Growth is a top priority for businesses each year. However, with a new year comes fresh opportunities to ignite that growth.
It’s important to understand that the growth opportunities that may have worked for you in the past may not necessarily work for you this year. However, certain best practices will always remain true. It can be overwhelming to figure out what to prioritize for the upcoming year, but this article will provide you with some valuable guidance to help you start on the right foot.
Let’s first work on creating a working definition of “growth” for your company, and then we’ll cover strategies you should implement to maximize your growth potential.
Defining What Business Growth Means to You
All businesses want to grow, but what that growth looks like will depend on your definition of it. There isn’t a single metric that determines whether or not you’ve achieved your growth goals, but below is a list of the most common data points companies use to prove they’re growing:
- Overall revenue
- Employee size
- Customer base
- Number of goods sold
- Number of new goods created
- Market share
Some companies could hit growth targets for some of the data points above but miss out on others. It’s also possible—if not likely—that some targets will fall short entirely.
Because of the variability in targets, you need to decide which figures mean the most for your company. For example, an early-stage startup might prefer building up its customer base before they worry too much about overall revenue. On the other hand, a larger business might only look at their revenue to determine how well they’ve grown.
Regardless of how you choose to define growth for your business, the strategies below should still help you reach your ambitions.
Related: 8 Signs Your B2B Marketing Needs an Overhaul
Speaking Your Customers’ Language
Knowing your customers isn’t just useful in getting more customers. That kind of insight can determine the type of products you create, the messaging you use for your company, the reputation your brand has, the amount of sales you close, and so much more.
One of the primary ways you can get to know your customers is through buyer interviews. Buyer interviews help you define your audience, find out what triggers them to make a purchase, learn what potential barriers customers might have from making a purchase, and so much more.
Getting deep insights into your customers’ buying decisions can help you:
- Personalize your messaging and advertising strategy, so that what you’re saying resonates
- Shorten your sales cycle and close deals faster
- Target decision-makers within your audience on a new level
- Generate more high-quality, interested leads
- Separate your company from the competition by more accurately speaking with your audience
- Accelerate your growth and profits
However, conducting buyer interviews is time-consuming, and knowing which questions to ask is another obstacle. Thankfully, yorCMO can conduct buyer interviews for you, help you identify your target audience, and give you the rich insights you need to make plans.
Related: Better Insights, Better Decisions: The Power of Buyer Interviews
Taking a Digital-Forward Approach
Here’s the hard truth: If digital transformation isn’t a priority of yours, you’re going to be lagging behind your competitors.
Finding the right technology to adopt and implement comes down to knowing your company’s goals, carving out strength opportunities, and managing your budget to allow for more digital growth. But each of those is easier said than done.
Take, for instance, AI. 64% of business owners say that they expect AI to increase their productivity, but many marketers are slow to adopt AI technologies due to fear of misinformation, lack of experience using tools, and concerns about how AI can impact the roles of employees.
But AI isn’t the only way to accelerate your growth. Automating time-consuming actions, developing more digital or “as a service” products, and personalizing the customer journey are just a few ways a digital-forward approach can get you moving in tandem with the competition.
Related: Leveraging Technology: The Role of Automation in Marketing
Getting Data Savvy
Like most things, business growth won’t be linear. One strategy may not incrementally improve your overall growth values month to month or even quarter to quarter. You’ll need to regularly evaluate what’s working, determine why, and patch any areas that aren’t fueling growth.
Throughout the customer journey, you’ll want to look at different data points to determine the success of your efforts. For example, in the awareness stage, impressions, clicks, and engagement rates will matter most. During the decision stage, however, you’ll want to look at purchase rates and customer lifetime value.
Keeping track of your data is just one part of the process. The second part involves pivoting—usually on a dime—to change the course of those numbers. This may involve some trial and error iterations, and getting comfortable with experimentation will go a long way.
Related: Optimizing Client Data and Documenting Marketing Opportunities
Get Tailored Growth Strategies
Defining your growth, tracking the effectiveness of your strategy, and using data to make informed decisions about moving forward can be a lot to tackle all at once.
The right marketing leadership can help you move with purpose and make strategic decisions to achieve your growth goals. Hiring a full-time CMO is one option—but that kind of investment may be out of the budget for most small businesses.
A fractional CMO gives you all the benefits of a full-time CMO at a fraction of the cost. They work alongside your team, help you build a personalized marketing strategy, and stay on to ensure your strategy is serving you.
Click here to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation, and we’ll get you set up with one of our fractional CMOs.