Growth is a really important aspect of any business. If a business cannot grow along with the market, then it will stagnate and eventually end. This is more important for start-ups as they are very vulnerable due to being new and small.
A good growth strategy is important for them to succeed. The hallmarks of a great growth policy are that it is scalable and has long-term benefits.
Now, you cannot just pick up any type of growth strategy and expect it to work. There are good tactics and bad tactics. What business owners need to realize is that any tactic applied in the wrong circumstances can result in financial loss.
But we are here to guide you on how to create a good growth strategy for your start-up.
Tips for Creating a Scalable Growth Strategy
These are a few tips that you can use to create a suitable growth strategy for your start-up.
1. Outsource/Invest in SEO
One of the most cost-effective and useful growth strategies is to invest in SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a blanket term for all activities that make a website appear higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs). This isn’t the best definition for it, but it conveys the concept nicely.
It allows you to make your online platform more visible to people. The internet is the largest source of revenue for any business because it has the highest potential for outreach. With SEO, you can tap into that potential and increase your market share. With more market share, you will get larger profits and that will enable your start-up to start scaling.
Without SEO, you cannot hope to market your business online successfully. So, it should be high up on your priority list.
If you are not confident in your own capabilities, then you can outsource your SEO to experts. Experts in SEO can handle all your technical SEO, on-page SEO, and even off-page SEO if you want. However, you will have to pay them quite a bit. This may seem expensive at first, but you can rest assured that the benefits will far outweigh the costs.
2. Capitalize on Email and Mobile Marketing
Email marketing may be an old practice, but nobody can deny its effectiveness. However, you cannot simply utilize standard email marketing. You have to supplement it with other techniques.
That’s where mobile marketing comes in. In 2022, almost 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. That means that any emails you write should take into account that they will be read on a phone.
So, you need to format your emails for maximum readability on a phone screen. That means the paragraphs should be short and concise. Don’t drag the topic for too long, say what you have to, and end the email with a good CTA (call to action).
You can also invest in mobile marketing by sending promotional SMS to your prospects or even cold calling on their numbers. You should also optimize any ads you have posted for viewing on mobile phones.
Doing all of this will improve your exposure, generate more leads, and ultimately lead to growth.
3. Focus On Content Marketing
Content marketing is actually part of SEO as well, but it holds so much importance that it needs to be discussed separately.
Basically, SEO consists of two sub-categories; on-page SEO, and off-page SEO. Content written for blogs is part of on-page SEO. It targets specific keywords so that it can raise the rank of the webpage.
Now, this content cannot help SEO at all if it is not unique and valuable. If it is plagiarized in some way, then the search engines will penalize it. And if it’s not valuable, then the audience will not engage with it.
So, when you do invest in content marketing, make sure that you utilize a plagiarism checker free to find any instance of duplication. Then, you can remove it to prevent search engines from penalizing it.
Content marketing is widely known for having long-term benefits, but you must keep in mind that this is only true if the content is:
· Evergreen.
· Frequently updated.
· Plagiarism-free and useful.
Content marketing can help you create brand-following and regular clients.
4. Monitor KPIs to Measure Growth
Last but not least, you have to decide on measurable key performance indicators (KPIs). Monitoring KPIs lets you see if you are actually growing or not. Now, what kind of KPIs need to be monitored depends on the type of business. It also depends on who is heading the business, because people have different priorities. What may be important to one may not be as important to another.
So, think long and hard about what kind of KPIs will let you monitor your growth. Of course, you should use some tools that let you monitor them as well. Some of the most common metrics that are measured by a lot of businesses are:
· Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
· Customer lifetime value (LV)
· Conversion rate
· Gross profit margin
And there are plenty of others as well. Changes in the KPIs let you identify if your strategies are working or not. A sizeable improvement means your current strategies are successful while deterioration means that you should modify them.
Conclusion
Devising a perfect growth strategy is not very easy. One needs to be an expert in their niche, and one also needs to have the marketing knowledge to expand their reach. Of course, what you can’t do yourself, you can hire others to do for you. But for start-ups, that can be a bit difficult.
This is why start-ups need to be self-sustaining for a while until they have enough capital to start outsourcing. Obviously, the one exception to his rule is SEO. That is something you can start outsourcing even during the starting phase.
By following the methods discussed in this article, you can have a good idea as to where you need to start in order to create the perfect growth strategy.
