channel marketing. While most companies do this to some degree, growth marketing strategies hyperfocus on finding the right combination. In fact, marketers want to discover which channels work best at each stage of the buyer’s journey or marketing funnel.

Perhaps blog posts, podcasts and online events are very effective for generating awareness and qualifying leads. However, personalized emails, direct mail and targeted online advertising convert more leads into sales. By leveraging cross-channel marketing opportunities, your company can get its message across in a way that prospects and customers can appreciate. Using multiple media types also ensures that you are using the most appropriate tool for your audience at the right time.

2. Learn from A/B test results

Remember that bit about hypothesis testing? A/B or split testing is where you can do that. You start with an educated guess of your audience and run a test to determine if it’s true. For example, you might conclude that your customers respond better to promotions that emphasize temporary savings. You have come to this conclusion based on customer survey data.

So you test this hypothesis by sending two versions of an email. Both highlight your latest product sale, but only one contains language that encourages readers to act quickly. The test results show that more conversions came from the email that emphasized the urgency. In this case, the results confirm the original hypothesis. Now you know you need to keep using this language to drive more sales to that audience.

Successful growth marketers also use A/B testing to discover who their consumers are. They may not yet have enough reliable data or want to see if different customer segments respond differently. For example, different landing page versions may reveal that certain age groups are more concerned with specific design features. Growth marketers can then use those test results to fine-tune the page to match their target audience.

3. Focus on the buyer’s whole journey

Traditional advertising usually focuses on the early stages of the buyer’s journey. The purpose of a TV spot is to make consumers aware of the existence of a product, service or brand. Often the hope is that people will remember the name of the company or product when they are ready to buy. But conventional marketing usually doesn’t focus on other stages of the buyer’s journey or funnel.

A complete marketing funnel consists of six different phases. Consciousness represents the top of the funnel. However, the remaining phases are acquisition, activation, retention, revenue and referral. Many people may know that your product exists. A smaller percentage will visit your website or store for more information. From there, some will fill out a form, subscribe to your email list, or make a purchase.

Once leads become customers, you want them to stay. Ideally, you want them to make repeat purchases or add more services. Hopefully those customers are so satisfied and enthusiastic about your brand that they refer others. Growth marketers who meet or exceed their goals realize that awareness is only the beginning. There are revenue opportunities across the funnel and customer relationships need to be nurtured to drive sales.

4. Rely on real-time data

Effective growth marketers realize that data from a few months ago may not be reliable. Consumer behavior and lifestyle can sometimes change drastically. An impending economic recession and supply chain disruptions can lead to behavioral changes that affect your business. If consumer confidence is low, your customers may be less willing to add new services.

Alternatively, real-time data from website analytics and surveys can show a growing interest in replacing outdated products or equipment. Perhaps current feedback indicates that a larger portion of your customer base is responding to promotions. They are willing to act and recommit if they can make a deal. At the same time, customers want the assurance that they can save on the product they want.

Growth marketers see all this data as an opportunity to personalize the customer experience. Current inventory and customer data can help create marketing messages that target customers with legacy equipment. Those notices would likely highlight current promos on newer models from the same brand or manufacturer. Personalized emails can also display online and local inventory numbers to motivate customers.

Achieving Growth Marketing Goals

There is guts and a willingness to learn and adapt to become successful in growth marketing. Strategies and tactics that deliver results on one customer segment may not move the needle on another. Carrying out various initiatives and juggling simultaneous experiments are part of this. That said, a dedication to cross-channel marketing, A/B testing, relationship building, and real-time data can help you achieve the results you want to see.