There’s an on-going myth, especially amongst early-stage technology companies, that all your business needs is a “growth marketing guru” to hack your business to new heights. Bring in the right person or people who know how to push and prod the performance marketing variables and you’ll scale your business, voila! Success is simply to take your product/service and push it out on paid channels methodically and programmatically.
A similar, and converse, myth held by many of the same people is that a more holistic marketing approach is somehow a luxury, and viewed as “old school”, slow, and a touch quaint. That marketing now is simply a science around offer, audience targeting, and a whole bunch of a/b testing. That data and continuous optimization is what marketing needs to be focused on – and brand, consumer insight, long-term marketing planning, etc. are relics or vague concepts of arguable value.
But this is short-term thinking – and really an attempt at finding a short-cut. No amount of growth marketing hacking by itself will build your brand. A scale-first, product-focused approach, attacked with a performance mind-set may get you some quick wins, but it will never take you where you want to go – nor can it create the self-sustaining, pull-based energy that builds on itself.
Instead, let growth marketing be a part of your overall plan, guided by a holistic, planned marketing strategy and overseen by your over-arching Marketing leader. Make sure it’s informed by an understanding of brand, of consumers and their journeys, and planned holistically and integratedly. Only then will your growth have the proper foundation.
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