Growth marketing is the ongoing use of various methods to experiment with strategic channels and tactics, optimizing incrementally to learn how to continuously maximize a marketing strategy. Creative experiments and regular analysis of results is a key tenant of growth marketing.
The question, "how can I grow my user base as quickly as possible?" often drives the activities of growth marketing, especially those implemented in early stages of the sales funnel. However, it has evolved beyond the "grow-at-all-costs" growth hacking roots to incorporate principles that apply throughout the customer journey.
Growth requires focus on the customer relationship and creating loyalty. This strategy builds advocacy and organically grows customer lifetime values. In order to achieve growth, companies aim to build a highly engaged audience to reduce churn and increase the lifetime value of each individual customer. Further down the sales funnel, growth marketing enables greater customer retention and overall satisfaction as well.
A growth strategy is based on performance metrics, typically including customer acquisition rates, conversion rates, customer retention rates, and customer lifetime value. Tactics that modern growth teams use to attract, convert, create, and retain engaged customers often include:
- A/B testing
- Cross-channel marketing
- Customer-lifecycle touchpoints
- Loyalty campaigns
- Referral programs
Growth strategy takes a traditional marketing model and incorporates these and other layers such as sales enablement, data-driven email marketing campaigns, SEO optimization, creative content writing, and an analysis of a user’s experience.
Growth marketing includes strategies that enhances the customer experience beyond the top of the funnel. It adds value throughout the sales funnel by attracting users, engaging them, retaining them, and then converting them into brand ambassadors.
