Growth Channel Strategies and Myths #Debunked<> Review

This is Part 2/12 of learnings that I gained from CXL Institute’s Growth Marketing Minidegree.

Read Part1 from here.

Continuing with section 1, from the last review, In this one I will try to cover last course from that and start on with section 2. It’s a mix of marketing terminologies and insights of conversion research. A lot of myths and bad practices were illustrated which I bet you must have followed it at some point. Well that’s natural, just be sure to not follow those anymore, to find out more keep reading!

credits: https://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-optimisation-seo/seo-analytics/comparison-of-google-clickthrough-rates-by-position/

Identifying and amplifying growth channels | Sophia Eng

In this course, basic marketing terminologies were explained. It was focused more on different types of growth channels and which one you must focus for maximum gains. Here the instructor briefs on SEO, SEM, social media, display ads, content and email marketing. Here are some key takeaways;

• There are different growth channels such as PPC(SEM), SEO, Social and Display ads, Email Marketing, Content Marketing. Depending on the category you fit in (B2B or B2C) you must approach spending on these platforms. Social Media works best for ecommerce brands while for B2B, LinkedIn and Twitter can be your best bet.
• If you are beginner as in statup or someone without any funds to spare on paid Ads then SEO can be your go to choice. It improves overall visibility, gains you more visitors on the website and there are direct checklists that you can follow to improve your overall awareness. (more on that (SEO) in a later section). To identify a potential channel, you must check if there is interaction with your customers on that channel, see where users hangout and target accordingly. You can even test channels with a small AD budjet say 20$ and let it run for a day and calculate its ROI. Doing some A/B testing between channels can help you figure out where you might want to spend your time. You can even try connecting with CXOs of different companies via LinkedIn and Twitter from a CEO account to get more high ticket leads.
• All the digital channels are well and good. It must be your primary focus. But you don’t want to miss out on emerging channels such as AR and VR. even 3D printing is quite creative. Some of them combines physical aspect like we recently saw the popular AR launch event of a smartphone company. Facebook saw it coming quite early then others and thus they acquired oculus a VR company. Now imagine consuming Social media content on VR, it could be a game changer. Reddit is another channel that everyone tends to miss. It could be that majority of your competitors are not targeting Reddit.
• There are some common myths that surround in Social Media Marketing. Like it’s conversion can’t be measured accurately and it provides some vague numbers and even that you can’t put a $ value on ROI. But, that’s not true. In GA you can see where your audience is coming from, what device they use and even the demographic. Most of you might be following vanity metrics which are not that insightful (twitter and Facebook gives you these). Likes, shares, followers, are not the actual metrics that you look for, its the ones that your A/B testing result shows and ultimately the things that incline to your company goals.
• Furthermore, you also need a good message strategy to actually breakout of starting phase when you launch a product. As a brand you need to speak to your customers and engage them. Some of the best examples could be of twitter accounts where some brands keep up on the ongoing trends and react to everything accordingly. It’s generally better to have a strong social media team that responds to queries, and different happenings around the world.
• A common myth around SEO is that you shouldn't be doing it as google bot is capable enough to crawl your site just fine. But that’s not true. When you implement structured data and schema you make it google bot friendly. It helps you optimize your crawl budjet and helps the bot to identify main pages. You basically tell the bot on how you want your website to be seen by general public. Another myth that surrounds and you can hear it quite often is “SEO is Dead!”, which is quite the opposite. SEO is alive and well, plus if you fail to recognize its potential then you are pretty much going to get nowhere. You need to check out your competitors, analyze the potential keywords, do the correct placements, get a couple of links and you will be doing above average in terms of SEO. Mostly before even planning o optimize for Keywords make sure to nail technical SEO first or all your efforts may go in vain.
• You need to prioritize KPI’s. In terms of SEO, it is bounce rate, click through rate and other such facets that help you drive more traffic and conversion. You need to be sure of engagement, conversion and driving sales through your SEO. LPI could be anything from opting in for email news letter, or downloading a free digital asset or generating a lead. If you look closely, marketing is a mix of SEO, UX and CRO. If you leave anyone of it un-optimized, then you are most like;y to fail.
• Next important thing is Keyword Research. You need to create a list of KW that you think are suitable for your site and then try to find its variations by using KW research tools. A look at your competitors can help you discover right KW’s even more faster. Now what you want to do is create a good SEO calendar and stick with it. You must also focus on content and try to fill any content gaps. Content gap means for a KW Blockchain, as yourself if you covered all the content that could be made with that KW of different combinations.
• After you do a bit of SEO its time to drive more traffic. It can be done with link building. Try to create content that people wants to read and share. Info-graphics are good examples of such content. Make sure to do correct on page SEO with a mix of KWs in H1 and multiple H2s.
• Now you need to focus on building authority on a local level. Register for Google My Business, optimize it. Do this for all the directory listings available that fits your region.
• Another myth is related to PPC. Everyone thinks that it is expensive and doesn’t convert. Well a lot of businesses do SEM and spend millions on it. You need to focus on the conversion rate of target page. If people keep bouncing off of that page then you are likely to pay more rate per click.

This course was quite insightful. It talks about a lot of new things and explores a wide range of topics. What I liked about it is that from the start you get a basic idea of what you are getting into and the fact that you could encounter some article revolving around SEO or Marketing myths and how not to fall for such a gimmick. It prepares you for what comes next. To be honest I already fell like I can talk about any marketing topic but that’s not true as of now as I have completed just 7–8% of the Growth Marketing Minidegree. Next article will be a deep dive on conversion research, so stay tuned!