Growth Hacking

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5 Biggest Challenges CMOs will face in 2023

5 Biggest Challenges CMOs will face in 2023 1240 520 admin

As the marketing landscape continues to shift and evolve, chief marketing officers (CMOs) are facing various new business growth challenges for 2023. From the rise of first-party data and the need for digital transformation, through the challenge of Maximizing ROI in a volatile environment to building and retaining a top-notch team, CMOs have their work cut out for them in the year ahead! No worries, we’ve got it covered. Our team of growth experts has tackled the challenges head-on and given us powerful insights to help you overcome them.

Are you looking for the best practices to navigate CMOs challenges in 2023? Well, Hubspot’s research has revealed that these are your peers’ top predicted challenges for 2023! And thanks to our expert insights, we have an action plan ready just for you. So buckle up and let’s dive in headfirst.

CMO challenge #1: Staying on top of the latest market trends with a data-driven approach

In today’s fast-paced world, keeping up with the constant stream of new trends and data regulation changes can be tough. It’s the CMOs’ job to stay ahead of the curve and lead their companies to success. Here we explored the crucial points to achieve this goal:

First-party data and privacy regulations: First-party data is essential for CMOs’ marketing strategies in 2023. It’s collected directly from customers and gives valuable insights into their behavior, preferences, and interests. But new changes in data regulations make tracking customer behavior online even harder. What can CMOs do to overcome challenges as growth-wise marketing leaders in 2023? Create a first-party data strategy that includes: investing in new tech and solutions that can track and analyze customer behavior and preferences without relying on cookies. Build strong relationships with customers, earn their trust through transparent and fair data privacy policies, and offer valuable rewards or incentives for data sharing. Partner with businesses or organizations that have access to large amounts of first-party data.

Digital transformation: As digital transformation is becoming a must, it’s an important part of trends for CMOs to drive it for businesses. If they don’t embrace digital technologies and strategies, they risk losing market share and revenue. So, how can CMOs take advantage of digital transformation for business growth? By Implementing a CRM system, using a data analytics platform, investing in AI and ML, implementing a digital marketing strategy, developing a mobile app, and adopting cloud-based technologies are all potential solutions. Don’t let digital transformation pass your growth marketing by – embrace it and thrive! Check out the marketing & tech tools we use at The Growth Agency to stay up to date.

Trends observation and testing: Best practices to navigate CMOs’ leadership challenges include staying up-to-date on the latest trends and testing different marketing strategies to gain valuable data that drive customer engagement or sales.  So, how can they stay on top of trends? Regularly reading industry reports and insights from sources like marketing blogs, trade publications, and research firms is one way. Using online calculators and tools, like A/B testing or customer surveys, to determine the effectiveness of different business growth strategies is another. 

Check out these awesome resources to give you the edge in tackling this challenge: Tools: How AI is replacing Cookies, Trends Tracking: Infuture Institute, Top 7 digital transformation trends to drive efficient growth in 2023.

To conclude, keeping up with the latest market trends with a data-driven approach is a top challenge for CMOs in 2023. By understanding the value of first-party data strategy and trends observation and testing, CMOs can set themselves up for success in a complex and ever-changing marketing world. Don’t get left behind – stay on top of the growth with these crucial insights! Expand your knowledge with our blog article on recommended books for seriously committed CMO. 

CMO challenge #2: Pivoting and implementing sprint sessions in response to the market changes

Are you ready for more advice on how to overcome challenges as a marketing leader in 2023? Let’s talk about disruptive market dynamics and pivot strategies with sprint sessions. This can be a daunting task, but with the right tools and mindset, CMOs can stay agile and responsive to market changes:

Disruptive market dynamics: Taking a look at Gartner’s insights, disruptive market dynamics can be tough to navigate for business in 2023, but with the right strategies, it is possible to stay ahead of the competitors. Investing in R&D to create innovative products and services, adopting agile business models with short sprints, partnering with other companies to share resources and expertise, and implementing a customer-centric approach to meet the needs of customers are all potential solutions.

Pivoting and sprints due to major changes: Pivoting and adapting to market changes is essential for trends impacting CMOs in 2023. They need to be aware of social, political, and environmental tendencies in the local and global market. To pivot effectively, it is good to experiment with different strategies and approaches, like testing different marketing channels and product features and using knowledge sources like industry events and webinars to learn more. By using marketing with contextual messages to communicate with customers in a relevant, timely way, CMOs can adapt their business growth strategy to major market shifts. 

Some resources to use: Amazon: The Pivot Playbook, Template: Brand Pivoting Strategy Sprint.

Now with the knowledge of how to overcome disruptive market dynamics, with careful pivoting and smart sprint sessions, it can be done! New business growth opportunities will bring complex challenges for CMOs’ marketing strategies in 2023  – so make sure you stay alert by keeping tabs on the trends. Keep your strategies sharp with agility and confidence, and for a fresh perspective on growth, get in touch – let us show you the possibilities! 

CMO challenge #3: Driving high-quality traffic and boosting customer engagement

With attention spans at an all-time low, it’s a challenge for marketing leaders to make the cut and earn customer loyalty in 2023. The stakes are high but so is the reward: quality traffic and greater engagement!

SEO and lead generation: In 2023, it’ll be crucial for businesses to use first-party data strategy in their SEO and lead gen strategies to improve visibility and customer experience. This data can help companies understand their customers and tailor their efforts to what works best. However, if customers have had bad experiences with a company in the past, they may be hesitant to share their data. To fix this, CMOs should focus on improving customer service and experience, and use first-party data to optimize landing pages and target the most effective channels for lead generation.

Cross-channel journey & hyper-personalization: Are you ready to take customer experience to the next level? By using AI and machine learning to personalize interactions with customers, CMOs need to constantly develop digital skills to give them the individualized attention they crave. This could mean using marketing with context by sending them tailored product recommendations, custom email campaigns, or even interactive content like polls and quizzes. And when you put customers at the center of everything you do, you’ll be able to identify new opportunities and create products that clients love. Don’t miss out on this chance to give customers the ultimate experience and stay ahead of the competitors in 2023.

Community building: Building a community of loyal customers is one of the biggest trends impacting CMOs in 2023. Not only can they provide valuable insights through first-party data strategy, but they can also help spread the word about your brand. In 2023, the CMO skillset will include building a loyal customer base. One way to keep your community engaged is by offering special programs, competitions, and other activities that reward their loyalty. This not only shows your appreciation but also keeps them coming back for more.

A couple of resources to learn: 6 Steps to building your community strategy for 2023,  Progressive Profiling: LeadGen and First-Party data boost, How to build a powerful cross-channel marketing strategy.

Here you got it! You’ve just learned about how to drive high-quality traffic and boost customer engagement. 

To overcome disruptive market dynamics, these strategies will definitely thrive in the competitive world of 2023.

CMO challenge #4: Maximizing ROI on marketing spend and improving data management

In today’s volatile and rapidly changing market, it’s more important than ever to ensure that our marketing investments are relevant and effective. According to the Digital Marketing Institute’s report, one of the biggest business growth challenges for 2023 will be to deliver greater ROI on the marketing budget. But that’s not all –  they also need to make sure our data is clear and accurate, and that their task management and operational procedures are up to par. In this section, we’ll explore strategies for tackling CMO leadership challenges and setting ourselves up for success in 2023: 

ROI proof in volatile environments: Maximizing ROI on marketing spend is crucial for CMOs in volatile business environments in 2022. To succeed, they need to use data visualization techniques and checklists to simplify data presentation to the CEO and growth marketing team, highlight ROI with metrics like cost per customer acquisition, and lifetime value, and provide context and interpretation for the data. Illustrating the impact of digital marketing with case studies, examples, and anecdotes, and using storytelling and narrative techniques to engage the audience can make the data more compelling and persuasive. Supporting materials are also a good addition – customer testimonials, press coverage, and awards can also reinforce the value of our growth marketing efforts. Let’s make sure we’re getting the most out of our marketing spend!

Data clarity and accuracy: By using digital transformation for business growth to achieve data clarity and accuracy, CMOs should invest in new tech and solutions such as data management tools and technologies like data warehousing, analytics platforms, data visualization, and data governance software. Implementing a data governance framework and conducting regular data audits can also help maintain data accuracy. By taking these steps, CMOs can make sure their data is reliable and trustworthy, allowing them to make better decisions. 

Relevant task management improvement of operational procedures: As the volume and complexity of first-party data strategies and technical skills continue to grow, it can be time-consuming and labor-intensive for CMOs to manage and make use of this data effectively. To improve data management, another CMO leadership challenge will be to focus on establishing clear roles and responsibilities, developing data literacy and skills, and investing in collaboration and communication tools. By doing so, they can overcome challenges such as time constraints and limited support from marketing and IT teams, and improve task management and operational procedures. 

Here are some additional resources you can use for this challenge: 23 Best Data Visualization Tools for 2023, How to report data to C-level Executives, How can data management improve business process?.

Improving data management and maximizing ROI on marketing spend will be a crucial challenge for marketing leaders in 2023. To succeed, they need to prioritize relevance and accuracy, and continuously improve task management and operational procedures. Let’s take on these challenges and come out on top!

CMO challenge #5: Building and retaining a top-notch team

Welcome to the final challenge on our list: building and retaining a top-notch team. As CMOs, we know that our success is all about having a top-quality team. That’s why it’s so important to be proactive in hiring new talents and retaining existing ones. In this section, we’ll explore strategies to make sure our teams are always at their best.

Hiring new talent: Having a top marketing team will be crucial for any business in 2023. Growth leaders in marketing teams need to hire qualified staff with the latest digital skills and expertise. But how do we solve this challenge? By building a strong employer brand and company culture that attracts top talent, using solid SOPs and recruiting tests to outline specific skills and tasks for a marketing position. Moreover, by using game-based assessments to evaluate candidates’ skills in a fair, authentic, and engaging way. 

Retaining existing talent: One of the key CMO challenges is retaining top growth marketing teams in a competitive job market. So, how to stay ahead of the competitors in 2023? By providing opportunities for professional development and career advancement, like training programs offered by The Growth Agency or leadership development initiatives tailored to individual employees. By creating a positive, supportive work environment with a strong emphasis on teamwork and collaboration, and by providing regular feedback to improve job performance. By offering a competitive salary and flexible work arrangements, like the option to work remotely or have flexible hours. Let’s keep our top performers on board!

Here are some additional resources you can use: Employer brand playbook, Forbes: 2023 Hiring & Recruiting Trends, LinkedIn Business: Attract and Retain Top Talent.

That’s a wrap! Remember: your success depends on having a knowledgeable team. If you want to up your marketing team’s knowledge game, check out the blog article that will help you figure out what your favourite CMOs’ role is in the team management process.

Top challenges for CMOs in 2023: A Summary

To sum up, CMOs will face a range of business growth challenges to succeed in 2023. To stay on top, the CMO skillset will require a remarkable combination of agility, adaptability, and strategic thinking. The most important areas with potential difficulties include:

  • Staying on top of the latest market trends with a data-driven approach
  • Pivoting and implementing sprint sessions in response to the market changes
  • Driving high-quality traffic and boosting customer engagement
  • Maximizing ROI on marketing spend and improving data management
  • Building and retaining a top-notch team

Calling all CMOs ready to take on the year 2023 – The Growth Agency is here and equipped with a comprehensive plan tailored just for you! Join us as we prepare your business for monumental growth in the upcoming years. New challenges await – are you up to it?


Increase data and agile maturity

Increase data and agile maturity 2480 1040 admin

Any organization looking to increase its data and agile maturity should start by creating a data maturity model. This will help to identify where the organization is currently at, and what areas need improvement. Once the data maturity model is in place, it's time to develop an actionable strategy for increasing data and Agile maturity. This strategy should be tied to business goals, and should be led by a senior executive such as the CMO or the CEO. By taking these steps, organizations can increase their data and Agile maturity, and position themselves for continued success.

Increase data & agile maturity summary

Above is an accompanying graph illustrating the five levels of data maturity and agility within an organization. It assists decision-makers in determining where their organization is at and what it would take to move to the next level. The data maturity model has five different levels: datafied, data-driven, insights-driven, hyper-personalized, and predictive. In order to move from one stage to the next, organizations need to have an actionable strategy that incorporates data governance, dataOps, data literacy, and analytics. Moving to a higher level of data maturity requires making data a core part of the business, which can be a challenge for many organizations. However, with the right mix of people, process, and technology, it is possible to make the transition and reap the benefits of being a data-driven organization.

There are different data maturity models that organizations can use to assess their data management practices. One data maturity model is the Agile Data Maturity Model, which has four levels: ad hoc data, managed data, governed data, and optimized data. Organizations at the first level, ad hoc data, have data available within the organization but it is not exploited. The data is used only in a very ad hoc way and decisions are based on intuition, not on data. The data is managed in silos and often each unit manager in the company uses data differently. To move to the next level, managed data, organizations need to develop an actionable data strategy that is aligned with business goals. This strategy should be based on an understanding of how data is currently being used and what could be improved. Once the strategy is in place, organizations need to put processes and tools in place to start collecting and managing data more effectively. This will require some investment in technology and training for staff. However, the benefits of having better data will far outweigh the costs. As organizations move up the agile data maturity ladder, they will be able to make better decisions, improve operational efficiencies, and drive growth.

Level 1


Ad hoc data and agile maturity

First level is ad hoc data and agile maturity. Meaning that you have data available within your company, however, it is not exploited. The data is used only in a very ad hoc way. Accordingly, decisions are based on intuition, not on data. The data is managed in silos and often each unit manager in the company and full-funnel different business units uses different types of data.

No one really knows which data is correct. This is what we call a firefighting database; usually managed in spreadsheets and not in a dashboard or similar. As well there are often no complete funnel measurements, with the result that you don’t really know where or why the dashboards are.

Level 2


Opportunistic and data management

On the second level, it’s opportunism and data management. At this level of your company, there are already some attempts to formalize requirements and measures. Progress, however, is often hampered by culture. There are a few initiatives ongoing, but without a clear structure.

At that level, we often face organizational barriers, maybe IT barriers, different management stuff and different tools. In fact, there’s no design direction within the company. Strategy is not achievable.

It’ s decided again on the basis of intuition, it’s not really effective at this stage too. Data quality efforts are already in place. while measurements are still being made at different levels.  For business units, this is often the case.

Level 3


Systematic data maturity

Now we are dealing with an achievable strategy. The vision begins to be formed and also communicated and used throughout the organization.

Agile and Data use is even now picking up. Internal data sources are linked. Both are integrated, and possibly linked to third party data as well. Finally, information infrastructure is in place.  

Business leaders are progressively turning into Data and Analytics Champions while leadership data is now formed. Thus, we’ re at level three, systematic and data maturity.

Level 4


Competitive data maturity

Now that the data is systematized and mature, we move to the next level: competitive data maturity, we shift to a phase where executives become data leaders. Data champions communicate best practices throughout the organization.

While initiatives are picking up, a Chief Data Officer is appointed. He or she is responsible for  making data driven decisions. So a lot of times when business units need to access data or need to have data insights, they turn to their Data Champion as well. 

We understand, therefore, that data and analysis are the fuel for performance and innovation. Moreover, they link programs and units together and program management is progressing.  We ultimately see how return on investment is based on data.

Level 5


Transformational of data maturity

It’s the Holy Grail. Few companies have reached this level so far, but it is certainly a source of inspiration. Such companies are the ones where you see that data and analysis are at the heart of the business strategy. So, a business strategy is based on data and data also influences marketing investments, afterwards strategy and execution in turn are aligned between business units. Business strategy is continuously improving and data-driven.

Such companies therefore have an outside perspective. They have achieved a Data Officer whose role is mostly to be a member of the board of directors as well. Therefore, it is someone who is critical to the strategy, so they use predictive analytics in all business units. Everyone applies the same KPI. 

 As we can see now, information and data are a strategic asset for the company. On this basis, they are one step ahead of their competitors as well as their business strategy is based entirely on that data.


Conclusion

This is a brief overview of how we classify companies based on data and agile maturity. And as a growth agency, our primary goal is to help companies move through these different levels.

Realistically, moving from one level to another takes companies about a year, even several years, for some companies. This will differ according to the infrastructure, company age, whether the different business units are managed, and so on.

Are you looking for ways to grow your business? Do you have a data-driven marketing strategy? At our company, we help ambitious businesses use data to create and execute growth experiments. We offer business intelligence and consulting services to help companies increase their revenue. Our team of data-driven marketers and consultants can help you develop a growth strategy that works. We can also provide advice on how to use data in your marketing efforts. Contact us today to learn more about our services.

an animated person choosing an answer in a lead generation quiz

Creating a Lead Generation Quiz. An Ultimate Guide

Creating a Lead Generation Quiz. An Ultimate Guide 1240 520 admin

Why Do Lead Generation Quizzes Work So Well?

Lead generation is a top priority for all marketers. Using interactive content is not only an effective way of educating users but also an engaging method to pull them into the conversion funnel.

Nowadays, customers, both businesses and end consumers, are becoming increasingly demanding in terms of speed, customization, and overall quality of the experience. 

By using the questionnaires as a lead generation tool, you can not only segment new leads, but also make personalized recommendations and customize your future campaigns.

Quizzes as a lead generation tool are a win-win success device: they provide your audience with a fun and interactive experience and possibility to gain free, valuable information. At the same time, you are getting valuable insights from your prospects that can help you improve your marketing campaigns in the future. 

Building a quiz has many benefits; it can help you understand what your leads are interested in, their preferences, learn more about them and even their position in the customer journey. But not only that. You may also educate your prospects and push them to consider your product or service as the right solution for them. Moreover, the entertaining and attractive format of a quiz helps to combat the usual reluctance associated with submitting information and filling out forms. 

Let’s recap the benefits of a lead generation quiz:

    • Engagement – quizzes are an engaging way to convince prospective customers to fill out your lead capture form;
    • Virality and reach – quizzes can be easily shared;
    • Applicable anywhere – quizzes work well for both B2Bs and B2Cs;
    • Universality – it can be tailored to work for any business;
    • More insights – quizzes provide valuable data to segment and get to know your audience better;
    • More trafficdriving relevant traffic to your website and into your funnels;
    • Free Attractive Value – quizzes are great at educating and warming up your potential customers.


How Does a Lead Generation Quiz Work?

Let’s take a look at the following example of a lead generation quiz:

  1. Let’s look at the following example from The Growth Agency: The quiz is called “How Data Driver is Your Company?”
    1. Its purpose is to:
      • capture contact information from quiz takers and
      • direct them to the specific content page
      • identify each lead’s characteristics
    2. The quiz opens full screen to provide an immersive experience.
    3. The reader is presented with a series of questions with images representing each answer for a quick and visual way, to move on through the quiz efficiently.
    4. After the prospect is done with the quiz, an opt-in form appears, asking to provide the required contact details (name, email, etc,) they must fill these in to see the results.
    5. The “terms & conditions” and “opt-in for marketing emails” checkboxes are presented.
    6. The reader is shown the results of the quiz with CTA links that drive them further into your funnel. 
    7. Then comes the series of follow-up emails or next steps in your marketing funnel.

How to Make an ultimate Lead Generation Quiz

Step 1.

Choose a quiz-generating platform. We recommend:

Step 2:

Start with a title. Use the most engaging formats, like:

  1. Personality/lifestyle quiz
  • “Which (Blank) Are You?” 
  • “Which (Blank) best fits you?” 
  • “Find out your (your product, e.g., perfume, type of house, etc.”)
  •  “Find out the best type of (your product) for you
  1.             Knowledge assessment quiz
  • Check how much you know about (a topic relevant to your customers and business)”
  • “How well do you know (a topic relevant to your customers and business)”
  1.             Scoring quiz
  • “How ready are you for (your product)?”
  • “Answer these X questions and we’ll tell you what next steps you should take as a (e.g. business owner)”

Fill in the BLANKS with either products relevant to your business or the groups of customers you serve.

Step 3.

Ask specific, high-value, educational questions, which will allow a potential customer to reflect on their current situation and learn some  new things and perspectives. The quiz should help your target customer take a few steps forward to getting closer to solving a problem and then linking the solution to your product or service.

Step 4.

Use Images, Videos, and Audios to illustrate the answers and help people flow through your quiz smoothly, enjoying the experience. 

Step 5.

Make the quiz easy and short, from 5-10 questions with 4-6 answer choices, with a mixture of short and long answers, as well as a selection form. Remember that people will ignore a quiz if they’re not interested in the topic, or if the quiz is too long. The time to complete a quiz should be under 5-10 minutes.

Step 6:

Make your prospects feel like they’re having a conversation with a friend. Formulate your quiz questions as if you were talking with them in person, using pronouns, like “you, I, we”. 

Step 7.

Make an opt-in form to capture email leads. Tell people they’ll receive the quiz results (in an email or downloadable pdf form) into their email inboxes. Around 56% of people will convert at this stage. If your prospects have already invested at least 2 minutes answering your quiz questions, they are more likely to share their details and be curious about the results. 

Step 8.

Add a less noticeable “Skip this Step” option at the bottom. You don’t want people to opt-in just to see their quiz results and then unsubscribe immediately.

Step 9.

Send people different emails depending on their quiz result with personalized information for each outcome. Tease the quiz takers with extra tips that will help them improve and stimulate them even more. Other incentives may include exclusive gated content like a webinar or an eBook, a coupon, store credit, a gift card.

Step 10. 

Keep the results 3-5 sentences short. Keep the results interesting and engaging! Whether you share it in the form of an email newsletter, an article on your website or a downloadable ebook, the prospects are really looking to get some good value here – so make sure you deliver. If your lead magnet is good enough, they might want to share it with their friends and family, who in the future could turn into even hotter leads!

Step 11.

Via a clear CTA, direct people to a relevant page on your website or into your funnel.

Step 12.

Send a follow-up series of emails for each of the quiz results within certain intervals. The purpose of these emails is to capture the leads that might have slipped through the funnel without taking action and to qualify your leads better, so make sure you’re providing some good, interesting value here, and don’t forget about the CTA’s!

Best practices are:

Email #1 (right away) can contain the quiz results again with more details. It will also give you a chance to include other relevant content you want to point people to and interesting Call To Actions directing people further into your funnels.

Email #2 (3 days later) can contain the descriptions from the other results from your quiz and other relevant links to your website.

Email #3 (4 days after the second one) can contain suggestions, recommendations. Now you can start digressing from the initial result topic and establish yourself as an area expert.

Email #4 (3 days after the third one) can contain more advice based on the quiz result and offer to have a meeting/webinar / free course registration or customer feedback.

Step 13.

Promote your quiz when it is ready a) on your website as a popup b) on your website as an announcement bar c) on Facebook as an ad.

Read more about how to boost your growth.

Referral marketing

Boost your revenue with referral marketing in 2022

Boost your revenue with referral marketing in 2022 1240 520 admin
“Tell your friends about us and you’ll both get 30% off” “Invite your friends, get a discount of up to 50″  “Give 20% and get 20″  – these offers sound tempting and encouraging to many customers. They are all examples of referral marketing.  Below you will read about the benefits of referral marketing, mistakes to avoid, top referral marketing tools and types of rewards.

What is referral marketing?

Referral marketing is a strategy used by enterprises to encourage their current customers to recommend their services or products to their network in return for some incentives.  This strategy has many benefits that we are going to discuss below.


8 Benefits Of Referral Marketing.

1. Referral marketing reduces your customer acquisition cost drastically.

All marketers seek to reduce the cost of acquisition for their customers, or CAC, and increase the company’s revenue. This is the permanent objective of any business that wants to survive and continue to make a profit. A well-thought- through referral marketing program allows companies to increase their conversion rates, grow revenue and prolong customer’s lifetime value.

Referral marketing statistics

2. Referral marketing makes your ROI skyrocket.

While gifts and discounts are not very costly for your company, they can become a good investment in advertising compared to other ways, such as traditional paid advertising. Moreover, you can experiment with different types of rewards and incorporate your referral campaign into your loyalty promotion program, which will further optimize your costs.

3. Referral marketing wins the trust of your customers.

Recent consumer surveys show that people tend to trust their other people’s recommendations more than regular advertising. According to Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, 9 out of 10 people trust the recommendations of their friends. Apparently, people are more likely to buy goods or services advised by someone they trust. Not only are they more likely to make a purchase , but they also spend more and stay loyal to your brand for longer. Look at some convincing statistics below:

Referral marketing statistics

4. Referral marketing boosts customer retention enormously.

97% of marketers prioritize customer retention over acquiring new customers. Although the likelihood that a customer will return varies from sector to sector, your current customers are more likely to purchase from you again and again. That is why it is essential to give them an additional reason to do so. 

Customers participating in referral programs are more likely to remain loyal to your company. As attracting new consumers appears to be more costly than retaining current customers, this is often one of the main benefits of referral marketing.

5. Referral marketing expands your reach to thousands of potential customers. 

 Referral marketing allows you to expand your reach, using your clients as ambassadors for your brand.  What is more, there are almost no restrictions on your customer recommending a friend or a colleague a good product or service. Since many people have a wide range of friends, the referrals of clients will also allow you to expand your client base with minimum expenses.

6. Referral marketing wins top quality customers with higher lifetime value.

Referred customers have already received a positive impression of your company because you  have been recommended to them by a peer.  Customers referred by a friend, family member or colleague have a 25% higher lifetime value, compared to other clients.

7. Referral marketing gathers a huge amount of valuable data.

Modern consumers value individual experience.  By tracking consumer behavior, you can give your clients the benefit of personalization. It also gives you a good idea of the general market trends that can help your brand become better at meeting or even exceeding your customers’ needs. It also helps you to target a more relevant audience which will increase your conversion rates. Gathering data is made possible by using such referral tools which automatically aggregate and structure information.  Referral marketing platforms allow you to track and orient your most loyal clients to receive awards and provide more personalized interaction.

8. Referral marketing raises brand reputation and awareness dramatically.

Referral marketing can help clients learn about your brand and improve your overall reputation. 85% of modern consumers consider joining authentic, honest brands that have a strong voice and positive influence. By empowering your customers to tell your story, you get a powerful resonance in the consumer market. By identifying, empowering and rewarding your most loyal clients you make them feel appreciated and valued.


Having trouble carrying out your referral marketing strategy? 

Here is why your referral campaigns might not be working:

1.Your clients might not be aware of your shiny new referral program.

To ensure that you communicate about your referral campaign effectively, use every touch point with clients. In addition to offering the program to active brand advocates, add references to your referral scheme to any or all of the following locations:

  • Your website ( several pages)
  • Your Social Profiles
  • Your Email Signatures
  • Automatic Emails 
  • Landing page
  • Newsletter
  • Thank you pages
  • Pop-ups on customer pages

Do not forget to ask clients how they found out about the program. This will not only show you the channels you need to focus on, but will also open up new opportunities and reveal critical areas of the program.

2. Your referral program is a real pain in the neck  for your customer.

If you ask your customers to do something for you, make it as simple and clear as possible. They won’t bother to refer you to anyone if they see they have to fill in multiple forms, use complicated referral links and make any other effort.

The look and feel of each referral programme should be transparent, coherent with its brand, and work in synergy with the brand’s other advertising and marketing programmes. Landing pages or platforms that look different may confuse or even repel your customers.

Don’t hesitate to check the usability of the referral program and ask your friends or family to test it. Ask those people to give honest feedback to the program and point out the areas which need improvement.

It is important to show your clients how to share your referral program links. Don’t assume that your customers know how to share their referral link when they sign up for a referral program. It is always best to guide them through the process. You can create a picture guide or an explainer video showing how to share the link:

  • as a post on social media and on your profile
  • under your YouTube or Facebook videos and in the comments
  • in an email to friends, family and colleagues
  • on the  website or blog and so on.

3. Staff don’t know or understand how exactly your amazing referral program works.

Your staff should be aware of your referral marketing program to explain it to customers. Everyone should understand the referral program, and first and foremost your customer service team members should be able to guide customers through the process and its benefits.

4. Your customers are not crazy about your product.

If your product is not appealing to customers even magic will not make it work. Referral marketing is for companies who have satisfied customers, good products and are confident about their reputation. Before implementing a referral program, fix all the issues with your customer service and product quality. 

Customers will tell you if they are happy, in the form of ratings, public  and social media reviews and direct messages. If they don’t tell you, think of ways to get their feedback and how to fix a broken customer recommendation system. Add NPS (Net Promoter Score) to the list of KPIs to track to identify and please  your most loyal customers and potential brand advocates.

5. Is your customer service lacking?

Excellent customer service plays a major role in the success of a business. It is also the best way to introduce referrals. Ignoring customers’ concerns, comments and questions in emails and on social media will make them feel unvalued. Your dedication to your customers will make them pleased with your service. Sincere and helpful attitude will always give you a competitive advantage.  Take the example of Axa France  which managed to reduce negative comments on the AXA France Facebook page by 53%.”

Exceeding your customers expectations in customer service should be your priority. When your customers have a good experience with your company , they have a desire to talk about your brand. That’s when you can capitalise on their positive experience and introduce your referral programme. By exceeding your customers’ expectations every time, you will gain a powerful competitive edge and stand out from your rivals. Going the extra mile in customer service doesn’t have to be expensive. They can be offered a gift, discount or branded merchandise.

Read about: 12 Tips, Tricks, and Strategies to Redefine the Ultimate Customer Experience

6. Are you offering enough incentives to your customers with your referral program?

Your referral programmes will hit the brick wall if customers are not interested in your offer. Remember that most people want to do as little work as possible. A poor referral bonus, non-motivating bonus will not make them recommend you.

If you have a referral scheme in place, but the engagement is low or close to zero, this is one of the first things to check. Conducting AB tests with different incentives might be a solution until you find a winning combination. Get inspired by the best referral programs and more importantly keep an eye on what your competitors offer.  


Referral rewards and incentives to skyrocket your revenue

Why do you need an incentive in a referral program?

Of course, your most loyal customers will refer you to anyone without being rewarded. But always going an extra mile and exceeding their expectations by rewarding their efforts is something you will be remembered for. 

In general, reward bonuses tend to increase the likelihood of referrals. It gives customers a good reason and pushes them to choose you and to share your brand with others. So instead of passively waiting for your referrals you can scale them and make them more reliable. An important decision to take is who is going to receive the rewards. The rest will be done by one of the referral marketing tools that you will choose to automate the process.

There are a few options for a good referral program incentive:

  • existing customer
  • potential customer (referee)
  • both of them.

If you offer a bonus to an existing customer, chances are high that they will be more inclined to refer  you to others since they receive something for their job. It can also strengthen your relationship with customers and increase retention rate  as well as overall brand loyalty. On the other hand, potential customers may see a double bottom here and doubt the sincerity of existing customers.  In any case this type of bonus is best for new companies with affordable products who are growing their business and brand awareness. 

Offering a bonus to a potential customer, increases the chances of someone to get converted. This way you are increasing your odds of them moving forward in your sales funnel. However, if you leave the existing customers without any incentive they will not actively refer to your business. It might just not be at the top of their mind. Yet, this model is good for subscription business models, frequent or luxury purchases businesses. Rewarding new customers is also popular among SaaS or service companies.

Rewards for both, or a double-sided referral program gives both parties the reason to join you. You do not harm the reputation of your advocates by making them seem self-serving and increase the effectiveness of the whole process. However, some companies simply can’t afford to give out too many rewards at the initial stage. Moreover, tracking the incentives from both sides can multiply their work.

Popular types of rewards

After choosing the recipients, it is time to choose the type of rewards. To make the right choice you should take into consideration the type of your business, kind of products you sell, how often purchases take place, who your customers are and  what rewards would be the most motivating for them. 

This is a list of the most popular rewards for referral programs.

  • Discounts
  • Cash
  • Points
  • Free subscription
  • Donations
  • Gift cards
  • Contests or Giveaways participation
  • Exclusive Event
  • Product Upgrades, etc. 

Top referral marketing tools to use in 2022.

The best way to simplify the workload incurred by putting a referral program into practice is automation. Using special referral marketing tools will simplify your life in many ways. 

The top features from referral marketing tools are:

  • quickly build your own referral program using templates;
  • customize the templates so they go with your brand;
  • implement the software without external help;
  • track and monitor everyone using the referral program;
  • experiment with different reward structures;
  • run several referral campaigns at a time;
  • Prevent frauds;
  • Perform A/B testing;
  • See analytics, etc.

 These are the top referral marketing tools of 2022:

Referral marketing tools will guarantee smooth implementation and running of the campaign as well as a seamless customer journey.

Depending on your budget, desired features, platforms you are using and integration complexity you can choose the  referral marketing tool that is most suitable for your business. The main differences between the tools can be found in the price and packages they offer, fraud prevention option, availability of such features as reports and analytics, possibility of running several campaigns, customer support quality and sales volume requirements. 

Read about The Best Customer Journey Growth Hack of all Time

Convinced to start? Or do you want to speak to one of our experts? Get in touch with The Growth Agency to discuss how referral marketing can increase your revenue.

Growth Hacking on Steroids: A CMO’s Advance Guide to 10Xing Operations

Growth Hacking on Steroids: A CMO’s Advance Guide to 10Xing Operations 1240 520 admin

The human race history is an interesting one. The growth and revolution that occurred had a tremendous influence. It’s the total of that process of growth hacking and evolution that ushered us into the present world.

Humanity started with a different cluster of races that turned into a community. Then turned from a community into society. We now know it as a global village. Through all this time, one of the things that have grown and evolved with humanity is our business activities.

Any startup or business needs to survive in a world where there is a lot of digital globalization. Customer retention is much more important than before.

Traditional methods meant that business owners had to do very little to bring in customers. Now, we run adverts to get their attention and rolling out new product and services.

But things have changed with the content and data-driven marketing strategy which is now known as growth hacking.

Make no mistake, do not let the hacking part of it put you off. Don’t think there is a short cut or a way you can maneuver things to improve your business revenue easily.

The whole process of growth is very rigorous with deep thinking. Not just studying the customer’s needs and wants but also studying the trend, forecasting what could be next. In fact, with growth hacking, you have to work with various departments of the organization.

Growth hacking is the method of testing and carrying out marketing and other relevant strategies. It will enhance the immediate growth of a startup company. The main aim of this is to focus on a particular strategy that will get more customers. Also, keep them while using a low-cost strategy.

Growth Hacking and Marketing

The traditional marketing strategy focuses on doing a lot of analysis, research, and planning before it is implemented. Growth hacking focuses on testing a single plan/hypothesis and sees if it works or not.

Whichever way it goes, this is documented and a new growth method is tried again. It is very important to note that the immediate goal of growth hacking is to help a startup achieve fast market growth. This is done by getting more customers within a short period of time.

The word growth hacking originated from Sean Ellis in 2010. The founder has said that it is all about taking decisions on time with least cost. Therefore, a growth marketer is someone who Sean Ellis has described as “a person whose true north is growth.”

Growth Hacking Techniques

Growth hacking is not a replacement for the inbound type of marketing strategy that is already in place.  Even though it seems like the two strategies are rivals.

What growth hacking is ignoring the process of traditional marketing. Instead, it uses a method that can be tested, tracked and scalable at the same time.

In fact, in an organization, the CMO marketing method can still be operational with a growing team in the startup. Eventually, these strategies can be used by CMO’s to advance their operations as well. Below are some of the basic techniques used:  

  1. Product Marketing
  2. Content Marketing
  3. Advertising

Any of these techniques can be used to ensure the rapid growth of a startup. There are free growth marketing courses available on the internet that you can take.

The Growth Hacking Marketing Funnel

While you put to use the techniques mentioned above to rapidly increase the growth of your startup. Here is the journey that customers take while they are interacting with all the techniques put in place to help your startup grow.

Awareness

The first thing to do is to create awareness, people need to know you and also know what you do. You have to explore different kinds of tactics to make you visible and noticeable in the market. 

Look at your competitors, if you have any. 

Acquisition

Then after creating awareness, the next step in the funneling process is to acquire customers. Before you can do any form of business you need to have a customer base.

You need to get customers and this can be achieved by using different strategies.  Combine advertisement, product marketing, and content marketing. This involves blogging and using social media. 

Conversion

After you have sourced customers, you need them to be repeat business. They need to come back to you time and time again. 

Usually, these customers get converted when they have an interest in your product and services. For example, if you operate a website platform where you offer web design tutorials, they might just be regular visitors to your blog. Some of them get converted by registering on your website to get emails. 

Engagement

Acquire customers and successfully get some of them to become registered users. You need to keep them engaged with your product and services otherwise you lose them.

At least you need them to be engaged with you before they will pay for your product and services. Educate them with what you have to offer.

Why are you the best? Why should they buy from you and not your competitor?

Revenue

Then you need to have your customers that are registered users to upgrade from using your free product. Get them to become paying registered users. As the number of your paying registered users increase, so will your revenue.

You can improve your revenue by making sure that your product and services are of great value. Also explore other revenue optimization options.

Sell a service to your customers that they can’t live without. When the time comes to upgrade from free to paid, they won’t hesitate, providing the cost is correct. 

Retention

You need to have customers that return for the need for your product and services after their first experience. If this does not happen, you either have a one-time business model, or you are not doing something right.

In customer management relationships, the value of an existing customer is worth more than a new customer.

Take care of your customers, consider an aftersales service. 

Referral

When you have a loyal existing customer, they generally tend to recommend or talk about you to their friends and family.

Word of mouth is huge in many industries.

Obviously for this to be achieved you have to motivate them.  They will tell people about your product and services. 

Consider ‘refer a friend’ discounts.

Constant Improvement of Product and Service

Human beings tend to get bored when things are done the same way over and over again. To make sure that your customers keep coming to you, you need to be creative. Also, you need to be innovative. And explore different means of making your customers buy more. 

Cross-sell and upgrade existing customers to your newer products. 

How to Carry out a Growth Hacking Experiment

The first thing you need to do is carry out a marketing audit, do a review of your present marketing strategies. This will help you know what you are doing wrong and also open your eyes to the opportunities around.

Then you need to set SMART goals. Setting goals is an important growth driving strategy that helps to keep you focussed. 

Outline your possible options available. Gather your growth hacking team together. Come up with guesses. Do an analysis of each guess to select the ones that you intend to test.

You can now proceed to experiment with each of the hypotheses your team has outlined. Ensure that the experimenting period is short and you track results.

Document the whole process and share the outcome of each experiment with your team. Both the ones that were successful and the ones that did not do well enough.

CMO’s Advanced Guide to 10Xing Operations

In this section, we will explore some of the tactics that CMO’s use. This is to improve their operations and get more customers.

Value Customers Feedback

The dynamics of business have changed from when customers were not able to give feedback online. Feedback about the product and services that they are getting. The internet has now empowered consumers with so many options.

So, outlive the competition and remain relevant. Ask for your customers’ feedback will help you know what your clients want and what they don’t want.

Be Solution Oriented

Another thing you can do to 10X your operations, ensure that your startup offers solutions that will solve real-world problems. Put yourself in the position of your customers and see things from their perspective and the problems they want to solve.

Learn from Your Competitors

Unless of course, your startup company is doing what has never been done before. If you are a startup that offers solutions that some organizations do already. It is important to learn from them and not see them as a threat.

It is important that you take a cue from the successful ones. Do some of the things they are doing without neglecting your own ingenuity.

Take Advantage of Social Media

One of the best ways you can really get more customers is to have an active social media account. You will retain customers through social media. The truth is that you need to hype a startup company very well.

To be successful at this you need to take full advantage of the social media channels. You highlight your presence on the market and let customers know what you do and how you do it better.

Be Open Minded to New Trends

We live in an age where new trends come up almost every day. One of the things that smart growth hacking marketers do is leverage this trend and use it to the advantage of their start-up brand.

Having a rigid mind towards trends will likely be to your disadvantage. Be open-minded, examine each trend and see the one that you can work with while leaving the others behind.

Use Growth Tools

Another strategy you can use to improve your operations is by using growth hacking tools. Using growth tools helps to cut costs compared to when a paid advertisement is used.

There are a lot of free growth hacking tools that you can use to improve your business. Visit this link to see the arrays of growth tools available to you.

Reward Loyal Customers

One of the best marketing strategies you can also use is to make loyal customers. They keep coming to you by giving out incentives to them.

Think about it this way, one loyal customer has the potential to bring in at least 2 to 5 new customers. Now rewarding these loyal customers will motivate them to continue to do business with you and to also keep referring you.

Coupons and loyalty cards work well. 

Way Forward

To remain relevant in the business community, it is very important you continue to explore all the possible means of rapid growth. 

This rapid growth is needed to ensure that you have a customer base that you can work with. To achieve this feat, use growth hacking.

Take advantage of the growth hacking marketing funnel. This is to sustain and maintain the already achieved successes you are enjoying. And also while acquiring new customers.

Have a growth hacking team in your startup company. This ensures that the growth process continues, to reach more clients and bring in more revenue. 

To know how other organizations have applied this principle, you can read more here.

Contact us for more information, help, and tips for start-ups. 

How Philips Lighting Applied The Growth Hacking Mindset

How Philips Lighting Applied The Growth Hacking Mindset 1240 520 admin

The term growth hacking often gets associated with start-ups. However, large corporations and organisations can also benefit from applying the growth hacking mindset. I talkfed to Gunter Blanckaert, Global Head of Marketing Technology at Philips Lighting, about how he growth hacks a corporation with more than 35.000 employees.

Gunter: “ Being lean and mean in a large organisation isn’t always easy. The majority of the large organisations have a heritage of fixed processes and organisational structures. These are often not adapted to the new way of working and thinking, which often causes delays in the execution of certain digital projects. A good example is a collaboration between marketing and IT: traditionally, these are two separate departments with separate objectives and budgets. However, in the near future, they should work more closely together and represent the same objectives so that both departments don’t become bottlenecks.”

“Our approach is to start small and systematically spread the lean ‘virus’ among colleagues. When you start with small projects and you can show the advantages and results to colleagues and management, it goes without saying. But before you can do such things, you have to create an internal business case. Within the global digital Philips Lighting team we officially started in the beginning of 2016 and now you can see it’s becoming the standard way of working”

What’s your advice for other corporations who want to adopt the growth hacking mindset?

“Dare to learn from others and let the know-hows guide you. Creating a climate of intrapreneurship  where teams are formed by people who get the opportunity to growth hack without having to worry about internal structures and processes”

“We offer the possibility of growth hacking within existing structures (and not starting new ‘growth hacking teams’). Our data analyst, UX expert, Product Owner and IT Manager all work in the same way. They each have their separate teams but work on officials projects together so that they can ensure their projects get the needed attention”

“Once you’ve started growth hacking, make sure your growth hacking activities get enough visibility within the company: write newsletters, inform the senior management and don’t forget the workplace. Make sure you use visuals and link the growth hacking impact to the team’s and company’s objectives.

Which projects are already tackled such way within Philips Lighting?

“Our website is globally present and we’re in touch with many different clients who each have their own specific needs in both B2C and B2B. It’s very important to detect their needs and to find an answer to their question or problems.”

“We are currently running a project in which we look at multiple user flows on our website. Based on data,  we can determine on how we can optimise both conversion and UX. We have already achieved significant successes through data analysis and A / B testing. “

Has the mindset changed within Philips Lighting?

“Absolutely, we usually organize hackathons for large projects. We aim to create the right teams from start in order get the right requirements for the growth hacking teams.”

“Working on an MVP rather than a finished product or service and not thinking in boxes or departments, are positive changes we owe to the growth hacking mindset.

In conclusion: which tree tips would you like to give to companies who want to start growth hacking?

  • Customer Experience and Customer Centricity: today customers/consumers use digital channels to find  solutions to their problems. As an organisation, use all data insights and user interactions to uncover most consumer issues and to find ways to solve them.
  • Keep it small and simple: try to divide large projects into smaller ones with own KPI’s, that way, you can easily measure progress and switch if necessary.
  • Find the people with the right mind, skillset and tools: it’s key to generate speed and impact.

Do you as an organisation want to adopt the growth hacking mindset?

Do you know how to choose the best growth hacking agency?

Dive Deeper

How Do I Find the Best Growth Hacking Agency?

How Do I Find the Best Growth Hacking Agency? 1240 520 admin

Growth hacking isn’t just a new field in marketing. It isn’t just some Silicon Valley buzzword for new age marketers. It has nothing to do with hacking websites either.

It is the marketing game-changer. Companies are now interested in cold, hard figures that translate to revenue, which, at the end of the day, is the goal of any marketing campaign.

But, what exactly is growth hacking and what can it do for your business? How do you choose the best growth hacking agency or growth marketing agency? Is there a formula you can use to separate the wheat from the chaff to get you the results you want?

This guide answers all these questions in great depth. Read on to learn more.

What is Growth Hacking?

Before getting into the textbook description, take a look at these figures. In 2008, Facebook had fewer than 100 million active users. Today, the platform boasts over 2.3 billion monthly active users.

Airbnb exploded from having about 21000 guest arrivals in 2009 to a staggering 200 million guest stays cumulatively to date. But, what do these two companies have in common?

Both were startups that experienced massive exponential growth in under a decade of existence. This is every startup’s dream. To grow ridiculously fast while acquiring millions of dollars in revenue.

The secret to doing that lies in growth hacking. “Growth hacking” is a phrase that was coined by Sean Ellis in 2010. He is the industry’s OG (Original Growth hacker).

Traditional marketing has quite a broad focus. As much as it is fundamental to business growth, its particular skill sets are not required in a startup’s life. For instance concepts like “building and managing a marketing team” or “managing external vendors” are completely unnecessary for startups at that point in their life cycle.

It is a concept that tosses the traditional marketing handbook out the window. That is not to say that it is better than traditional marketing. It is just different.

Growth hacking is the use of marketing strategies that obsessively focus on the singular goal: Growth. It ignores almost everything else at that early point. It gives rise to numerous tools, methods and best practices that don’t exist in the traditional marketing realm.

Redefining Traditional Marketing Terms

While traditional marketing often describes a “product” as a physical item, with the rise of the internet, this term now includes intangible goods like software. This includes digital platforms like Facebook, Airbnb, and Dropbox run on.

The internet has also led to redefining the term “distribution”. In the online sphere, you can think of distribution channels as online roads. Much like their physical counterparts, they direct people to digital businesses.

Some of these include search engines and social media channels. This is the infrastructure that provides the digital highway for product distribution.

Who is a Growth Hacker?

You’ve likely come across the word “hacker” in various contexts. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of the term is a “software hacker.”This is another term for a software engineer – someone who provides technology-based solutions to solve a myriad of problems for businesses.

While growth hackers may possess programming skills, it is not mandatory. They do however use software, databases and application programming interfaces (APIs) to spark company growth. Nevertheless, having an in-depth understanding of technology is the cornerstone of growth hacking.

“Hacking” can also denote the process of gaining unauthorized access to a system. Growth hacking isn’t illegal.

However, it does push the boundaries of what is deemed to be the convention in marketing. Growth hackers look for weakness in the system and exploit them to achieve growth.

A growth hacker has a team which comprises the hacker, a front-end developer, and a back-end developer. The growth hacker (who may or may not be a programmer) steers the ship. They use a set of tools come up with event-based analytics.

This means that all interactions with a product such as signups, referrals, etc., are tracked and resulting data presented. This data is then used to build a good funnel with objectives for the various stages of the conversion process. Growth hackers take analytics very seriously for the simple reason that, they can use them to replicate past successes and predict future growth.

What to Look for in a Growth Hacking Agency

A good growth hacking agency should be able to come up with a clear metrics model based on five main funnel stages. These are:

  • Acquisition – Which are the most effective methods to get people to know your brand by name?
  • Activation – How can you ensure that customers get a memorable first-time experience?
  • Retention – What can you do to ensure they keep coming back for another dose of goodness?
  • Revenue – How do you effectively monetize your traffic?
  • Referral – What can you do to get them to mention your brand to other potential customers?

Getting accurate metrics for each stage of the funnel process will give an aerial view of how the digital marketing strategy is paying off. A growth agency must, therefore, be able to devise a strategy that delivers on these metrics.

This is the key indicator to look out for while choosing a firm to go with. Here are some key factors to consider:

Dive Deeper:

1. Growth Hacking Needs a Team of Creative Problem-Solvers

A growth hacking agency needs to be able to use every possible tool at their disposal to promote your business. No medium is off-limits.

They need to be creative experts who can think outside the box to target a very specific audience. Sometimes the most unlikely ideas deliver the most surprising results.

2. The Agency Should Be Able to Push for Fast Results

Remember, unlike traditional marketing methods, growth hacking doesn’t focus on developing a brand in the long run. Growth marketers are time constrained. Meaning, clients need to see tangible and measurable ROIs within a couple of days, weeks and months.

This makes perfect sense if you think about it since the original idea behind growth hacking was to focus on growing startups which didn’t have money to invest in the traditional marketing methods. A good agency is one that can deliver customers in a quick and affordable fashion.

3. Technological Competence Is a Must

The focus of growth hacking is primarily in the digital realm. This includes everything from social media and search engine optimization (SEO) to videos and gaming design.

It is for this reason that the marketing approach used by your growth hacking agency of choice needs to not only be technologically-driven but, data-driven as well. The team needs to have the ability to extract extremely specific data to steer the process in the correct direction. Guesswork is out of the question.

They have to be able to analyze data in real-time and make the necessary tweaks to optimize the client’s ROI.

4. It Needs to Deliver Captivating Content

It goes without saying that this is the most important part of growth hacking. Content is king. It is the driving force behind every successful marketing campaign.

Whether the content is in form of blogs, videos or audio podcasts, all mediums should be algorithmically tested, highly targeted and optimized for search engines if you hope to make any headway in growing your business. The growth agency that can deliver on this is your best pick.

5. Check on the Team’s Credentials

This is a no-brainer when it comes to choosing a growth hacking agency. After all, these are the people you’ll entrust with the all-important task of taking your business to the next level and quickly at that.

Therefore, ensure you do your homework. Ask for their credentials and references from past companies they’ve worked with.

If it’s a credible firm, you should also be able to easily find reviews online.  This is the stamp of approval you’ll need to ascertain that your company is in excellent and experienced hands.

6. Evaluate the Methodologies They Intend to Use

If your company has an existing marketing team, does your chosen growth agency intend to work hand in hand with them or do they prefer to work independently? If so, are you okay with that arrangement?

Ironing out these details from the get-go is a must if delivery time is important to you. If the growth team has to work with your company’s internal structures, you should know it will slow down the process significantly.

However, it may be a necessary part of the process especially during the experimentation and implementation phases. A good growth agency is one that runs continuous experiments at each stage of the funnel.

It is called an experiment since no one knows the actual outcome of the growth strategies put in place. For instance, if the hypothesis of a given experiment is to show that sending customers more than 1 email a week decreases the click-through-rate of your website, the results have to be backed up with evidence in the form of actual results from an experiment.

7. Find an Agency That Combines Marketing and Business Strategy

Look for growth agencies that have the right mix of professionals with a variety of strengths.

Aside from growth strategists, it should also have SEO and CRO (Content Rate Optimization) specialists, marketing automation experts, data scientists, technical and content marketers. All these different individuals should be able to work together to develop a business growth strategy and a marketing plan that complement each other.

Dive Deeper:

8. It Should Be Able to Effectively Implement the 3 Engines of Growth

Any growth agency that is worth its salt should be able to apply these core hacking techniques to virtually any business of any size. They are reliable and proven techniques that can be used to scale customer acquisition.

The tricky bit is figuring out which of the 3 is suitable for a particular type of company. They are:

Viral

In this model, a company achieves growth by people referring your business to their colleagues, friends, and family. It involves targeting your customers in all the different platforms at your disposal. It requires the company to incentivize the user to introduce more people to the brand.

Sticky

In this model, the agency needs to come up with a way of creating an experience that’s so irresistible, customers can’t help but keep returning for more. Think Facebook for instance.

Paid

This model requires your business to invest a bit of money to land a customer who will eventually be worth substantially more to your business in the long run. This can be seen in long term ROI from highly targeted ads like Google Ads. The cost of customer acquisition (CAC) should be lower than the customer’s lifetime value (LTV).

9. The Right Agency Should Deliver on Your KPIs

Growth hacking is a precise science. You need to define suitable KPIs that the agency needs to deliver if you’re to move forward with it.

For instance, when would you consider the project a success? When you meet the target revenue in digital sales within 1 year while adhering to the allocated budget?

Is it when you enter a new market? The growth agency you decide to go with should be able to do all reporting with these KPIs in mind.

Parting Shot

Choosing the ideal growth hacking agency to work with can be a daunting task. In order to get the best results, you need to find a company with a wealth of experience under its belt.

Use the tools in this guide to find a company that will give you a worthwhile return on your investment. If need to scale your customer base fast, then you need a capable team of scientific marketers to help you do that.

At The Growth Agency, we use data-driven as well as tech-driven growth hacking strategies to help your business reach its goals. Talk to our team of TGA strategists today to see if you qualify for a free growth audit.

In the meantime, read about common PPC mistakes that you’re making that could be costing you thousands of dollars.

The Best Customer Journey Growth Hack of all Time

The Best Customer Journey Growth Hack of all Time 1240 520 admin

Have you ever had a feeling that metrics services like Google Analytics or Heap Analytics work in reverse once you want to start analysing the customer journey?

For example, instead of seeing the actual customer journey on the website you can only track the funnels you set up yourself.

Or seeing the generalised reports instead of single user behaviours unless you purchase a premium Google Analytics subscription (which costs a minimum of 50.000€ per year).

Even when you have a premium GA account, the data is kept in BigQuery servers so you cannot download it on your computer, you can only work within a BigQuery interface.

Knowing patterns of visitor behaviour is crucial for improving different areas of your website performance like UX design, website content, your product itself and its digital representation.

Hotjar recordings can give a lot of insights about

  • user onboarding
  • the journey that you’ve created for your key persona
  • the way your visitors consume content
  • reasons why they stay on or leave particular pages
  • why they exit or return to your website
  • how long and how many sessions it takes to convert.

In the screen grab below, you can see some real life visitor insights that we discovered in the checkout flow of one of our clients: a multinational travel insurance provider.

However, if your website has thousands of visitors every day, analysing the videos one by one might get overwhelming.

While HotJar records every event visitors went through on your website with a timestamp on it, it doesn’t give you an opportunity to download the list in a .csv file to analyse.

Let’s be honest – HotJar cannot compete with Netflix in entertainment  videos. Watching thousands of similar recordings and making notes of the patterns is not the best use of our time either.  It could take literally weeks of full-time work.

But there’s good news!

With the data you collected, it is possible to build clusters of users according to their behaviour.

You can also discover and map typical user journeys and detect behavioural patterns of small groups of visitors. Sounds resourceful, right?

As a data driven agency,we like to analyse all available data so that we have an in-depth understanding of user experience in every interaction with the product or service.

To be able to create insightful growth experiments it is important that we are able to back them with our research findings.

That is why we decided to build a script that discovers typical behaviours of users and places them into groups. And it looks like this:

PS: if reading this article get your spidey senses tingling, give us a call! We’re always looking for data driven marketers to join our nomad agency.

How can you build this script too? Alert: this gets quite technical 🙂

Use the Target column cross-referenced with session ID to build clusters of users according to their journey on the website:

  1. Filter out the sessions shorter than 30 seconds if you haven’t done it before scraping. Work with the rest of the data.
  2. Ask your developer to do cluster analysis using DBSCAN algorithm.

It will sort your visitors in clusters according to pages they visited, places on the page they clicked.

Now you have your behavioural clusters. With this knowledge you will be able to see how user behaviour differs.

You can now get these insights from your website data:

  • Where do they get stuck?
  • What page do they go after they get stuck? How do they decide to find what they need?
  • Do they use a live chat? In what cases?
  • Which pages do they leave quickly and which pages do they stay on?
  • Are there particular sequences of pages that work well?
  • What is the most confusing path on the website?
  • Are they overloaded with information?
  • Are they scanning pages quickly or meticulously reading the content?
  • Is there a particular element on the website that is not used in a way it was intended to be used?
  • Can you notice sequences of pages they go through before conversion?
  • How many sessions it takes them to convert?
  • How long do they stay on average on the website?
  • Is there any way you could make make the conversion path shorter?

Make sure you watch a sufficient sample of videos from each cluster – there are behaviours that you cannot download into the spreadsheet (like cursor movements) that can give you additional ideas.

When you answer those questions, you will come up with ideas on how to improve the visitor journey on the website.

For example, for our customer, a major travel  insurance company, we have noticed that there are two types of visitors – synthetical users are the ones who scan pages and looked at several different products and analytical ones who thoroughly explore one product and follow the funnel step by step.

They behave quite differently – the journey of synthetical users is 2-4 longer as they visit more pages, which means they encounter a lot of information about several insurance policies and have to analyse it and make a decision. We noticed that it was difficult for them and came up with series of experiments to ease the analysis process.

Typical journey of synthetical users

After entering the website users go through initial funnel of questions that form a comparison table of four contracts that suit customer needs best.

Having tendency to scan it quickly without going into details synthetical users prefer to look at the cover details page where the final price is shown at the bottom of the page.

They evaluate 2-4 options but struggle to make the final choice as they forget advantages and disadvantages of the contracts.

Information overload is the main challenge of the consumers of that type.

Typical journey of the analytical users

Analytical visitors on the other hand, consider 1 – 2 options but study them meticulously.

They read all the details of the contract moving cursor under the lines of text. Being responsible shoppers they want to understand how the contract works, getting deep questions that are not answered on the website.

They leave without making a final decision.

The main challenge of analytical users – lack of detailed understanding of the contract.

So what are the growth experiments that we should test based on user behaviour?

Ecommerce checkout flow:

  1. Since synthetical users  check several options before going to the next step in the checkout flow,  it is difficult for them to remember the exact details and prices of the contracts. Therefore we are saving them at the bottom of the page:


Asos is using quite a similar technique to give their valued customers an overview of the products they recently viewed.

2. Showing popular options can also help with decision making of synthetical users:

3. Having an option to save the products  looked at for later can help us retarget the user when they leave the website before finishing the purchase.

Analytical users on the other hand visit fewer pages and  carefully study the details of an offer. They are having a completely different experience within the website. Here are our growth experiments that will help them in the ecommerce checkout flow:  

  1. As analytical users  want to dig deep into the products ,they might benefit from  pop-ups with tips and suggestions about the different products.

  2. A lot of them  of them count different  days on the calendar, so we can add a day counter next to the calendar.

3. A test that we think would be beneficial for both types of users a chatbot that will assist them with during the choice process – it will ask all the details of the trip (like dates, destination, number of travellers etc) and most importantly it will do the comparison process for them explaining their options and suggests contracts that suit  customer’s needs.

Overall, we noticed that for a complicated product like travel insurance, real life and real time help would be beneficial to both types of users.

Both behavioural types  are looking for answers to their questions and they are consuming a lot of information before they buy.

In order to help them in the decision making process, we have created a live chat module and we will install a chatbot to support them by doing the comparison process.

The chatbot will also explain the different options and pick a contract that fits their profile the best.

Don’t have the developing skills, but you are an Excel master? Here’s the second best option in finding behavioural patterns in Hotjar data:

User ID and Session ID – enable you to see how many sessions it took a particular visitor to convert. Watching the videos will give you understanding what made them come back and what features they explored in every session.

If you cross-reference findings with Dates and Times you can calculate length of customers’ experiences with your product to the exact second.

You can filter out the most popular landing and exit pages. Knowing behaviour on exit pages and reasons for leaving will help to create experiments for user retention at the end of the session.

Using Time per session column you can calculate average session time, videos will give you insights on why it takes some visitors longer to convert.

Time per action – knowing how long it takes a user to take a particular action on the website you can eliminate/add areas on the pages to speed up the process.

New to Hotjar? Here’s what you can get out of it as a beginner:

Visitor  heatmaps

  • Soon will be integrated with Google Analytics and allow you to track even more data
  • Has a function of tracking funnels – you can track specific paths on the website and see how many users followed them

  • Has form analysis feature.  Analyses visitor’s experience when then fill-in forms on your website.

It counts number of sessions, interactions, conversion rate, number of drop-off, exact questions on which users drop off, average interaction time.

  • Hotjar enables feedback polls for website visitors

Curious on how we can identify & optimise the customer journey on your website?

Talk to one of our growth strategist to get started!

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