A few weeks ago I purchased a book about space for me and my toddler to read during bedtime. It has sent me on rabbit hole ever since. Well actually, we’re both obsessed about space – he now asks me to read the book to him multiple times a day. He gets particularly excited when we get to the page speaking about the Space Race, a time in history where the U.S. and Russia competed for domination of space exploration. For some strange reason, and in true marketer form, all the stuff we were learning about space lit up the idea for this blog post.
Each of us envision building a brand that can dominate the industries we’re in. Meteoritic growth comes from loops you can find woven within a product or service. In this post, I’ll show you how to find it.
Growth loops is a framework that can easily be confused with stickiness, although both concepts are intimately related. The concept of growth loops originated with product marketing specifically for SaaS businesses. However, it can easily be applied to DTC and e-commerce companies.
In a previous post I spoke about the value of a combined paid search and SEO strategy. It’s a strategy that’s beneficial for any brand but it i find that brands with multiple SKUs glean the highest results due to the many ways the strategy can be applied: by category, product type, customer avatar, geographical location, etc.
But have you considered how that is just one of many growth engines as well? There are many other ways to strategically lock your acquisition efforts so that you can acquire customers without solely relying on the pay-per-play results of an:
- Acquisition strategy
- Content strategy
- Email/ CRM strategy
Growth engines are harder to measure which is why it’s a relatively overlooked side of marketing. With the rise of performance marketing, marketers place budgets and bids against optimizing the cost of acquiring and retaining the customer.
However there are standalone, built in growth engines you can incorporate into your brand or product to exponentially accelerate growth. As a growth marketer, I want to produce marketing that’s not only around “convincing” people to purchase the product I am selling. The true value of a growth marketer is identifying ways to positively impact a company’s P&L.
Growth engines are one way to do it – and I’m going to be breaking it down in a manner that isn’t overly complex or presented like a riddle. Let’s cut to the chase RN: growth engines are growth opportunities found through insights of your customers behavior. Second, growth engines rely on a input-reward-output loop that encourages a customer (who has become a fan) create content (input) to share your brand in exchange for a reward of additional value (output).
I realize this is dynamic immediately sounds like a loyalty program, which is growth engine as well. However, growth engines for e-commerce brands can be practically anything tied to a key behavior pattern. Here are a few growth engines (loops) that basically sets word of mouth on fire:
- Physical: Hidden reward in unboxing process enticing customer to share for access
- Status: Promote exclusivity where customers share to gain access or reach new levels.
- Experience: Delight customers through exceptional product quality, customer service.
- Gifting: Utilize major holidays to encourage proliferation through gifting.
- Affiliate: Customer earns commissions from referring audience to your brand.
- Identity: Create “identity” quizzes or games that compel sharing your brand on social channels.
- Recommendations: Draw product recommendations from quiz responses. Reveal results after customer has entered their email.
Here are a few DTC brands that have utilized one of the growth engines I’ve mentioned to exponentially grow:
Zappos – Experience
Zappos has become famous for its exceptional customer service selling as a growth engine. They offer free shipping and returns, a 365-day return policy, and a customer service team that is available 24/7. By prioritizing the customer experience, Zappos has been able to create a viral loop that drives repeat business and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.
Sugarfina – Holiday Gifting
Sugarfina is a candy brand that used holiday gifting as a viral loop strategy by offering a range of festive gift sets and limited-edition holiday flavors. By encouraging customers to share their Sugarfina treats with others during holiday gatherings and gift exchanges, the brand has been able to create a viral loop that drives new customer acquisition and brand awareness.
Ritual – Rewards
Ritual has successfully used gifting as a growth engine by offering a referral program that rewards both the referrer and the referred with a free month of vitamins. By encouraging customers to share their positive experience with Ritual with others, the brand has been able to create a viral loop that drives new customer acquisition and brand awareness.
Function of Beauty – Personalized Product Recommendations
Function of Beauty, which sells personalized haircare, has successfully used a quiz to generate personalized product recommendations for its customers. Customers answer questions about their hair type, goals, and preferences, and are then given a customized set of haircare products to try. By encouraging customers to share their results and experiences on social media, Function of Beauty has been able to create a viral loop that drives new customer acquisition and brand awareness.
Spotify – Personalized Results
Spotify Wrapped gives you a breakdown of your music listening habits over the past year. You get a customized playlist with your most listened to songs, artists, and genres of the year, plus cool stats like how much time you spent listening to music on Spotify. And the best part? You can easily share your personalized playlist and insights on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This way, you can show off your unique taste in music to all your friends and followers and spread the word about Spotify and all its awesome features.
Everlane – Exclusivity
Everlane is a fashion brand that has built a reputation for using exclusivity as a growth engine by offering early access to new products to its most loyal customers. For example, the brand’s “First-to-Know” program offers exclusive access to new product launches and limited-edition items to a select group of customers who have signed up for the program.
Growth engines provide a framework for accelerating growth in direct-to-consumer (DTC) and e-commerce companies. You find opportunities from your customer behavior and rely on an input-reward-output loop that encourages customers to create content that shares your brand in exchange for a reward of additional value. Remember the value does not have to be a discount or commission payments – capitalize on great experiences, recommendations or exclusivity. I hope the examples I’ve provided get you thinking about the way you can add fuel to your brand’s word-of-mouth in 2023.
