The 9 non-obvious questions to help you craft a unique growth strategy that actually works.

90% of startups fail to acquire new customers.

Why?

The focus on tactics, hacks and channels.

The ignore the hard work.

How do you craft an irresistible acquisition strategy that works.

Don’t make this mistake.

Use these 9 questions to uncover an acquisition strategy that’ll have customers throwing money at you.

Below is a summary of the 9 questions to make a growth strategy that gets results:

1. What is Your Business Model?
2. Do You Have a Seasonal Business?
3. Are You Creating a New Category?
4. What’s Your Customers Context?
5. What’s Your Customer’s Intent?
6. What Get’s Your Customer’s Attention?
7. How Do You Activate New Customers?
8. What is Your Average Order Value?
9. How do People Buy?

Lets get into the details:

Growth Strategy: The Business Questions

1/ What’s Your Business Model?

If 1 purchase / yr then you’re an acquisition based business. You care about a high AOV, ROAS, & conversion rate.

EX: Diamond rings & mattresses.

If 1 purchase / month then you’re a retention business. You care about loyalty & experience.

Example: Beauty brands & Harry’s.

2/ Do you have a seasonal business?

No seasonality. You have constant demand then it’s about always capturing it. Think funeral services or baby brands. Focus on optimization.

High seasonality. Then it’s about engineering demand in the off season or building your list. Think fur coat companies having coat storage services in the summer.

3/ Are you creating a new category?

Yes, then promote the category and your brand will rise with it. Ex: Spanx educating people about shapewear.

If it’s a subcategory then own a persona, use case, or a point of view. Ex: Allbirds

In a saturated market? Then be prepared for a knife fight. Ex: H&M

Growth Strategy: The Business Questions

4/ What context does your customer have?

Early adopters are educated and you sell them on features because they will be switching products for specific reasons.

Fast followers have a problem but don’t know how to solve it. You sell the problem.

To scale with the masses, you focus on education and attention. Edu-tainment wins!

5/ What’s your customer’s intent?

If they are ready to be then get out of their way. Simple funnel. Less storytelling

If they are mixed then collect emails and pre-sell “when they should buy” for a future use case.

If they are cold then just win their interest with your brand story or authority.

6/ What gets your customers attention?

If it’s features then use data, science, speed, etc. to explain your product.

If it’s benefits then focus on the high impact (Save $$$) or high frequency (Save time) use case of the product.

If they care about a transformation then use before and after content.

Growth Strategy: The Offer Questions

7/ How should you activate new customers?

Most will win with a flagship product, feature or use case. Less is more. Make your marketing around the #1 thing.

If it’s about leading with a category or mission then it’s about your persona, your unique perspective, or a lifestyle. Speak the language of your customer or they will leave.

8/ What’s your price point?

Impulse purchase (>$70): Use emotion & instant gratification.
Thoughtful Purchase ($71-$250): Value, features and quality win.
Comparison Purchase (<$250): Sell the point of differentiation.

9/ How do customers buy?

If it’s a subscription then lead with a free option and sell the timeline to enable retention.

If it’s bulk buying or bundles then sell the entire package or the collective value.

If it’s about one product then you can be more focused on the product story / use case.

Summary:

Before you spend money on ads, an agency or higher influencers take a pause.  Ask yourself these 9 questions to ensure you’re focused on the right growth strategy.

Below is a summary of the 9 questions to make a growth strategy:

1. What is Your Business Model?
2. Do You Have a Seasonal Business?
3. Are You Creating a New Category?
4. What’s Your Customers Context?
5. What’s Your Customer’s Intent?
6. What Get’s Your Customer’s Attention?
7. How Do You Activate New Customers?
8. What is Your Average Order Value?
9. How do People Buy?

Good luck out there.  And we’re always here to help with your growth marketing strategy.