As we talk about growth marketing, it is inevitable to think about taking holistic approaches regarding the business. Rather than having a marketing department focused on the brand image, the products, the services, and how to increase sales, growth marketing also considers efficiency and all other aspects of driving revenue.
It requires executives to be true strategists, thinking much more broadly about the industry and understanding much more deeply about the different areas of the company and their impact on the business. It is moving from the traditional attract, engage, and retain customers to ongoing experimentation and iteration with them, in different spaces, oftentimes simultaneously. This is something that can only be done with the right data being collected and the right questions being asked.
Here I propose we borrow some concepts from a neighboring discipline, psychology. Regardless of what we are selling, we are talking about human beings. Understanding how they (and us, on this side of the counter!) think and behave, and what motivates them (and us!), can definitely help boost any strategy.
According to Carol Dweck, who has studied the mindset of students for over 30 years, those who believe they can become smarter understand that effort will make them stronger, so they double down on time and effort to achieve what they want. This illustrates what a growth mindset is: the understanding that our abilities can be developed.
It is said that organizations can highly benefit from teams with a growth mindset, as they will feel more prepared to take certain risks, will collaborate more than compete, and will foster a learning environment in the workplace.
Applying a Growth Mindset to the Idea of Growth Marketing Strategies
Now let us be creative and apply the growth mindset idea to growth marketing strategies.
Here are a couple of things we can learn from this game.
- When a campaign fails, a fixed mindset (or traditional marketer) could assume “I tried, I failed, this does not work. Let’s cancel it, it’s pointless to have all this data.” Whereas a growth mindset marketer would say “we should just try a different approach to the data. Ask a different question. We are experimenting and learning, isn’t failure a part of it? Let’s create a post-mortem.” We immediately become smarter about data. Reviewing the ways you are connecting the pieces of information is less expensive than reviewing your whole strategy, to begin with.
- Another traditional marketer (fixed mindset) may suggest that only data coming from a certain area are relevant for that particular campaign. They might argue that other information will overload the strategy and cause noise. Well, a growth mindset marketer would then disagree, suggesting that collaboration is usually the best choice. The more, the merrier. More mistakes and more learning will lead to more success and more revenue. People’s preferences and interests are nuanced, so combining data sets is very smart if you want to be relevant.
- It is not easy to change any behavior. The same goes for changing business approaches. It depends on other people, the environment, and motivation, and requires conscious actions to be repeated over and over.
- If there is one thing to change today, think about expanding both your teams’ mindsets and your marketing strategies. The combination of growth mindsets with growth marketing is a killer one in today’s competitive scene, and you will only win.
Lead image source.