What is growth marketing? - The succinct answer

When it comes to growth marketing a Google search will return millions of results. Finding a succint definition however, is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

But it needn’t be so complex. In short, growth marketing is any marketing activity that aims to grow the business in a sustainable way.

This means growth marketing focusses on attracting more engaged customers, who are more likely to stick around, purchase more and ultimately be more valuable.This differs from traditional marketing, which prioritises the volume of new customers over the quality of new customers.

What does a growth marketer do?

There are several hallmarks of a growth marketer, but the most important is their purpose, as this informs everything they do.

To achieve sustainable long-term business growth, the focus needs to be spread across the entire funnel, rather than just at the top. That means a growth marketer cares about the exit of customers just as much as the acquisition.

While they may not be explicitly tasked with looking after customers, they need to plug into customer lifetime insights and apply that to make sure the customers they acquire are likely to be a good fit.

A good part of a growth marketer’s day is spent analysing data to uncover which strategies and tactics are working.

Following this, they are setting up experiments to refine their approach and finding new ways to achieve their goals.

Monzo employed growth marketing tactics to grow from 0 to 250,000 users within 2 years. As a challenger bank built on addressing the pain points caused by archaic banking methods, Monzo used continuous research with prospective and existing customers as they grew to maintain continuous improvement. To encourage more signups, Monzo offered people ‘queue jumps’ for users on the waiting list if they referred to others, which drove even more growth. 

What skills does a growth marketer need?

Being responsible for the quality and lifetime value of a customer means it is essential to track leads through the funnel to report on the success of acquisition. Naturally, this means growth marketers need sharp analytical skills and a data-driven, logical mentality.

The approach a growth marketer takes to marketing challenges is another core area of difference with traditional marketing. Because achieving growth requires a healthy dose of experimentation to find something that sticks, growth marketers rely on a scientific and continuous test and learn approach.

The popularity of a growth marketing approach has risen to prominence in recent years, driven by startup culture who can’t afford to ‘spray and pray’.

Mike Volpe, a prominent Angel Investor and former Hubspot CEO, sums up how this methodology is changing the face of modern marketing:

“Growth marketing is removing the boundaries of marketing to enable every aspect of the customer experience to focus on attracting more engaged customers.”

By optimising every stage of the customer experience, not only does growth marketing attract new customers but improves overall customer satisfaction encouraging referrals and repeat purchases.

To achieve a growth marketing mindset, begin by gaining an understanding of your product value, how your users will use your product and what will improve their experience. From there, focus your efforts on demonstrating this to your users and prospects at all stages of the funnel, as quickly as possible.