"Examples of growth strategy goals include increasing market share and revenue, acquiring assets, and improving the organization's products or services."
--Gartner
In general, a growth strategy means thinking outside the norm. Marketers need to first work with the strategic team to understand the company's growth goals. They may include:
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- Deeper penetration into existing segments
- Identifying new market segments – Diversification
- New products/services
Market Penetration
What is the opportunity in your existing market? What does it cost you to get a new customer/client?
Often, in our rush to market with our great product (the one we know everyone wants to buy), we fail to properly evaluate the available market, the competition, and the genuine opportunity. We are excited, and we just want to sell. Whether your company is new or seasoned, take an unbiased look at the opportunity for your product.
Understanding your category, the size of the potential market, and having a realistic understanding of your place in the market will set you up to succeed.
Once you know where you belong, it is time to take the growth goals you have set (or have been set for you) and start evaluating how you can achieve further market penetration.
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- Are you reaching your audience?
- Where does your audience go for information?
- Are there communities you are overlooking?
- Have you identified product champions that will help deliver your message?
- Are there additional channels you can pursue?
Diversification
Launching new products or services into previously unexplored markets, while riskier than increasing market penetration, may be part of your growth strategy.
Getting out of your comfort zone leads to original thinking. If you've taken the time to understand your best customers, you've likely heard from them their pain points. Marketing is the owner of significant metrics. You know, or should know, what emails your clients open, what events they attend, what they tell your team in feedback.
Using metrics to understand your client's needs and wants and sharing that information with the executive, sales, and customer success teams is critical in developing and implementing a growth strategy.
Diversification opportunities include selling new/different products or features to your customers. It also includes exploring new segments of your vertical. And it may include investigating new verticals.
When you consider diversification, work with other members of the team to:
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- Understand the new segment or vertical
- Build buyer personas
- Carefully craft messaging
- Build an informed marketing plan
- Use your CRM to identify potential opportunities
New Products/Services
Product development can extend your offering to existing clients and potentially attract new customers. Working as a team, marketing, sales, and product development need to identify and quantify the value and expenses involved carefully.
From a marketing perspective, preparing to add new products or services requires taking a deep dive into why the product adds value and the pains it solves. Understanding your buyer persona's needs and wants will help you craft the proper messaging and approach.
Treating the new product or service as a start-up and viewing it with a fresh set of eyes will help you identify the best path forward. Consider:
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- Is the new product truly a product or a new feature (and one that can help you sell more of the existing product)?
- Are there new opportunities in a different segment because of the new offering?
- Does the new product benefit the same persona?
- How can you avoid having the new offering become a distraction?
- How can you help the sales team succeed?
Marketing is a critical contributor to a growth strategy. Working closely with other departments will help ensure success once all of the puzzle pieces are in place.
