One of the objectives of growth marketing is generating consistent leads. Because if leads are continuously entering a customer journey, they will also consistently come out the other end as conversions.
This is an oversimplified description, of course, as these leads do not just convert. They also need to be guided so that they will not only gradually become a customer, they will become loyal to the brand as well.
A growth marketing team will help to consistently attract leads and convert them. With more conversions, revenue will grow. This provides the funds to expand (or specialize) services or products, to add more talent to the payroll, to train employees and to start walking the upwards path of growth. Lead generation is essential for scale-ups looking for steady growth and progress.
The theory is there, and it makes sense, but how does this work in practice? What do growth teams do to drive consistent leads, and how do they make sure these leads are convertible? In today’s blog, I will explain a bit more about lead generation as a part of growth marketing, using our practices at SUM Digital as an example.
I mean to be quite hands-on here, but some terminology does need to be explained. That is why I will start with a bit of growth marketing terminology, used in our line of work on a daily basis.
I should add two things here. Firstly, this theory can be applied to something as simple as buying a product, but also to signing up for a newsletter or making a donation. The conversion can be any action carried out by the lead that is important for the business.
Also, leads will go through stages on their journey. Every stage makes them a bit more loyal and more likely to convert. The person behind an abandoned cart is nearer the destination than someone still just browsing through products.
A growth marketing team will consistently send hot leads onto their journey, guide them during their travels until they reach their destination, and beyond. By doing this, the travelers will become more and more familiar with the brand, the products, the mission and vision, and the services of a business. They do not only convert, they also come back, as they feel heard, appreciated and valued. The brand is not selling, but solving problems that the traveler has during their journey. Growth marketing means guiding leads through different stages in their journey towards conversion.
As the founder of SUM Digital, I am very proud of our hands-on approach towards growth marketing and lead generation. We believe in the jobs-to-be-done theory, rather than in hard selling. This way, we have helped many of our clients towards solving their customers’ actual problems, and aiming their marketing at that. With great results. This is how we attract hot leads to take the journey with our clients, all guided by our watertight growth marketing plan.
It is not as simple as just sending a number of leads on their way. When doing this randomly, the chances are that they do not convert. Or we will see a surge in leads followed by a dip. What growth marketing does, is making sure the customer journey is always fully booked.
Preparation is key, and growth marketing cannot be successful without it. Our growth team will analyze data and set up a custom marketing strategy aligned with the goals and vision of our client. They will then refine this strategy by preparing your sales funnel for the leads so that as soon as someone embarks on the journey, they feel valued and heard.
Next, it is time to find the leads and send them on the way. Our growth marketing team does that by using different suitable channels, like SEO, Google Ads or social media. Leads that are already on their journey will be encouraged to keep moving. This is done with newsletters, downloadable content like e-books and white papers, email communication and offers specifically set up for leads at a specific stage in the customer journey.
Our growth marketing team makes sure that those leads are hot and convertible by aiming specifically at your target audience. That is usually based on demographics, such as age, gender and location, but also on other characteristics like interests. We will not find hot leads on TikTok if the target audience is middle-aged - a straightforward example.
We perfected the customer journey, and we made sure that a consistent stream of hot leads is taking that journey. Now it is time to keep monitoring, analyzing and perfecting this. Businesses evolve, trends change and events happen. The customer journey we set up and perfected is in need of continuous improvement and adaptation, to properly cater for the leads.
So, we run tests, adjust accordingly, and keep optimizing our marketing strategy. We also automate where possible and remain available to keep improving the strategy in the future.
It is one thing setting growth in motion, it is another thing to keep it going. That is why growth marketing never stops. There is more work when setting it up, but once up and running a growth plan needs to be monitored, adjusted and adapted to change. It grows with the company so that it is future-proof and yields consistent results for years to come.
We are more than happy to show you how we can apply our growth marketing approach to your scale-up. Schedule a free discovery call and let’s set up a growth plan specifically for your business needs.
Learn more about growth marketing at SUM Digital by downloading our Growth Playbook.