What is Growth Marketing?
Growth marketing is a strategic approach that focuses on driving sustainable and scalable business growth through a combination of marketing tactics and data analysis. It addresses challenges familiar to B2B revenue teams:
- Longer sales cycles
- Complex decision-making processes
- Targeting specific industries or niches
Growth marketing is distinguished by its holistic and long-term approach. The goal is to identify and leverage opportunities for continuous growth by optimizing every stage of the customer journey.
Identifying and Capitalizing on Growth Opportunities
Building a marketing growth strategy requires diligent gathering of data, analysis, and a willingness to experiment. Here are some important steps:
- Understand customer needs and preferences: Conduct market research and analyze customer data to understand what your audience wants and values.
- Research competitors: Analyze competitors’ marketing tactics, product offerings, and customer engagement strategies to identify gaps in the market.
- Get customer feedback: Seek input from customers through surveys, interviews, and social media interactions for valuable insights into where you can improve your products and overall customer experience.
- Stay updated with industry trends: Monitor technological advancements and changes in customer behavior to identify emerging opportunities and adapt your strategies.
- Innovate and experiment: Test new marketing channels, messaging, and product features to uncover tapped growth opportunities and refine your strategies.
- Use data: Track key metrics like customer acquisition costs, conversion rates, and customer lifetime value to optimize marketing efforts and drive growth.
Growth Marketing vs. Demand Generation
Growth marketing and demand generation are two distinct B2B approaches:
Demand generation primarily focuses on creating awareness of a company’s products or services. Its goal is to attract potential customers, educate them about the brand’s offerings, and ultimately convert them into paying customers. Common tools and techniques for demand generation include:
- Content marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Paid advertising
- Social media marketing
- Lead generation campaigns
Growth marketing focuses on optimizing every stage of the customer journey, from acquisition to retention and expansion. The goal of growth marketing is to maximize customer lifetime value and drive revenue growth. Tools and techniques used in growth marketing include:
- Data analytics
- A/B testing
- Referral programs
- Customer retention strategies
- Personalized marketing campaigns
Choosing the Right Growth Marketing Agency
Growth marketing agencies help clients achieve goals through marketing strategies, sales enablement, technology implementation, assistance with execution, and other initiatives. Before onboarding an agency, there are several important steps to ensure a successful partnership:
- Define your objectives: Clearly articulate your company’s growth objectives to identify the expertise and capabilities you need from a growth marketing agency. This could include increasing brand awareness or driving customer acquisition.
- Research and shortlist: Identify potential agencies that have a strong portfolio of clients and a track record of success and narrow the list down to those that align with your industry, audience, and budget.
- Evaluate expertise: Assess the capabilities of each shortlisted agency. Consider their proficiency in areas like data analytics, digital marketing, and content creation. Look for agencies that can offer a comprehensive range of services.
- Check references and case studies: Request materials from the agencies you’re considering and contact previous clients to gain insights into their experience. Ask about the agencies’ abilities to deliver results, meet deadlines, and provide excellent service.
- Conduct interviews: Schedule a meeting with each agency to present their understanding of your industry, approach to growth marketing, and proposed strategies for helping you meet your objectives.
- Negotiate a contract: Once you’ve identified the agency that best aligns with your needs, negotiate a mutually beneficial contract that outlines the scope of work, deliverables, timelines, and pricing structure. Ensure that it includes KPIs and a method for evaluating performance.
Real-World Application of Growth Marketing
Marathon Health, a nationwide healthcare network, faced challenges with an overworked and understaffed go-to-market team that risked missing out on substantial pipeline opportunities. By adopting a 6sense-powered omnichannel growth marketing approach, the team was able to tailor data-driven marketing strategies by geographic segments and AI-based scoring.
This enabled targeted ads, direct mail, and AI-driven email journeys customized for different buyer personas and markets. The outcome was exceptional: $66M in net-new pipeline and 211% in-market buying growth. Read Marathon Health’s full marketing story here.
LEGO Group executed a successful marketing growth strategy by segmenting its social media audiences into distinct personas — then implemented different ad campaigns targeted to each persona. Learn more about their approach and how three other B2B and B2C businesses achieved their goals with growth marketing.
Conclusion
Implementing an impactful growth marketing strategy requires a combination of strategic thinking, data-driven experimentation, and continuous optimization. Follow the best practices we’ve outlined in this guide to achieve your goals and drive sustainable business growth.
