Growth Marketing’s Not-So-Secret Ingredient

Growth marketing is on the radar of many SaaS executives at a time when their companies are fighting hard for new revenue and customers. There are 29,000 growth marketers on LinkedIn. While definitions may vary (after all, who doesn’t want growth from their marketers?), growth marketers differ from “traditional” marketers in two ways:

• They focus on using data to drive the lowest customer acquisition cost (CAC), running experiments in a variety of digital channels

• Depending on who you ask, growth marketing may also encompass the entire pipeline or customer journey, not just the top-of-funnel “lead generation” upon which marketing has traditionally been measured

Too often, SaaS executives and advisors equate growth marketing with digital tactics. The smartest growth marketers know that strategy—including defining the right product messaging—is the key to success. 

Growth marketing works right when you have the right product-market fit (PMF) 

In his Growth Hacking Made Simple guide, Neil Patel lists Step 1 as “Make Sure You Have a Product People Actually Want.” In other words, make sure you have product-market fit (PMF). Of course!! I’m not going to provide a full PMF tutorial here (Ken Oestreich of Fountainhead Marketing has put together some really great resources); but PMF work is fundamental to making any marketing tactic effective and cost-efficient. 

At a minimum, effective growth marketing requires the following product marketing ingredients: 

• Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Which potential customers will value your product because it solves a burning need they can’t easily satisfy with alternatives?

• Buyer personas: Who are the decision makers within the ICP? What language do they use, how do they think, and how are they motivated? Where do they spend their time, online and in the real world? 

• Buyer-specific product messaging: What are the key messages that will drive them to action? What is the problem your product solves and the unique business value? How is it different from alternatives? 

Mix these ingredients together, and you have the best chance of finding the buyers who will convert, activate, renew, and advocate for your brand. 

Growth marketing tactics also help you test PMF

In an ideal world, every startup would instantly know their ICP. In reality, finding PMF is an iterative process that could take a year or more to play out. During that period, all is not lost. Growth marketing techniques can provide quantitative insights to bring your ICP and messaging into focus much faster. 

The key is to be deliberate about who you’re targeting and the messaging you’re using for each tactic or experiment. Don’t cut corners on your campaign briefs in the name of speed. Start each campaign with clear definitions of the: 

• ICP

• Buyer persona

• Use case

• Key message

• KPIs

And think carefully about how you define KPIs. For example, page views or trial signups may give you an initial read on how your messages are resonating, but activations and conversions to paid accounts are better indicators of which customers truly value your products.

Include product marketing in your growth marketing budget

Making growth marketing work—and work cost-effectively—is not just about choosing channels and tactics. It’s about choosing the right strategy at every step in the process. I hope I’ve convinced you to invest in product marketing as you invest in growth marketing. If you’re spending on the wrong audience or delivering the wrong message, your growth marketing will drive low-quality traffic that doesn’t contribute much to your revenue goals.

Some companies are lucky enough to hire growth marketers who are also great product marketers and just need the time to do the strategic work. (I know a few.) Other companies rely on product marketing consulting firms like mine or marketing-oriented product leaders. However you get your product marketing expertise, it’s an investment that pays off.