We’ve made it to a new decade, and as we look forward to the future, one piece seems to be completely up in the air: marketing.
Inbound Marketing. Digital marketing. Storytelling marketing. There are so many different approaches to marketing in the digital era that it can feel plain overwhelming.
What actually works? How can there be so many different types of marketing out there? It’s hard enough to get the marketing part down. Now I have to understand inbound and storytelling, too?
While the future might not be set in stone, we can look to trends to predict where we will end up. In terms of marketing, the strategies used by companies like Coca-Cola, Apple, and Subaru tell us outdated marketing tactics like SEO aren’t going to survive in the 2020s.
We’re headed in a new direction: one where we target humans, not search engines or voice technology. And that new direction is the Business GrowthStack.
What Is The Business GrowthStack?
Many entrepreneurs view marketing as a bunch of individual tactics (like social media posts, emails, and magazine ads) meshed together. But high-growth brands know that marketing is a cohesive, holistic machine, where the gears work cohesively toward the same goal.
This machine might include a few tactics, but there’s an underlying system in place that ensures every tactic pushes customers toward the same action. It’s not just jumping around from one strategy. It’s implementing a crystal clear game plan that ties everything you do together and makes marketing as a whole 1000 times more manageable.
This system is called the Business GrowthStack. It’s a four-part framework that thousands of brands use every day to grow their businesses—and they may not even realize it. Every solid Business GrowthStack includes these four crucial components: clear messaging, marketing automation, sales automation, and campaigns.
When put together, the components of the GrowthStack make up the basic foundation of a powerful growth engine. They boost sales, improve customer engagement, and provide a measurable ROI. Sounds too good to be true? Well, you better believe it!
The Four Components Of The Business GrowthStack
1. Clear Messaging
We see approximately 5,000 ads every single day, but we only remember one (if that). So what makes the few we can remember different from the rest? Chances are, those ads had crystal clear messaging. You understood the message, how it connected with the product, and what it could do for you.
That’s the method behind clear messaging. When you apply clear messaging to your marketing, you’re creating an effective user experience for customers who are bombarded with so many ads that they can’t keep them straight. You’re making life easier on your customers, and as a result, they’re more likely to remember you for it.
Clear messaging is the foundation behind any successful marketing strategy. If you don’t have strong, relatable content, your social media posts and targeted ads will fall flat. You need clear messaging to keep customers from bouncing off your website, to remove obstacles preventing leads from buying your product, and to close deals. It’s not a nicety; it’s a necessity.
One of the easiest ways to clarify your message is StoryBrand. This seven-part framework will help you simplify your content using the principles of effective storytelling. The critical thing to remember here is that clear messaging doesn’t stop with your website. It needs to be evident in everything you do, from your emails and sales brochures to presentations and blogs.
2. Marketing Automation
Now that your message is crystal clear, you need to use it to connect with customers—even when you aren’t there in person. That’s where marketing automation comes in. As the second piece in the Business GrowthStack, marketing automation helps you deliver a helpful user experience without having to lift a finger. It’s seamless, and it creates the impression of intention on your part—without extra work on your part.
The most common and most effective form of marketing automation is the automated email series. After a potential customer has interacted with your site, they should be enrolled to receive a series of targeted emails designed to nurture them into paying customers. 
These emails cut to the heart of where your customers are and what they’re feeling. As they build trust with your brand, they also paint your product or service as a convenient solution to the recipients’ problems. There could be five emails in the series or a single email. All that matters is that they’re specifically geared to the lead’s place in the buyer’s journey.
Some business owners might think that marketing automation is a lower priority (something to focus on when you have the extra funds for HubSpot or another marketing automation software), but this is one piece you won’t want to ignore. Not only does it create a seamless user experience for customers, but it helps transform cold leads into hot leads.
If you don’t have many potential customers visiting your store or calling you for more information, marketing automation could be the piece you’re missing.
3. Sales Automation
When it comes to the most important department in your business, sales probably takes the cake. So why is it often the most neglected?
I can’t count the number of clients we’ve helped who haven’t had a sales system in place. Their sales department includes 1-5 people (some with little to no sales training) all doing their own thing. Leads can fall through the cracks, there’s no way to keep track of who’s closing what deal, and a potential customer will have a completely different experience depending on the salesperson they talk to.
If you don’t have sales automation, you won’t see the results from the other pieces of the GrowthStack. You’ll have dozens of leads brought to your doorstep, but then you’ll just be turning them away.
Sales automation is also known as your CRM (Customer Relationship Manager). It’s a system that helps you sort leads based on relevancy, keep track of every interaction you have with them, and enroll them in an automated sales-specific email sequence.
You invest a lot in your marketing. It only makes sense that you would make the same effort to create a great sales experience using clear messaging and sales automation technology. HubSpot has an excellent CRM (and it’s free), but there are other options available depending on your budget and sales team.
Just make sure you train everyone on how to use it so customers can have a consistent experience when they interact with your brand.
4. Campaigns
The last piece of the Business GrowthStack is campaigns. Campaigns are multi-part systems designed to attract customers, collect their information, send them an email, and nurture them into paying customers. They combine the first two pieces of the GrowthStack into one well-oiled machine, and they make it easy to track your success and ROI.
The first part of a campaign is the lead generating offer. The lead-generating offer works like a magnet, attracting people who might not be ready to buy just yet. It can be any number of things: a handy infographic, a free chapter to a book, a comprehensive guide, or even a video. The only contention is that the downloadable offer should be hidden behind a form. That way, the lead has to give their email to receive it.
The place where the lead-generating offer is housed is called a landing page. It’s a simple page containing a form and content that explains what people will get with the offer. After they submit the form, they will be redirected to the next piece of a campaign: the thank-you page. Here, they can download their PDF or watch the video. A CTA at the bottom of the page will keep them interacting with your website.
Immediately after the form submission, the potential customer will also automatically receive a follow-up email. This email contains a link to the lead magnet and pushes them to take the next step (whether that’s scheduling a meeting, buying a product, or downloading a sales piece).
The best part about campaigns is that you can have multiple running at once. If you have different kinds of customers, it’s a good idea to create campaigns targeting each. All the leads collected from the landing page form should be added to a list in your CRM. That way, you can enroll them in automated marketing emails—just in case that follow-up email didn’t convince them to purchase.
How To Implement The GrowthStack In Your Marketing
The Business GrowthStack isn’t a theoretical set of principles we made up. It’s a proven system used by hundreds of businesses across the globe. Companies like Amazon and influencers like Rachel Hollis all have this system in place.
Their clear messaging cuts through the clutter and helps you understand exactly what they offer. Their campaigns keep you coming back for more and give you a taste of their services before you go all-in. Their marketing automation makes you feel engaged with them even if you haven’t interacted with their website in months. And their sales automation allows you to make a purchase with ease.
Reading all this, you might think that the GrowthStack is an alternative approach to marketing your business. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, the Business GrowthStack is the future of marketing. It’s the direction big-name brands have been headed for the last decade, and we can expect to see even more of these principles in place in 2020 and beyond.
If you’re tired of never getting results from your marketing, it’s time to leave the outdated marketing tactics like SEO behind. The Business GrowthStack will provide your business with a holistic marketing system you can trust to bring leads to your door and close the deal.
At ROI Online, the Business GrowthStack is what we do. Our QuickStart builds on the four crucial components, ensuring you have the foundation you need to grow your business. If you want to learn more about how we could help, schedule a free strategy session. We’ll talk through your goals and help you determine the next steps you should take.
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