What to do when your growth marketing strategy doesn’t work
In such a crowded market, it can be hard for any business to stand out. In order to break through the chaos, it’s become crucial to have a marketing strategy that is creative, interactive and flexible. This new and powerful way of building a loyal user base has a name: Growth Marketing
Let’s begin with a definition:
It’s a methodical pursuit of sustainable, ROI-centric growth via a variety of means including programmatic advertising, partnerships, influencer marketing, social media marketing, A/B Testing, email marketing, search engine marketing (SEO), and conversion optimization.
Growth marketing focuses on building customer relationships and fostering loyalty; it’s a long-term strategy where authenticity and engagement create advocacy and organically grow customer lifetime values.
Creating a Growth Marketing Strategy can be tricky because it’s a combination of several paid and organic channels that includes customization, automation, and personalization. Here are some of the Growth Marketing Channels:
• SEO
• Blog content
• Repurposing content
• Automated email marketing
• Targeted email marketing campaigns.
• Affiliate marketing
• Social and display ads.
• Influencer Marketing
Growth marketing gives brands multiple opportunities to refine how they interact with leads and customers. This helps them further with their goals and optimizes the experience for everyone. It’s the perfect blend of science (Data) and creativity, giving their marketing team permission to experiment and achieve a better end result.
But what if the strategy you prepared and the tactics you implemented don’t work?
Then, you need to take a step back and conduct a full assessment to audit the brand inside out.
1- Audit & Assess your Technical Sheet
Growth marketing is a science that depends on data and creativity, therefore whenever you land a new growth client, you will need to have on hand a technical sheet that includes all the details you need to make sure you have access to or create before pushing for any tactic or starting to implement any growth efforts.
This technical sheet can cover the all-important details such as having a Pixel on your website, setting up the conversion API, having a Global site tag, microdata and Events set … So whenever you start facing difficulty creating growth, you will need to revise and recheck if all the technicalities are well set, all the codes are placed the right way, and are registering the right events, test them, analyze them and optimize if needed.
2- Check out the components/tactics of your Strategy
Defining the right tactics to suit the client’s objectives and KPIs can be tricky.
Picking the right tactics and the timeline of implementation will give you the opportunity to track results.
When you’re facing a tough spot, one thing you need to do is to audit the tactics implemented measure the results, and see which one is yielding better returns.
Organic or Paid, each way is meant to reach a certain objective, so once it’s not met, you will need to have the flexibility to adjust, and/or switch some tactics and timelines to ensure the wanted growth.
3- Ads: Implementation, Objectives & Messaging.
Yes, ROAS (Return on Ads Spent) is important when it comes to ads: Social or Google, and to make it happen, all components should align: The message, the objectives, the implantation tactics, and the optimization.
I cannot express the importance of A/B Testing, this technique can help you learn about your audience, the messages that they are most interested in, the formats that they engage with, and the results that you can expect in a period of time.
4- Competitive Benchmark: Comparison & Analysis
Before beginning your strategy, During the implementation, and each 3 months, a full competitive benchmark should be done, to learn what your competition is doing and to be inspired by the new trends in the market.
Here’s a list of points you need to consider when performing a competitive benchmark:
The channels used to perform the growth tactics: Social Pages, websites, Aggregators…
Are the Technical details available on each platform: are all the trackers set? Are they technically placed correctly on the website, what’s missing …?
The product they are focusing on and what is the solution they provide: is the product used seasonal, does it serve the same purpose as ours, what’s their strength, the weaknesses, how can we manage to improve as their competition?
How are they communicating with their target audience: what are the messages, what are the tone of voice, what are the formats used to convey the message, and are they only communicating one message or several ones? Are the messages targeted to fit one segment or several segments of the audience …
There are a lot more points to consider in your competitive benchmark and as you go you can learn more and improve the way you benchmark yourself against the competition.
5- The Rule of 7 & Growth Cycle
If you’re in the world of Marketing for a while now you’ve probably heard of the Rule of 7 and if not, then it’s that time where we learn something new every day!
The rule of 7 states that any prospect needs to hear the advertiser’s message at least 7 times before taking any action: converting by buying the product or adopting the service
Digital Marketing tactics allow the sellers the opportunity to communicate with their audiences on several levels, via organic platforms: Social Media Channels, Blog Posts, Newsletters … or Paid Ads across search engines, social media outlets, and much more.
Therefore, if any seller has the right communication message they will have the chance to convert some fans into customers.
So, knowing your audience, Knowing how to leverage your social platforms, and knowing which message can help your potential customers convert is key along with storytelling to create a bond with your “Future Adopters”
6- The Website / App UX & UI
Have you ever been in a crowded and unfamiliar grocery store? You spent too long searching for what you need and you end up being stuck and not buying anything! That wasn’t a good User Experience, the same thing happens online.
They say you have 10s to grab the user's attention, well that’s true, the same rule applies to the users browsing your website, grabbing their attention, providing them with the solutions that they are looking for all at the same time creating the right user experience for them will push them to take action fast and convert.
So What’s UX?
User Experience (UX) —UX affects how people interact with the site (or product), infusing emotion and creating a positive experience. The site should anticipate what users want, making them feel welcome and excited.
How about UI?
User Interface (UI) — UI design focuses on people’s controls and touchpoints to interact with a website. Examples include CTA buttons, text links, and navigation tabs.
Studies show that UX design returns almost $100 for every $1 invested. That’s because a well-designed website attracts and retains shoppers, so collaborating with a UX & UI Designer to create your website is a must in order to accomplish the results wanted and an investment you will need to do Here’s how you can conduct the right UX UI audit to your website
7- The Product Line & Market Research
Market research and picking the right product should never be underestimated.
Many successful new businesses enjoy longevity because their owners conduct regular market research to understand their target market, identify consumer problems and pinpoint realistic competitors, and adapt their products to suit their audiences.
Market research helps you comprehend the demands of your customers, detect more business opportunities, plan the perfect marketing campaign while minimizing your losses, and keep track of the competition. It allows businesses to prioritize their objectives while following market trends and reaching their target audience. Identifying problems before they happen is crucial if you want to grow. Effective market research will not only help you predict some of the falls that can occur but also it will save you a lot of money too on the longer run.
But what if proper market research wasn’t done before launching the business?
Then this is the right time to take a pause, learn about your market, research well about the solutions that you’re offering, and adapt them to suit the needs of your audience.
Growth Marketing isn’t very simple, it requires step-by-step changes, adaptation, and optimization to reach your goals. It requires time and patience to pinpoint the problems and agrees on the best solution.
So next time your Growth Marketing Strategy doesn’t work, never give up on what you believe it’s right to do, stay positive, and always remain flexible to be able to audit what you’ve done and adapt to reach your objectives.
Some say growth marketing requires up to 6 months to yield results, but according to my experience growth marketing depends on the brand, the solution they offer, the readiness of the market, and a sprinkle of luck and amazing timing.
Cheers! Until the next one Keep Pushing and Contact me if anything I can help you with.
