Welcome to our AMA with Richard Meyer, our Head of Growth at Tuff. 

Meet Richard, the driving force behind our Growth team. He’s all about teamwork, partnering closely with every team at Tuff and our clients to achieve tangible, long-lasting growth. With his wealth of experience, Richard has pioneered growth strategies and testing for countless startups and scaleups. Whether it’s cutting down on customer acquisition costs, fine-tuning budget allocations, devising media plans, enhancing user experiences, or predicting outcomes for marketing investments, Richard is instrumental in empowering our clients to maximize their strategy and budget.

Ready to dive in? Richard is here to address any questions you have regarding:

Achieving profitability while pursuing high-growth and scalability can be challenging. As a growth expert, how do you navigate this balance, and do you believe it’s achievable in practice? 

When it comes to making a business profitable while expanding, there are a few important things to think about. First off, every business is unique. If we’re always comparing ourselves to others and thinking the grass is greener elsewhere, we’ll never be satisfied. But, we do need to be smart about how we use our resources and stick to our commitments to our team and organization.

So, when we’re considering those resources, responsibility is key. Here’s my approach: I divide my budget into two parts. 80% goes into what I know works – the stuff that keeps the business running smoothly. This is our reliable performance channels. Then, the remaining 20% is set aside for trying new things, experimenting, and testing out fresh ideas.

This way, we have a decent chunk of our budget dedicated to testing without risking everything. It’s not so much that if it fails, we’re in trouble, but it’s enough that we can see if new ideas have potential. Now, depending on the size of your company, this split might vary. A big company might allocate funds differently than a smaller one finding its footing.

The key is to always set aside some resources for growth and testing. That way, we keep learning, growing, and avoid getting stuck in a rut.

Can you distinguish between a growth must-have and a growth nice-to-have in terms of business development strategies?

So, in the world of growth, there’s been a shift in mindset between what’s a must-have for growth and what’s just nice to have. What I mean is, we used to focus on what seemed necessary for a business to succeed, but things have changed.

Before, it was almost like you could buy your way into success if you had a big budget or a compelling story. You could attract attention and opportunities even before your product was fully ready. But now, that’s not the case. More businesses are starting from scratch, with little or no external funding, and they’ve got to prioritize making money from day one.

So, having a huge team and tons of cash isn’t as crucial as it used to be. In fact, it can sometimes lead to inefficiency and wasted resources. What really matters now is how scalable your systems and processes are. If you’ve got streamlined operations for things like marketing and creative work, you’re in a much stronger position.

A small team that’s super efficient can achieve just as much as a big team, if not more. And what sets successful businesses apart is not just their size or budget, but their mindset. They’re always looking for ways to improve and grow, no matter how well things are going already. 

That’s the real must-have for success in today’s world.

From your experience, what channels are the most efficient drivers of growth?

When it comes to finding ways to grow a business, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It really depends on what kind of business you have, where you’re at in your journey, and what resources you have available.

What’s most important is finding ways to be genuine and true to your brand in whatever channels you choose. Whether it’s creating content, reaching your target audience, or using creative strategies, it’s all about being yourself.

For B2B businesses, LinkedIn tends to have the quickest payback period for advertising. But it’s important to be smart about it because it can also be easy to waste money if you’re not careful. On the other hand, for B2C businesses, it’s more about finding the right mix of channels based on what you’re selling and who you’re trying to reach. Paid search and social media advertising are usually solid choices, with platforms like Facebook and TikTok being popular options.

Beyond paid advertising, it’s also worth investing in ways to engage your existing customers and keep them coming back for more. Things like SMS messaging can be really effective, sometimes even more so than email. And for B2B businesses, building thought leadership through content and sharing insights on platforms like LinkedIn can be key to building trust and credibility.

So, whether it’s paid advertising or engaging your current customers, there are plenty of ways to drive growth for your business. It’s just a matter of finding what works best for you and your audience.

Looking ahead, what are your predictions for the marketing industry over the next 12 months? How might trends or technologies shape the landscape?

In the next year, there are two cool things I’m eager to watch and see how they shape things. 

First up, we’ve got automation and AI. Basically, this means using tech to make stuff happen automatically, like in marketing where we want to pump out better stuff faster, whether it’s ads or content. This is gonna shake things up and help smart marketers stand out.

Then, there’s the algorithm game. Ad platforms are all about those fancy algorithms now, using data to figure out what works best. So, the more they learn, the better ads they’ll serve up.

Another biggie is that money won’t be the only thing that determines success anymore. It’s not just about throwing cash around. Even small, savvy startups can compete if they really understand their audience and deliver something great.

So, yeah, it’s an exciting time, especially for those who can make it happen without a huge budget.

Given your extensive experience and B2B focus, I’d like to delve into ABM. Your recent Tuff blog article on ABM tools caught my eye. Could you share key tactics for successful ABM campaigns, especially in targeting high-value accounts?

So, here’s the deal with Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy: It’s not one-size-fits-all. Each account is like its own unique puzzle, needing a different approach to crack it. Why? Well, it depends on where you’re coming from, what your goals are, and how your customers make decisions.

When I dive into ABM, I’m all about the creative and content side of things. Creativity is key. It’s about showing how your product or service can change someone’s life for the better. You gotta paint a clear picture of how things would be different if they used your stuff. Sometimes, people don’t buy because they can’t see how it fits into their lives. But if you can show them, even before they’re ready to buy, it creates buzz and makes them want it.

So, yeah, focusing on being creative and nailing your content is super important in ABM. It’s the secret sauce to making it work!

How do you approach measuring the ROI and effectiveness of ABM initiatives, and what key metrics do you prioritize in evaluating campaign performance and success?

Alright, let’s break down account-based marketing (ABM) in plain terms. The big picture here is that everyone in the company needs to be on the same page about what we’re aiming for before we jump into ABM.

So, what’s the ultimate goal? Making more money, plain and simple. Now, that might mean different things for different companies. It could be snagging new customers, or maybe it’s about making each sale count for more. Whatever the case, it all boils down to boosting revenue.

When it comes to ABM, it’s not just about saying, “Hey, this campaign did this and that.” It’s way more complex than that. We’ve got to see the bigger picture and understand that the real win is when the whole company benefits from more cash flowing in.

Now, that doesn’t mean we skip out on measuring things. Testing is key. For example, let’s say we want to see if our approach speeds up the sales process. We could split our deals into two groups, market to one and leave the other alone, then compare the results. If we see a jump in closed deals and they’re sealing the deal faster, that’s a win.

So, while we’re focused on specific campaigns, the endgame is always about boosting the bottom line for the entire team.

Want to connect with Richard? Shoot him a message on LinkedIn. You can also see some of the cool stuff his team’s been up to on our blog or if you’re looking for a growth marketing agency like Tuff, reach out directly for a 1<>1 strategy session! 

Ellen Jantsch

Ellen is the founder at Tuff and one of the team’s core growth marketers. She is a versatile marketer with expertise in multiple channels – from ppc to seo to email to others – responsible for the experiments and testing.  She is happiest when she’s on the ski hill or outside pointing her mountain bike downhill.

The post AMA on Growth Must-haves and Growth Nice-to-haves with Richard Meyer appeared first on Tuff.

Growth—as we’re ALL too well aware at Tuff – is an ever-changing landscape. New platforms and channels are constantly emerging, and each of them promises untapped growth potential. With so many options, it’s often difficult for growth marketing teams to decide where to best allocate their resources: proven channels, new channels, or both?

This question often sparks a larger conversation. How many channels do we test at once? Which do we test first? What percentage of our marketing budget should we allocate to testing new channels? 

All of these are fair and important questions, and in this article, I’m going to talk about how we think about channel experimentation and testing at Tuff. 

Users > Channels

When we think about which new channels to pursue, or defining the right channel mix each month for our partners, it’s often helpful to reframe the conversation. Users, not marketing channels, are at the forefront of our decision-making. 

Our growth teams will start with the target audience and ask: Who are they? What channels are they most receptive to? From there, once we’ve built out value props, it’s a lot easier to select and test different growth campaigns. The channels with the potential to have the greatest impact are often the ones your target customers use the most. 

We also aren’t afraid to challenge oour assumptions. You might think that TikTok––probably the biggest new channel in recent years––is only really suited to selling eCommerce products. And it is a great platform for that. But at Tuff, we’ve also seen real success with TikTok campaigns for B2B and Fintech brands. 

When you’re building your campaign testing strategy, think users first, but keep your options open: new channels often surprise you. 

Full Funnel, Customer-First Approach

In any growth marketing strategy, different channels have different roles. Some channels are great at driving brand awareness that creates future demand for your products and services. Others are best suited to delivering that final nudge that makes customers convert. Understanding the role each channel plays in a full-funnel marketing strategy is key.

When we map out which campaign strategies fit best in each stage of your customer funnel, we make sure you’re using the right metrics to assess the performance of different campaigns. 

A top-of-funnel awareness campaign might not have a super high conversion rate, but that doesn’t mean it’s not playing an important role in your overall channel mix. Instead of using conversion-focused metrics to judge performance on these campaigns, we will use metrics like Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM), Click Through Rate (CTR), brand lift on search, and more. Top-of-funnel campaigns introduce potential customers to your brand and influence purchase decisions, and we judge their performance based on how well they do that. 

At the bottom of the funnel, users have high levels of purchase intent and often just need a nudge from a conversion-focused campaign to convert. For these campaigns, we will assess performance based on metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Conversion Rate (CVR), and last-click revenue. 

It can be tempting to focus all of your attention on improving conversion rates at the bottom of the funnel. Improvements here are the most noticeable: they directly contribute to your bottom line. But you have to create demand before you can capture it, and in order to grow, you need to reach beyond your existing audience and bring more traffic into the top of your funnel. 

Testing Strategy

Once we’ve decided which channels to test and determined the role they play at different stages of your marketing funnel, it’s time execute. Here are things we consider at Tuff when dialing in our campaign strategy: 

• Budget: generally speaking, you should dedicate at least $5,000 – $10,000 in ad spend to testing out a new channel. Any less and it’s difficult to get concrete performance insights.
• Bandwidth: launching new campaigns, regardless of the channel, takes a lot of work. Make sure your internal team or growth marketing agency has the bandwidth to spend time building and refining a detailed strategy for each channel––there’s no sense spreading your resources too thin and executing poorly.
• Creative Assets: testing out entirely new channels often demands a range of specific creative assets. For some intent-based channels like Bing or Google where ads are text-based, you don’t need a big inventory of graphics and videos. But for channels like YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, you definitely want a library of creative assets to test and optimize. 

In general, our testing strategies are typically geared toward producing quick learnings. Not every channel is a fit for every business. Our job as a growth marketer is to identify the channels that work for your business and then continuously test, iterate, and optimize that strategy. 

Tuff’s Approach to Testing New Channels

At Tuff, we’ve got the specialists to test just about any marketing channel you can think of: from Reddit to Spotify. 

When it comes to budget allocations, we like to invest 60-80% of your budget into improving established marketing channels that already work for your business, and 20-40% into testing new channels. 

As we test and learn, we cut what doesn’t work and scale what does. 

Ellen Jantsch

Ellen is the founder at Tuff and one of the team’s core growth marketers. She is a versatile marketer with expertise in multiple channels – from ppc to seo to email to others – responsible for the experiments and testing.  She is happiest when she’s on the ski hill or outside pointing her mountain bike downhill.

The post When Testing New Channels, Should You Go Higher or Lower In The Funnel? appeared first on Tuff.