From Good To Great: The Growth Playbook You’ve Been Waiting For 👾

👋🏽 Welcome to Growth Marketing: ON, where I share tips and insights to supercharge your marketing strategy, based on my 20+ years experience in sales and marketing.

Product-Market Fit Comes First (and Fast)

You’ve heard it a million times, but it’s worth repeating: nail product-market fit. Not eventually, not when things slow down, right now.

Here’s why: Your product-market fit isn’t just a milestone; it’s your foundation. Without it, every $$ you spend on marketing, every ounce of energy you pour into scaling, is wasted.

🔍 Quick exercise: Ask yourself (and your team):

• Are our customers coming back for more, or are we spending all our time chasing new ones?

• What feedback are we hearing, and are we acting on it quickly enough?

💡Pro tip: If you’re not getting product-market fit feedback in days or weeks, tighten your loops. Talk to your customers relentlessly.

Retention Is Your Secret Weapon

You’ve probably seen the stats: acquiring a new customer costs 5x more than retaining an existing one. But retention isn’t just about saving money, it’s about building loyalty, trust, and long-term growth.

Retention is easier than you think. Sometimes, it’s the small gestures like quick responses, anticipating needs, celebrating your customers’ milestones that create an emotional connection.

🌟 Example: One startup I worked with saw retention spike by 22% by having support reps calling 1st time customers after their subscriptions. It cost them nothing but created a long lasting positive impression for the customers.

🔍 Quick exercise: Ask yourself (and your team):

• What are we doing today to make our customers feel valued?

• How can we add moments of delight into their journey?

Build a Brand, Not Just a Product

Let’s be real here, market real: your product is important, but it’s not everything. In markets where competition is fierce, customers don’t just buy products; they buy stories and values.

Tesla’s account has 23M followers on X. Elon Musk has 206M.

Think about the brands you love most. Is it just the product you’re drawn to? Or is it the way they make you feel, the vision they stand for, the problems they’re solving?

💡 Actionable tip: Spend a day with your team crafting (or refining) your brand story. Ask:

• Why do we exist?

• What do we stand for?

• How do we want our customers to describe us to their friends?

A strong brand not only attracts customers, it keeps them loyal.

Stay Lean, but Stay Smart

Being a startup founder means wearing many hats, and often, budgets are tight. But remember: you don’t have to do everything. In fact, trying to do too much can hurt you.

The most successful startups I’ve worked with know when to say no, when to automate, and when to double down on what works.

📊 Quick win: Identify your top-performing growth channel and focus 80% of your resources there. Whether it’s paid ads, partnerships, or content marketing, go all-in where you see positive ROI.

Remember: Lean doesn’t mean scattered, it means laser-focused.

Download my recap carousel below ⤵️

I’d love to hear from you:

• What’s your biggest challenge heading into 2025?

• What growth strategies are you doubling down on?

Hit reply and share your thoughts, I read every response.

💜 If you found this useful, share it with a fellow founder or marketer.