Originally published November 2020. Updated June 2026.
As implied in part of a quote by novelist Brandon Sanderson, some traditions may come and go. It goes, "But merely being tradition does not make something worthy." The quote could trigger the motivation that causes marketers to move from focusing on one part of the funnel to adopting a growth marketing model.
Before the pandemic, customers knew and understood they were often recipients of mass marketing communication efforts. A 2018 Oracle study of nearly 3,800 people revealed that they weren't just fed up with bad customer service. They felt that proactive and personalized interaction were the keys to converting digital customer engagement and customer loyalty.
The pandemic advanced thinking so that many customers no longer wish to be thought of as a number. Because of COVID-19, they were confused and felt they had lost control of many things in their lives. They wished to feel heard and valued.
By combining inbound and account-based marketing with other tools — like digital PR or social media PR — growth marketing allows marketers to reach beyond leads and encourage real brand advocacy. These are the keys to durable recovery and growth.
Relationship-Building
Relationship-building is a major difference between funnel builders and growth marketers. Paying attention to buyer behavior — and what they are seeking — and then helping them get there generates customer loyalty. Adding training and tips that help buyers succeed can only deepen the relationship.
Behavioral Segmentation
Gathering and organizing such things as customer age, income, gender, and so on was valuable for targeting communications. What it failed to capture was an understanding of behavior. A change in progressive profiling — applying different data strategies to deliver more dynamic behavioral segmentation — generates deeper customer behavioral insights that should inform future communications.
Inserting intuitive and dynamic forms at key touch points also helps marketers build on previous data by allowing brands to add new questions and gain more understanding of their customers. That brings more power to audience segmentation and tailored campaigns.
Customers find brands in numerous ways. Because they learn and discover through various platforms, another growth practice is integrating automation software across all of the brand's channels, helping ensure maximum exposure.
Customer Experience
Capturing, tracking, and analyzing customer preferences and behavior arms brands with the information needed to tailor communications. Hidden in that same data are often hints about what will motivate that customer to act. That is where brands can resonate with targeted messages that show knowledge-based empathy and gain loyal customers.
Make It a Lifelong Journey
Growth marketing should be the next permanent step for marketing departments interested in bringing customers on a long-term journey with them. When customers see that a brand genuinely cares about them, they remain loyal — and often become the brand's strongest advocates.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
