Building your business growth playbook.
As business leaders look for new areas for business growth, they always find the same three levers to pull - go to market strategy, the consumer experience and the business model. Each of which are the problem and the solution for massive growth.
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The evolution of the business growth playbook that not only succeeds today, but sustains tomorrow has a lot of the same players that we’ve seen before. However, business leaders are taking a fresh look at these core elements and maximizing them for success in today’s business environment. They are now starting with the consumer and identifying their needs and wants. They then look at data, technology and value propositions to ensure that all are working to satisfy the consumer. Finally, they activate everything around the core elements of their integrated business growth playbook.
“Every digital transformation is going to begin and end with the customer, and I can see that in the minds of every CEO I talk to.”
The core elements of a successful brand growth strategy in today’s marketplace are the go to market approach, the consumer experience and the business model. Within each are various levers to pull to not only maximize growth potential today, but create sustainable growth tomorrow. Over the next couple weeks, we will explore these in more detail, but wanted to paint a high level view of what’s to come.
As we look through these elements we have to remember that in today’s business environment here will always be a level of:
Real time integration across the business
Data modeling and tracking for opportunities to learn and personalize
Product / service design that lends itself to a larger value propositions
All of which we’ll discuss along the journey.
Go to Market Strategy
As the foundational element in business growth, the go to market strategy that today’s business leaders in activate is an opportunity to truly understand and engage the core audience. They then create pathways and experiences that add value and connection to each audience member. This give the company the power to be extremely targeted and efficient with their communications and media spend - while using techniques that make it simple and exciting for audience members to become or stay engaged in the brand, product or service. These techniques are a combination of strategy, technology, data modeling and creative messaging to build the personalized value for an audience member to see the value and take action. Once an action is taken, a company will maintain the interest by creating personalized pathways to keep the consumer engaged and excited for the brand, product or service, offering up opportunities to engage deeper until purchase or service.
Consumer Experience
The next level strategy for business growth is looking at, optimizing and enhancing the consumer experience. This is a bloated term in today’s marketplace, but business leaders define it as the journey or experience a consumer has to take in order to notice, learn about, purchase and own a brand, product or service their company provides. Depending on the industry, product or service, this consumer experience will vary greatly - but there are somethings that are consistent. While enhancing the consumer experience business leaders will look for three things:
Where are there moments that consumers find as chores? Meaning, are there pain points that I’m making my consumers go through in order to do business with me? For example, is on-boarding for your app a tedious process? Is your ecommerce payment platform simple and concise? Is your product a needs-based product that could be turned into a subscription?
Where are there moments that consumers actually love? Meaning, are their moments of joy for the consumer while they are shopping for and buying your product? For example, test driving a new car can be exhilarating. Physically shopping and trying on a new outfit. Buying something that is already assembled.
Where are there moments that my brand can truly own and come to life? Meaning, how does your brand’s promise truly come to life within the consumer journey? For example, what is the haptic response for your app as it turns on your car? How do your products connect to each other - what is that experience? Can you predict an order and delivery to create a one-click solution?
Each of these questions give business leaders the power to find the value that their consumers truly want. Answers to these questions usually find ways to become more efficient in your business as well as new ways to drive incremental value - all while building and boosting your brand experience with the consumer.
Business Modeling
The final level for your business growth playbook, is the business model itself. This is how you build value and how you make money. As we look back at the go to market strategy and consumer experience layers, we can see that by going through the process we can start to identify new areas of value that could turn into a new business model. For example, if you are a needs based product that is a chore to shop for today, how can you deliver a subscription service for the consumer, fully supplanting your consumer into your brand without distraction from competitors. This is what Dollar Shave Club was able to do to disrupt the razor marketplace. Another example could be ride hailing. Uber didn’t create the livery industry, it enabled it by connecting drivers with riders at the tap of a button. Also, there is Casper. They didn’t create a better mattress, but a better business model to shop for and purchase a mattress. They were able to remove the huge pain points of awkward shopping and complicated delivery from a traditional industry by leveraging technology that was already in the market.
As we’ll explore further, business leaders will develop valuable business models by leveraging technology and strategy throughout their supply chain, consumer experience and logistics.
How’s your business growth playbook coming to life?
Ready to chat more, feel free to reach out.