Important principles when you are marketing for rapid growth

Is your business in a phase of rapid growth, or intending to enter one?

That would put you in elite company. Only around 6% of businesses can report rapid organic growth (more than 10% annually). It is very difficult to achieve, and even more difficult to achieve sustainably.

Source: McKinsey,Ten Rules of Growth

If you are growing your business quickly, one key pillar of rapid growth and long-term business health is a joined-up and aligned marketing strategy. Here is why, and how to create one.

Long-term growth marketing: Don’t run out of customers

A rapid growth strategy involves high-volume customer acquisition, but unless your marketing strategy is extremely well designed and executed, that approach can threaten the long-term health of your business.

A typical target market will divide as follows: 5% are actively looking for a solution, 95% are not ready to buy.

When you are experiencing rapid growth or aiming for it, it is tempting to relentlessly pursue new deals, but if you do that at the expense of 95% of your customer acquisition, there is a serious risk that you run out of prospects.

Targeting your messaging only to those who are searching for solutions mean that you can burn through the 5% without cultivating the 95%. Then you risk having no pipeline, and your growth coming to a sudden halt.

By all means pick the low-hanging fruit, but don’t forget to plant more seeds. Make sure you have marketing that will build your brand and cater to the whole customer journey, and you can avoid a sudden stall in your growth.

The powerful combination of storytelling, design, thought leadership and SEO

There is no chance of rapid growth unless you stand out from the crowd.

To become clients or customers, businesses have to know that you exist, and find a reason to give you their attention. There is no more powerful combination to achieve that than design, storytelling, thought leadership, and SEO. Here is why.

Design

You can communicate huge amounts about your brand through imagery and branding. Your design can capture someone’s attention instantly, elevate your brand, and reassure visitors to your website that you are a trustworthy partner.

Storytelling

Stories make you memorable. In fact, they could make you seven times more memorable. How do you tell them in a way that resonates, builds trust, and grows your pipeline? Here’s our guide.

Thought Leadership

According to Edelman, 64% of business buyers trust thought leadership more than marketing materials, and 63% think thought leadership is important proof of a vendor’s expertise. Here’s Nutcracker’s guide to thought leadership that grows businesses.

SEO

If people are searching for answers, you need to make sure they get the answer from you. If you are marketing online, then SEO must be part of your core strategy, or you will probably go unnoticed. The 5% of people who are looking to buy right now are likely searching for services, orlooking to learn about solving their problems. Do not let your competitors steal the limelight.

Rapid business growth through Sales and Marketing Alignment

Business growth accelerates when Sales and Marketing are aligned.

This is more than just agreeing criteria for leads. It is about working as one coherent business function. Rather than behaving as separate departments that pass the baton of a lead, Sales and Marketing should act like one team.

When Marketing are receptive to feedback from Sales, who speak to prospects, they can generate more leads by refining their messaging accordingly. When Sales give kudos and acknowledgement to the role of Marketing in their closed deals, Marketing will find it easier to collaborate.

Most importantly, Sales and Marketing both take empathy and curiosity, as well as incredible communication skills and a deep understanding of human decision-making. When they are incentivised and treated similarly, growth ramps up.

The added bonus is that when that alignment closes more deals, it generates more and better case studies, which are extremely useful tools for closing deals when prospects are in the later stage of the pipeline.

How to begin, protect, or accelerate your growth

Nutcracker was founded to grow businesses. We are not the sort of marketing agency that pats itself on the back just for being clever or creative — we are only happy when we are increasing your revenue.

We create and sustain meaningful growth through a genuinely joined-up approach to marketing:

• We devise Marketing Strategies that start with ‘why?’ and end with results.
• We write Content that cuts through the noise and answers your prospects’ questions.
• We use Design to capture the imagination and your identity.
• We produce Digital campaigns that bring the prospects to you.
• We run Lead Generation programmes that fill your pipeline.
• We create Social Media that builds and engages loyal communities.

Most importantly, we deliver results. If you want to take your growth into a higher gear, get in touch to find out if we are a good fit. It’s jenny.knighting@nutcrackeragency.com.