What Is Growth Marketing? Definitive Guide For Ecommerce
Updated on November 28, 2022 in Marketing by Nishant Shrimali
If you have been active on LinkedIn or Twitter, this buzzword is spreading like a wildfire.
Growth Marketing.
Just like you, I was curious and started learning more about it. And in this article, I am giving you a quick introduction, your first step toward the future of all marketing campaigns that we know.
There is a lot that I want to share with you today so let’s get started.
What Is Growth Marketing?

Growth marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on attracting, engaging, and retargeting customers. The strategy relies on a lot of testing and creating a personalized strategy for an individual business to grow faster.
When we talk about growth marketing, it generally means we are addressing
- The strategy of understanding what growth marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on customer wants
- Curating a complete marketing strategy and user experience
- And ensuring higher returning customers and referrals to proliferate.
There are a lot of sub-steps between all these stages. But as we are just getting started, this is what you should keep in mind.
Attract, Engage, And Return
Growth Marketing Vs Traditional Marketing

Understanding customers, doing keyword research, and tracking competitors. All this is already part of what we know as Traditional marketing.
Then what is the difference between growth marketing vs. traditional marketing?
Here, you have to understand that traditional marketing generally focuses on acquiring customers. It is focused on creating a brand, it is very tactical and stretched over a long period (around 6 months to a year).
On the other hand,
Growth marketing is about fast growth. Rather than focusing on the brand side, growth marketing focuses on what customers want and delivers it to them.
In growth marketing, you also focus on upselling, repeatedly making people buy from you. And lastly, growth marketing is more data and testing-driven.
There are continuous updates in strategy, execution, and overall planning to achieve set goals.
Components Of Growth Marketing Strategy

A growth marketing strategy can involve a lot of elements. These elements depend on the type of business, service, and goals that are trying to be accomplished. Still, some of the most common growth marketing strategies are:
Cross Channel Marketing
Cross-channel marketing is a strategy where the business interacts with people through various mediums. These people are our current customers or potential customers we are trying to attract.
Cross-channel marketing allows us to determine the most effective marketing channels and create a more focused approach toward them.
Various kinds of marketing channels are:
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
- Search engine marketing
- SMS marketing
- App notification
- Push notification
- Guest posting
And more.
In cross-channel, the main goal is to make customers transition from one channel to another. This can be done by giving incentives or directing them on what to do, like a coupon code or a link to click on.
A/B Testing
The next component of the growth marketing strategy is A/B testing. As we discussed, growth marketing focuses on delivering what customers want. And this starts from the first impression in front of the customer.
From running A/B tests of ads and social media campaigns to the elements of the product page. In growth marketing, we test multiple sections to understand what customers like the most and grow accordingly.
Awareness
We know that growth marketing strategies are very goal-driven. But what are some goals?
The first one is awareness. The funnel of marketing starts with it and it is surely among the first step to focus on. Here the goal is to reach our potential user persona and make them aware of the products.
Acquisition
The acquisition is the stage where we start convincing customers to take action. This action could be to make a purchase, take a free trial, sign up for a newsletter, and more.
One can also use discounts to attract customers.
Activation
This is the stage where we help customers take action. Once the customer acquisition is complete, it is important to track their experience.
Also, to ensure that customers start using it (in the case of SaaS and digital products).
Revenue
Revenue is a stage where a business starts making money through customers. Usually, this may start from the first purchase.
But to ensure that profit is higher (especially in the case of eCommerce), upselling strategies are used.
This increases the average order value and ensures higher profit from the first order.
Retention
Once the purchase has been made, the next important step is retention. A stage to make customers come again and make a purchase.
Here we have to keep in mind what is the life cycle at which customers will need/want to make a purchase again.
Either way, the goal is to have higher returning customers. This builds trust and makes people hooked to the service, product, and experience.
Referral
The last stage of the customer journey, especially in growth marketing strategy, is a referral. A stage where the customer is so happy with the product and service that they recommend it to others.
Again multiple techniques are used, but a referral is essentially the final stage of a growth marketing strategy.
Tips for a successful growth marketing campaign
Above, we have discussed the steps of running a powerful growth marketing strategy. Now, let’s focus on how to do that.
Balance Data & Creativity

Growth marketing strategies may seem very analytical, but they are creative as well. From grabbing customers’ attention for the first time to making them refer to their friends.
You’ll have to come up with the most creative strategies that are backed by the data.
In order to make sure that you are delivering the best of what your customers want, it is essential that you track it from A/B testing of ads to customer feedback. Data and creativity should go hand in hand.
Be Customer Driven

The whole idea of a growth marketing strategy is to make a strategy that aligns with what the customer wants.
All the testing, strategy, and implementation we discussed are all done in order to create what customers want.
And this is the approach that makes growth marketing highly effective.
So ensure that you understand what your customer is looking for and focus on creating a seamless experience for them.
Keep Up With The Industry Trends

Coming up with new ideas can really be stressful. But you don’t have to carry all the burden by yourself. You can and must keep up with the industry trends. This will help you take the necessary steps to keep up with what customers are interested in and who can you improve it.
Build Trust & Engagement
The base of every marketing campaign is building trust among the customers.
That is why presenting your products, writing good copy, and delivering a high level of engagement are so important.
While creating various campaigns and product pages, ensure an element of trust and engagement.
Bonus Read
Learning about growth marketing strategy can be insightful and eye-opening. From consumer psychology to the best business practices, the strategy aligns everything in a streamlined flow.
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