CvE are trusted advisors with best-in-class expertise who help brands get marketing over the line. Every now and then, new buzzwords emerge in the industry, on social media and in panels. CvE recently conducted a roundtable discussion with some of the largest FMCG, retail and DTC brands to explore and define the concept of Growth Marketing.
Below are the responses to frequently asked questions:
What exactly is Growth Marketing?
It can mean different things to different organisations. Julian Shapiro is the leading growth marketing thinker, who says, “It is a rigorous methodology consisting of experimentation, data collection, iteration, and behavioural psychology”. The key facet is consistent testing and learning, which thrives within Agile teams.
Essentially, it is the process of optimising the most important metrics in a brand’s marketing funnel and constantly developing new ways to engage consumers.
Why is Growth Marketing Important?
Marketing’s evolution toward digital has resulted in shorter lead times, to fast, measurable results whilst saving resources. It provides fresh, innovative, and low-cost ways to achieve scalability. A traditional Byron Sharp marketing approach may entail reaching all light buyers within a category and hoping for long-term success, whereas it goes a step further by quantifying the impact of engaging those light buyers in terms of incremental business revenue.
What is data’s role in Growth Marketing?
Growth marketing is dependent on rich data, which digital channels provide in abundance. There are numerous intricacies in how data is leveraged to drive growth, depending on the organisation.
“It is about recruiting the right types of customers that drive profitable lifetime value. Efforts are enhanced when data is used to identify and persuade the profitable customer segments” explains Bella & Duke’s CMO.
When data is used to discover and encourage profitable consumer segments, efforts are boosted. According to Unilever’s Seb Bardin, data helps to uncover consumer demands and “turns marketing data into new product-led opportunities.”
What are some real-life examples of Growth Marketing?
Companies such as Dell, ING, Teradata and CafePress have had significant success implementing Agile across their marketing departments. They list benefits such as shorter time to market, more automated workflows, less bureaucracy, and improved customer service. However, each observes that introducing this new attitude and operational structure into an organisation can be a difficult task at first.
What does a Growth Marketing specialist do?
Growth marketers conduct continuous, iterative tests, they apply tactics throughout the funnel and focus on using the results to plan adjustments that enhance business KPIs. They are data-driven and employ A/B testing results to help businesses make decisions.
How do you become a Growth Marketer?
“Growth marketing is often a cultural thing. It is about the mindset of practitioners and the organisational structure that surrounds them as much as anything else,” states Rory McEntee from Gymbox. All comms can play a role in driving business growth, so it is important that contribution to growth from all aspects of the marketing mix is recognised.
What makes a good Growth Marketer?
Tushar Kaul, CMO at Bella & Duke says that “Mindset is the most important thing. A growth mindset and attitude are something you either have or you don’t”. Growth marketers are different to digital marketing managers or performance marketers.
Marketers who strive to apply its principles to the entire marketing funnel are likely to see better results. Upper funnel brand-building media is recognised to be equally as crucial for generating growth as the more measurable lower funnel approaches.
While much of the industry associates growth marketing with digital media, our GM thinkers took a broader perspective, with most striving to apply its ideas to the entire marketing funnel. It was acknowledged that upper-funnel brand-building media is recognised to be equally as crucial for generating growth as the more measurable lower funnel approaches.
What’s the most important part of Growth Marketing?
Setting up the right process for an Agile marketing team can assist organisations in becoming proven and effective growth masters rather than one-day growth marketers.
Our roundtable thought leaders concluded that growth marketing consisted of the following elements, regardless of the business:
1. Identifying the problem
2. Forming a hypothesis
3. Establishing a formal “test and learn” procedure
4. Repeat
Does this sound familiar? This framework is also a key Agile tenet. Although Agile is not the only option, it provides a framework for effective data utilisation that results in measurable outcomes. When the two are combined, they can give the working style that many “Test and Learn” teams need.
Our Growth Marketing Sources:
Tushar Kaul, CMO at Bella & Duke
Benazir Bartlet-Batada, Marketing Director at Mondelez
Rory McEntee, Brand & Marketing Director at Gymbox
Adam Wright, Head of Digital, NIVEA
Seb Bardin, Head of Ecommerce Marketing at Unilever
Gareth Turner, Head of Marketing, Weetabix
Paul Frampton-Calero, President, CvE
Aidan Mark, Global Director, Performance Strategy CvE
Want to learn more about how brands use Growth Marketing? Our full Growth Marketing report can be downloaded here.
Whether your brand is just beginning its Growth Marketing journey or requires support at various points along the way, CvE conducts workshops, builds frameworks, and assists with embedding staff to help identify your best path ahead.
If you want to learn more, contact to one of our expert Digital Transformation Consultants now!
