Modern B2B business is becoming increasingly competitive. The buyer journey has shifted to digital channels, and online presence has become a key factor in driving competitive differentiation that leads to growth. Companies must continuously expand their customer base, increase revenue, and outpace those competing in the same market. However, buyers have become increasingly self-serving in obtaining the information they need to make purchasing decisions. With more information available through online channels, the sales cycle and the role of sales are evolving.
We’ve seen that omnichannel and growth marketing have become increasingly important as a way to drive awareness, increase brand equity and drive demand. The right mix of these tactics , converts interest into pipeline and revenue. As such, amidst the ebbs and flows of modern B2B marketing, I’d argue that growth marketing strategies emerge as one of the most reliable and critical strategies.
I like to use the metaphor of growth marketing being to business what headlights are to cars–that being a tool that illuminates the road ahead, giving a clear vision of future goals, objectives, and targets and whether one will meet them. In other words, growth marketing allows businesses to build a predictable revenue engine that turns interest into opportunities, and opportunity into revenue.
However, many marketers are continuing to encounter common pitfalls that undermine their efforts and hinder their ability to reap the full reward of their efforts. Common mistakes fall down to a lack of defined strategy, poor communication, a disorganised channel mix and, finally, not being customer-centric. Let’s go on to dissect these further.
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1. Strategy
To begin with, I want to discuss the consequences of a business lacking a strategy, where companies become misaligned with their buyers and their needs. Many companies make assumptions about their customers’ preferences, demographics and pain points without conducting thorough research. As a result, their marketing efforts can fail to resonate, leading to wasted resources and missed opportunities.
Modern-day growth marketing is all about balance. Strategies, iteration, and learning are crucial in occupying the optimal space between achieving smaller gains and more ambitious and monumental goals.
Companies often have the tendency to do more of the same things that they’ve been doing before and, in turn, fail to adapt the strategies to work best for the evolving landscape. Clinging to such outdated or unproductive methods presents a lack of flexibility, which can result in missed chances to reach new customers and expand market reach.
Google advertising is a great example. There aren’t many organisations that have the budget to support 100% impression share on the keywords in which they’d like to bid. Typically, the more money you invest in Google ads, the higher the cost per click and, therefore, the higher the cost per MQL and opportunity. As so, there’s a blind belief that because there is market growth opportunity out there, doing the same things is going to yield the same results, but that’s not the case.
In B2B, we should focus on evolution—constantly thinking about how businesses can evolve and change to work within such a dynamic and fast-moving environment. We must always be thinking about continuous improvement, how to scale it and return on investment.
2. Communication
Another pitfall can derive from poor communication, which can lead to disconnection within the business. For example, sales organisations may be selling successfully into specific segments of the market, but if there’s not a dialogue and alignment regarding those successes, the marketing organisations aren’t able to focus their limited resources on what is most advantageous. The internal dialogue should never be overlooked; resources are often finite and should be spent on areas where you’ve got a higher propensity to win.
3. Balancing channel mix
Another fundamental of growth marketing which often gets overlooked (certainly in B2B) is failing to balance demand with awareness. Both contribute to growth and end up driving the same outcome; awareness converts interest which increases demand and, in turn, should convert to revenue. However, a lot of organisations over-index on demand and often don’t give the required amount of attention to awareness. Without sufficient investment in awareness, businesses are in danger of missing opportunities with potential customers who are yet to be made aware of the brand and it’s value in solving their challenges.
Businesses need to focus on striking a balance between demand and awareness to ensure a steadier, more reliable flow of prospects into the sales funnel. This, in turn, maintains long-term growth and viability.
4. Customer-centric approach
The demand for hyper-personalisation is growing. Perhaps more than ever, customers want to be treated as individuals, and they expect personalised and relevant experiences and messages from brands that speak to their individual needs. It is essential that brands continue to work to adapt to the needs of their customers, taking a customer-centric, personalised approach. Businesses need to work to establish a real connection with their customers. Connection advances customer loyalty and with loyalty comes a higher probability of customer retention.
So what is the key to successful growth marketing?
Success in growth marketing comes down to research-driven, forward-thinking choices. It’s deciding what you’re looking to invest in–whether that’s increasing revenue, expanding market share, or improving customer retention–and working out how you are going to execute that goal with discipline.
Growth marketing is inherently experimental, requiring a willingness to test new ideas, iterate on strategies, and learn from both successes and failures. It’s crucial to think about who is involved in the team and how they contribute to your system of success. Building a great strategy and communicating it is all well and good, but if you haven’t got a team founded on acting effectively on interest and demand, the conversion rates will inherently be poor. Think about who you need in order to get you to where you need to go. For example, consider involving those in Sales, Business Development, Marketing, Customer Success, and Product. It really does take an army to really execute strategies with discipline, but the right team makes it all the more possible.