Marketing and advertising are cornerstones of retail strategy, but with so many methodologies, platforms, and tools, how do small teams make the most of available resources? Although there’s no clear-cut formula that can apply across brands, implementing a strategy driven by growth hacking basics can help any brand make the most of every opportunity.
Is growth hacking trendy jargon? Surely. But behind every great trend, is a successful idea. And for growth hacking, that idea is quickly becoming the framework on which modern marketing teams build their strategy. Growth hacking is a data-driven strategy focused on increasing brand awareness and developing new customers faster than traditional marketing methods. The term itself is really describing the intersection and execution of three core strategic concepts:
- Creativity
It’s estimated consumers see between 6,000-10,000 ads every day. For brands to stand out, they need to not only have stellar assets, and they need to be seen at the right time. Increased competition and rising advertising costs on many traditional platforms make this task more difficult, particularly for new and emerging brands with smaller budgets. Creativity isn’t just necessary for assets such as copy and imagery but for platform selection, display opportunities, and success metrics.
- Experimentation
Much like creativity, experimentation extends to multiple elements of a growth hacking strategy. Marketers know that utilizing diverse channels such as social media, email marketing, SEO, print, and digital display help maximize reach, but there are many additional ways to get your brand in front of consumers. But marketers cannot rely on what’s been done before and what’s worked in the past.
It’s time to try new things and take advantage of tools that most traditional marketers have yet to adopt. Unlike many traditional platforms, which may require long-term contracts or commitments, new platforms are built on the idea of experimentation and allow brands to control their length and type of engagement. Aside from new channels, marketers can also experiment with tools to automate tasks to focus on strategic tactics, discover what’s most important to users, identify new users, and consistently engage them.
- Data Analysis
An experiment is only as good as its data. To understand the accurate outcomes of an experiment, there must be a defined baseline of information. For retailers and service providers, this means connecting an experimental promotion with a designated business question or goal. Common baseline analytics include cost per click, cost per impression, and cost per acquisition, but it can be so much more than that—understanding average order value, customer value, and time to purchase are all in-depth analytics that growth marketers need to understand to make the most of their marketing strategy. Every campaign and set of creative assets offers valuable insights when the right questions are asked. In order to determine success, having a defined question is essential.
There are many methods in the growth hacking toolkit, but the core framework is simple: gather data and experiment until you find the perfect combination of tactics. A marketing strategy with a growth hacking perspective continuously looks for opportunities to turn data into insight, and in doing so, helps increase brand awareness and drives sales. When testing new strategies and platforms, the core idea is not to simply try anything and everything without a plan. When utilizing a growth hacking perspective, the goal is to engage opportunities that make the most of incremental actions that increase conversions, relationships, and customer retention to maximize the lifetime value of a customer.
Find out how Prizeout makes growth hacking easy and accessible.
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