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What is Growth Marketing and the Best Tactics to Generate Leads

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Brad Anderson


Generating customer leads is often a top priority for business owners. However, many find it challenging to adopt the right strategy to generate those leads — especially quality ones. So what happens? Sales blame marketing for insufficient or unqualified leads. Then marketing blames sales for being unable to close. It becomes a vicious cycle of underperformance.

Before we get into the tactics, let’s get into general definitions of growth marketing.

What is Growth Marketing?

Growth marketing can simply be described as an area of marketing focused on helping a company grow more rapidly. However, there are different growth marketing nuances that help generate and close leads.

This article will explain the best growth marketing tactics you can implement now to start generating more, better leads.

1. A/B Test for Success

Why did this email perform better than that one? Why isn’t your lead generation form earning the leads you expected? It’s one thing to see that things aren’t working. It’s another to know how to fix it. For this reason, A/B testing plays a significant role in growth marketing. You can grow faster and more efficiently when you actively test for optimization.

Nowhere is this more apparent than lead generation.

Ultimately, everything is testable. But not so fast. Growth marketing always focuses its efforts. Only then can you get more done with less. Follow general rules with this tactic to home in on the testing areas that will make the most significant impact.

Target Low Hanging Fruit

Testing headlines, CTAs, and landing page elements on your lead forms will deliver some of the fastest and most obvious winners. And what’s more, you can take what you learn here. Then, apply it throughout your funnel and marketing strategy.

Case in point, simply improving your headlines can increase the open or view rate by 100%. Now, you’ve got their attention. Then, you can work out from that to increase your conversion rate drastically.

Identify Leakage

If you’re noticing some funnel leakage in a part of your sales funnel, take a closer look. First, see if you can figure out what the hang-up might be. Now, test it. Fixing this one funnel leak with A/B testing can net a huge improvement in lead-generation potential.

At the same time, don’t focus on things already running reasonably smoothly. Double-back to testing those “good” areas you want to make “great” after addressing these quick wins.

Make It Significant

In scientific terms, your result is only significant if the result is beyond the possibility of chance. Make sure your impact is substantial by limiting variables that could influence the outcome, such as seasonality. And make a considerable change. Be sure that one thing you change is very different.

In other words, you probably shouldn’t be testing slight variations in shades of orange for your CTA button. What’s the point? That’s fine-tuning you can do later.

2. Get the Most Out of Your Omni Channel Presence

According to Forbes, omnichannel marketing produces a measly 9% customer churn rate. Now, compare that to those heavily focused on two to three channels losing as many as 66% of their new customers. Yikes!

You recognize that people typically engage with brands across platforms. Well, omnichannel allows you to meet your target audience where they are. These platforms can include your website plus a variety of social media sites, email, review sites, ads, remarketing, and, yes, influencer content.

Increasing your visibility across channels gives people more opportunities to see and interact with your brand. The posting frequency in your media can build affinity and trust — and assists your brand in growing on so many levels. All of that equals more and better leads.

Just look at how this growth marketing tactic supports outrageous lead generation from top of funnel to bottom and back again.

Potential Customer

Those new to your brand see others interacting. They want to know what’s happening. These interactions equal instant credibility because many people appreciate your content and brand. This translates to social proof that tells people you’re “alright.” And maybe not just alright, but “fabulous.” Who doesn’t want to be fabulous?

Now, enter your lead magnet stage right. Because of this “instant” trust and interest you’ve generated across platforms, this person who was until recently a stranger wants to sign up for the experience they see others having.

Lead Nurturing

Once a casual fan becomes a lead, you have a greater ability to track how they respond to content to personalize the customer experience. For example, combining email segmentation with automation generates custom experiences automatically. And you can do it with less work and greater efficacy than possible manually. Combine this with ongoing omnichannel engagement that furthers the customer journey. Now, you have a delighted customer in the making.

And that’s not all. We are talking about generating leads here, after all.

You have a greater understanding of the actions of this person across channels. So now, you’ll know the moment they shift from being a qualified marketing lead (MQL) to a sales qualified lead (SQL). Then, add some lead scoring analytics and automation to hand this lead off to sales automatically. Wow! You just achieved perfect timing. Sales and marketing are working together — creating a rewarding and productive team experience.

Promoter Activity

Through this growth marketing tactic, you’ve set yourself up for success. People are saying great things about you on TrustPilot, Google, Facebook, and Yelp. And we’re back to generating quality leads again. The benefits of omnichannel just came full circle.

But you may be saying, this all sounds nice. In a perfect world, of course, you’d want to be everywhere. But there’s a little thing called limited time and limited resources. So how is this even possible unless you’ve got a corporate mega-budget?

How to Create an Omnichannel Experience

First, realize you won’t build it overnight. You’ll develop a growth marketing strategy that lays out your plan to create an omnichannel presence. Start with the basics. Make sure your website is fast and mobile-friendly. Identify which channels your target audience uses.

If you’re selling athleisure, maybe LinkedIn isn’t the place for that. Or perhaps it’s perfect. So start collecting customer data to learn which type of marketing platform is your sweet spot.

Research and deploy automation wherever you can. Utilize it to collect better customer data, so you can streamline and grow your omnichannel experience. Leverage it to personalize the customer experience, lead generation, and lead nurturing. Automation can have a hefty price tag, but there’s a reason companies license it. It can turn the efforts of one person into 5.

Above all, keep your focus on the customers. You’re planting the seeds. But they’re the fertilizer that helps a community grow.

3. Partner with Other Businesses

When you partner with other businesses, you pool resources and can achieve results you wouldn’t have as a lone entity. You can hire a growth marketing agency that already has many of these growth marketing relationships in place, or you can build things out on your own. You can reach new audiences for less. And you’ll build trust quickly with your target audience. After all, if business X trusts you, why shouldn’t these potential customers? That translates to more leads.

The truth is that business marketing partners can come in many shapes and sizes. The three most important in growth marketing are partnership marketing, influencer marketing, and customer community building.

Partnership Marketing

Share it if your business and another business are on a reasonably even playing field, and you both have similar audience makeup. You can mutually-beneficially leverage this relationship in several ways. For example, consider cross-promoting events and products. Engage in social sharing or email blasting for each other’s announcements. Or why not co-produce webinars and events?

Influencer Marketing

If you’re partnering with a business with a more significant following than you, this would be influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is a $15 billion industry in 2022. No industry reaches that size unless it’s getting results for the businesses investing in it.

In the case of influencer marketing, you have a power differential. The influencer has something you want — an audience. You have something the influence wants — a willingness to pay for their expert visibility. But is it worth it? Well, 130 million people click on the paid content of influencers every month. Working with the right influencer generates leads and becomes the catalyst for incredible growth.

Community-Building

Some of your most incredible business partnerships can come from your customers. Proactively managing the customer relationship can blossom into a full-blown community of people who enjoy interacting with your brand. But what’s more important is the fact that they interact with each other and new customers.

You get genuine customer feedback from people who want to see your brand prosper and grow within your community. By fostering communication and connection across channels, you can turn your community into an extension of your customer support team.

If a potential or new customer has a question or problem with the product, they can reach you across channels. But they can also turn to this community for support.

When a customer can reach out to you across channels and find support in a like community, it works together for an overall dynamic customer experience that attracts new customers. It convinces them to become a part of your community. As a result, you generate more leads.

Growth Marketing Tactics Generate Leads

There’s no denying it. These tactics can help you generate more and better leads. Improve your lead generation through A/B testing. Invest in omnichannel experience customers love. And partner with others to amplify your lead generation potential. What other lead-generation tactics do you use? Comment below.

Image Credit: by Anna Nekrashevich; Pexels; Thanks!

Brad Anderson

Editor In Chief at ReadWrite

Brad is the editor overseeing contributed content at ReadWrite.com. He previously worked as an editor at PayPal and Crunchbase. You can reach him at brad at readwrite.com.

Politics

Fintech Kennek raises $12.5M seed round to digitize lending

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Google eyed for $2 billion Anthropic deal after major Amazon play


London-based fintech startup Kennek has raised $12.5 million in seed funding to expand its lending operating system.

According to an Oct. 10 tech.eu report, the round was led by HV Capital and included participation from Dutch Founders Fund, AlbionVC, FFVC, Plug & Play Ventures, and Syndicate One. Kennek offers software-as-a-service tools to help non-bank lenders streamline their operations using open banking, open finance, and payments.

The platform aims to automate time-consuming manual tasks and consolidate fragmented data to simplify lending. Xavier De Pauw, founder of Kennek said:

“Until kennek, lenders had to devote countless hours to menial operational tasks and deal with jumbled and hard-coded data – which makes every other part of lending a headache. As former lenders ourselves, we lived and breathed these frustrations, and built kennek to make them a thing of the past.”

The company said the latest funding round was oversubscribed and closed quickly despite the challenging fundraising environment. The new capital will be used to expand Kennek’s engineering team and strengthen its market position in the UK while exploring expansion into other European markets. Barbod Namini, Partner at lead investor HV Capital, commented on the investment:

“Kennek has developed an ambitious and genuinely unique proposition which we think can be the foundation of the entire alternative lending space. […] It is a complicated market and a solution that brings together all information and stakeholders onto a single platform is highly compelling for both lenders & the ecosystem as a whole.”

The fintech lending space has grown rapidly in recent years, but many lenders still rely on legacy systems and manual processes that limit efficiency and scalability. Kennek aims to leverage open banking and data integration to provide lenders with a more streamlined, automated lending experience.

The seed funding will allow the London-based startup to continue developing its platform and expanding its team to meet demand from non-bank lenders looking to digitize operations. Kennek’s focus on the UK and Europe also comes amid rising adoption of open banking and open finance in the regions.

Featured Image Credit: Photo from Kennek.io; Thank you!

Radek Zielinski

Radek Zielinski is an experienced technology and financial journalist with a passion for cybersecurity and futurology.

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Fortune 500’s race for generative AI breakthroughs

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Deanna Ritchie


As excitement around generative AI grows, Fortune 500 companies, including Goldman Sachs, are carefully examining the possible applications of this technology. A recent survey of U.S. executives indicated that 60% believe generative AI will substantially impact their businesses in the long term. However, they anticipate a one to two-year timeframe before implementing their initial solutions. This optimism stems from the potential of generative AI to revolutionize various aspects of businesses, from enhancing customer experiences to optimizing internal processes. In the short term, companies will likely focus on pilot projects and experimentation, gradually integrating generative AI into their operations as they witness its positive influence on efficiency and profitability.

Goldman Sachs’ Cautious Approach to Implementing Generative AI

In a recent interview, Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti revealed that the firm has not yet implemented any generative AI use cases. Instead, the company focuses on experimentation and setting high standards before adopting the technology. Argenti recognized the desire for outcomes in areas like developer and operational efficiency but emphasized ensuring precision before putting experimental AI use cases into production.

According to Argenti, striking the right balance between driving innovation and maintaining accuracy is crucial for successfully integrating generative AI within the firm. Goldman Sachs intends to continue exploring this emerging technology’s potential benefits and applications while diligently assessing risks to ensure it meets the company’s stringent quality standards.

One possible application for Goldman Sachs is in software development, where the company has observed a 20-40% productivity increase during its trials. The goal is for 1,000 developers to utilize generative AI tools by year’s end. However, Argenti emphasized that a well-defined expectation of return on investment is necessary before fully integrating generative AI into production.

To achieve this, the company plans to implement a systematic and strategic approach to adopting generative AI, ensuring that it complements and enhances the skills of its developers. Additionally, Goldman Sachs intends to evaluate the long-term impact of generative AI on their software development processes and the overall quality of the applications being developed.

Goldman Sachs’ approach to AI implementation goes beyond merely executing models. The firm has created a platform encompassing technical, legal, and compliance assessments to filter out improper content and keep track of all interactions. This comprehensive system ensures seamless integration of artificial intelligence in operations while adhering to regulatory standards and maintaining client confidentiality. Moreover, the platform continuously improves and adapts its algorithms, allowing Goldman Sachs to stay at the forefront of technology and offer its clients the most efficient and secure services.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Google DeepMind; Pexels; Thank you!

Deanna Ritchie

Managing Editor at ReadWrite

Deanna is the Managing Editor at ReadWrite. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.

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Politics

UK seizes web3 opportunity simplifying crypto regulations

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Deanna Ritchie


As Web3 companies increasingly consider leaving the United States due to regulatory ambiguity, the United Kingdom must simplify its cryptocurrency regulations to attract these businesses. The conservative think tank Policy Exchange recently released a report detailing ten suggestions for improving Web3 regulation in the country. Among the recommendations are reducing liability for token holders in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and encouraging the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to adopt alternative Know Your Customer (KYC) methodologies, such as digital identities and blockchain analytics tools. These suggestions aim to position the UK as a hub for Web3 innovation and attract blockchain-based businesses looking for a more conducive regulatory environment.

Streamlining Cryptocurrency Regulations for Innovation

To make it easier for emerging Web3 companies to navigate existing legal frameworks and contribute to the UK’s digital economy growth, the government must streamline cryptocurrency regulations and adopt forward-looking approaches. By making the regulatory landscape clear and straightforward, the UK can create an environment that fosters innovation, growth, and competitiveness in the global fintech industry.

The Policy Exchange report also recommends not weakening self-hosted wallets or treating proof-of-stake (PoS) services as financial services. This approach aims to protect the fundamental principles of decentralization and user autonomy while strongly emphasizing security and regulatory compliance. By doing so, the UK can nurture an environment that encourages innovation and the continued growth of blockchain technology.

Despite recent strict measures by UK authorities, such as His Majesty’s Treasury and the FCA, toward the digital assets sector, the proposed changes in the Policy Exchange report strive to make the UK a more attractive location for Web3 enterprises. By adopting these suggestions, the UK can demonstrate its commitment to fostering innovation in the rapidly evolving blockchain and cryptocurrency industries while ensuring a robust and transparent regulatory environment.

The ongoing uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrency regulations in various countries has prompted Web3 companies to explore alternative jurisdictions with more precise legal frameworks. As the United States grapples with regulatory ambiguity, the United Kingdom can position itself as a hub for Web3 innovation by simplifying and streamlining its cryptocurrency regulations.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Jonathan Borba; Pexels; Thank you!

Deanna Ritchie

Managing Editor at ReadWrite

Deanna is the Managing Editor at ReadWrite. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.

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