Growth marketing tactics have become incredibly popular in eCommerce operations, but historically, B2B enterprises have been hesitant to adopt these strategies. One reason for this is that growth marketing requires a high degree of agility and adaptability, which B2B organizations may not have had in the past. However, in today’s digital landscape, growth marketing has become increasingly important for businesses to succeed, and B2B organizations are beginning to recognize this.
To address this trend, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to growth marketing in 2023. The guide will explore the fundamental principles of growth marketing, as well as its strategies and tactics. We’ll also provide data, statistics, and resources to help you build a convincing case for adopting growth marketing tactics in your business.
Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just starting out, this guide is an essential resource for understanding the latest trends and tools in growth marketing. So, let’s dive in and explore the concept of growth marketing, its strategies and tactics, and why it’s essential for B2B businesses to embrace in 2023.
What is Growth Marketing?
Growth marketing is a marketing approach that has been gaining in popularity in recent years. According to Insider Intelligence, more and more B2B businesses are using growth marketing tactics to both attract new customers and deepen relationships. This approach involves a data-driven strategy to identify new channels and markets to grow a business.
The goal of growth marketing is to build a sustainable and scalable business that generates revenue and growth – not simply to have successful one-off campaigns. By using a data-driven approach, businesses can make informed decisions on the most effective channels and tactics to grow their customer base.
Our friends over at Iterable put it this way:
“It’s an approach to attracting, engaging, and retaining customers that’s focused on relentless experimentation and an intense focus on the unique, changing motives and preferences of your customers. By building and delivering highly tailored, individualized messaging aligned to your customers needs, you’ll be able to optimize your organization’s growth rapidly through a multitude of channels, especially the ones that matter most to your customers.”
What is a Growth Marketing Strategy?
A growth marketing strategy is a comprehensive approach that covers the entire marketing funnel, from lead generation to customer retention. It aims to identify the most effective channels and tactics to grow the business, using data and insights to inform decision-making.
Incorporating a growth marketing strategy into your business can have significant benefits.
Businesses that use a structured approach to growth marketing are more likely to see a clear return on investment (ROI). This is because a data-driven approach allows businesses to make informed decisions about where to focus their resources, which ultimately leads to better results.
By using a growth marketing strategy, businesses can also stay ahead of the competition and adapt to changes in the market. This is particularly important in today’s fast-paced business environment, where new technologies and channels are constantly emerging.
What are Common Growth Marketing Tactics?
When it comes to growth marketing tactics, there are many options available, including A/B testing, content marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and influencer marketing. These tactics all aim to help businesses identify the most effective channels and strategies to grow their customer base.
Growth marketing is less about what tactics to use and more about how tactics are used.
Performance marketing vs. growth marketing
Understanding the difference between performance marketing and growth marketing is crucial in developing successful business strategies. Although the goal of both approaches is to promote business growth, there are distinct differences in how they achieve this outcome.
Performance marketing is geared toward precise, measurable actions that produce immediate results, such as clicks or sales. Such actions are essential for businesses that prioritize quick returns on their investments.
Conversely, growth marketing takes a more long-term view, as it seeks to cultivate a sustainable, scalable sales funnel. Growth marketing strategies aim to find fresh channels and markets to attract new customers, with an eye on long-term growth and brand-building. In summary, while performance marketing centers on swift, measurable actions to yield immediate outcomes, growth marketing takes a broader, more sustainable approach aimed at building a robust sales foundation for the future.
Growth marketing vs. traditional marketing
While traditional marketing may focus on generating brand awareness and building a broad customer base, growth marketing takes a more data-driven approach to identifying the most effective channels and strategies for growth.
Forbes says:
“With growth marketing, brands have a blueprint to test frequently, learn quickly and adapt effectively. Growth marketing takes the traditional aspects of marketing, like print, TV, radio and billboards, and shifts the conversation from “how can we attract our customer?” to “how can we keep our customers longer?” With this new conversation comes the ability to reach your target audience through data-backed decisions. The result of this? Long-term, sustainable growth.”
Should Your Organization Try a Growth Marketing Strategy?
As a business owner, you may have heard of the potential of growth marketing to expand your reach and increase revenue. You might think, “Long-term, sustainable growth – that sounds good to me!” However, it’s important to approach growth marketing with caution. Don’t be fooled by marketing agencies using the term as jargon to sound edgy or sell you a pre-packaged set of tasks.
Growth marketing is not just about bringing in leads, even though it’s undoubtedly essential for success. You can’t just follow a formula and expect it to work for every business. It’s a mindset that requires constant research of your audience’s needs, then using data to uncover the process that builds long-term trust and customer loyalty. It’s all about exceeding customer expectations over and over to keep them coming back for more. Only then, can you realize the true potential of growth marketing.
Should You Hire an Agency?
B2B marketing can be challenging due to the vast selection of strategies available to businesses. From brand building to lead generation, it can be difficult to know which approach to take. However, one strategy that is becoming increasingly popular amongst successful B2B companies is growth marketing. Growth marketing involves a process of experimentation, testing and optimization at every stage of the buyer’s journey to achieve sustainable growth and increase revenue.
This approach is centered around the concept of a flywheel, which emphasizes building long-term customer relationships that lead to referrals and delighted customers. However, it’s important to partner with a marketing agency that has experience in data-driven marketing strategies and tactics for other businesses within your industry.
By working with an agency, you can expand your marketing capabilities while minimizing costs compared to hiring full-time staff. In conclusion, we’ve created a list of the top B2B growth marketing agencies to help you get started on your search and find an agency that meets your specific needs.
Marketing and Sales Roles are Blending
As we approach 2023, it’s essential for businesses to keep up with the dynamic world of digital marketing. The landscape continues to shift, and it’s critical to be adaptable to stay competitive. Growth marketing will be a particularly critical focus area in the coming years. This is because of changes to account-based marketing, cookies tracking, and cold email policies.
According to Statista, the worldwide spending on digital advertising will reach $526 billion in 2023, which is a sizable increase from $342 billion in 2020. As businesses continue to prioritize customer-centricity, we’re seeing a blurring of the lines between marketing and sales roles. In fact, by 2023, marketing will play a significant role in the entire customer journey, from awareness to post-sale engagement.
To manage the customer funnel effectively, many businesses are turning to the popular “pirate funnel” model in growth marketing. This model consists of five stages identified as Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, and Referral, with each stage representing a crucial step in the customer journey. With the right data and insights, businesses can identify the most effective tactics and channels to use in each stage.
As per the recent survey conducted by Salesforce, it has been revealed that around 70% of marketers consider their role now more important in the context of customer experience in comparison to the past few years. This is an evident reflection of how the recognition of the significance of marketing in shaping the customer journey and driving business growth has been increasing over time.
In today’s world, where marketing and sales roles have become more integrated, it has become crucial for businesses to provide a seamless and customer-centric experience throughout the entire customer funnel. Therefore, companies need to focus more on creating harmonious and coordinated strategies to offer their customers a smooth and personalized experience.
Overall, it can be said that the importance of marketing in enhancing customer experience and contributing to business growth cannot be ignored anymore, and it will continue to play a vital role in the future of the business world.
Growth Marketing for B2B Tech Companies
As we approach the year 2024, it’s important for businesses to stay ahead in a constantly evolving and competitive market. No longer can a company rely on traditional marketing methods and expect to thrive.
In order to sustain a flow of revenue and growth, businesses must adopt a data-driven and holistic approach to growth marketing. This means utilizing all relevant information, data, statistics, and resources available to them to develop a comprehensive strategy that will set them apart from their competitors.
By building a sustainable business, companies will be able to achieve scalability and continue to grow well into the future. That’s where this guide comes in. These invaluable resources serve as a roadmap to guide the development of a growth marketing strategy and tactics for the year 2023.
So whether you are a small start-up or a large corporation, incorporating these resources into your business model will ensure your success for years to come.