Ever felt like you’re stuck playing marketing roulette? Spinning wheels of random tactics, hoping one might land a jackpot? If so, you're not alone. The digital marketing world is brimming with advice - growth hacks, viral tactics, secret tricks - but here's a little secret: sustainable business growth isn't about chasing random wins. It’s all about nailing down the right process.
As growth expert Brian Balfour famously says, “It has nothing to do with tactics. It has everything to do with process.”
So, let's crack open this "growth machine" and peek inside.
Why Focus on Process Over Tactics?
Imagine borrowing your friend's shoes. They might look great, but unless they fit your size, you'll trip. Growth tactics work the same way. Every business has a unique audience, product, and business model. Just because TikTok ads exploded your buddy's sales doesn’t guarantee the same for you. Simply put: what works for others won’t automatically work for you.
Sustainable Growth Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Remember, growth isn't about hitting one home run; it's a cumulative effort. Think of it mathematically: Growth = sum(Experiment 1, 2, 3, …X). Each small, well-executed experiment stacks up, leading you to a robust growth strategy. Forget the mythical silver bullet; real growth happens one test at a time.
Keep Up with Constant Change
Ever noticed how fast the digital landscape shifts? Algorithms update, user behaviors evolve, and what worked yesterday might flop tomorrow. To keep up, your process must be nimble. A rigid tactic is a sitting duck in a dynamic world. A good growth process stays flexible, adapting swiftly to every twist and turn.
Building the Growth Machine
Think of your growth process as building a machine—predictable, scalable, and repeatable. Once in place, your machine systematically generates effective tactics. To put it plainly, the machine produces the tactics; the process builds the machine.
Goals for a Winning Growth Process
Your growth machine should tick these four boxes:
- Rhythm: Build momentum from consistent successes and meaningful failures.
- Learning: Continuously upgrade your knowledge about your audience, product, and marketing channels.
- Autonomy: Empower your team to independently pursue impactful ideas.
- Accountability: Learn from every outcome—celebrate the hits, dissect the misses.
The Proven Six-Step Growth Process
Ready to fire up your growth engine? Here's how you do it:
1. Brainstorm (Build Your Backlog)
Forget vague goals like "increase sales." Instead, brainstorm inputs - like improving checkout flow or optimizing onboarding emails. Pro tip: good brainstorming means questioning everything. Ask “Why?” repeatedly until you find core issues. Channel your inner detective!
2. Prioritize (Choose Wisely)
Not every idea deserves attention. Rank your ideas based on their potential impact, the probability they'll succeed (backed by solid data), and the resources needed. Each idea becomes a clear hypothesis:
“If successful, [Variable] will increase by [Impact], because [Assumptions].”
Make your assumptions explicit—back them up with data or educated guesses. Write this down in your "Experiment Doc."
3. Test (Minimum Viable Tests, MVT)
This isn't about building rocket ships—yet. It's about conducting a Minimum Viable Test (MVT), the simplest experiment that tests your hypothesis. If you suspect that a clearer product description boosts conversions, change just that. Run lean, learn fast.
4. Implement (Do the Work!)
No more pondering. You've planned; now execute. Get your team energized. As we love to say: "Get shit done!"
5. Analyze (Find Out Why)
When the results roll in, don’t just measure success or failure. Dig deeper. Ask the critical question: “Why did we get these results?” The insights here are golden. Document everything—results, impacts, surprises—in your Experiment Doc.
6. Systemize (Create Playbooks)
When you strike gold with a successful experiment, don’t just celebrate—systematize! Automate when possible and create detailed playbooks for replicable success. This ensures your growth doesn't rely on fleeting luck but becomes reliably repeatable.
Essential Documents to Keep You on Track
Your growth machine runs on these documents:
- Backlog: A bucket of all experiment ideas.
- Pipeline: A tracker of ongoing and completed experiments.
- Experiment Doc: Your detailed records covering objectives, hypotheses, outcomes, and lessons.
- Playbooks: Step-by-step instructions to reproduce successful tactics.
Weekly Workflow to Maintain Momentum
A consistent weekly rhythm is crucial. Schedule a regular "Growth Meeting" to discuss learnings, evaluate results, and set upcoming tests. Keep the cycle humming: predict, prioritize, implement, analyze, and systemize.
Quarterly Check-Up: Macro Optimization
Regularly zoom out to see how your machine performs:
- Accuracy: How often are your hypotheses correct? Improve your batting average.
- Throughput: How many experiments are you running? Optimize for efficiency.
- Success Ratio: Is your ratio of successful to failed experiments improving? Celebrate those wins, learn from the losses.
Growth Is Not Magic, It's Methodical
So next time you're tempted by the latest "surefire hack," remember this: lasting growth is about creating a robust, flexible process—not chasing viral fads.
Master the process, and you'll turn your business into a predictable, unstoppable growth machine. Who needs luck when you've got science on your side?