Customer + Community → A booster to growth engine
Let’s understand key strategies for leveraging customer stories, word-of-mouth and community interaction to drive sales, enhance brand loyalty, and outpace competitors.
👋 Hey, Ayush here! Welcome to this week’s ✨ free edition ✨ of Startup GTM Newsletter.
First of all, really SORRY for not sending a newsletter for the last 2 weeks.
I have been building startups for the last 7 years and working with founders on GTM, growth, people-first strategies, communities and anything else about building a startup.
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Category Creation: Insights from Community and Growth Leader
Why is People-first GTM considered the new marketing frontier?
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Why does this matter? Because customer-driven growth strategies are the keys to business success. When you put your customers at the spotlight of your go-to-market strategy, you first have to focus on solving their needs, desires, and loyalty, creating a growth engine that's hard to stop.
A study by McKinsey revealed that companies with thriving customer communities outperformed their competitors by 70% in terms of revenue growth.
85% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after engaging with a brand's online community.
Salesforce found that businesses that prioritize community engagement see a 10% increase in customer loyalty and a 20% increase in sales.
Few Questions
Here are 6 questions to discuss in a planning meeting about Customer-Led Growth in your Go To Market (GTM) Strategy:
1. Are we working on having customer-led growth initiatives in our broader Go-To-Market strategies?
2. Can we improve our lead generation outcomes by aligning customer stories and strong word of mouth?
3. Can we improve the trust levels with potential buyers or prospects by showing existing customer satisfaction stories?
4. Can we become a preferred solution for our potential buyer by showing our service?
5. Can our customers start talking about us in the open with their peers and colleagues?
6. Can we get into the network of our existing customers knowingly or unknowingly?
Case Study - Freshworks
Strategy: Freshworks adopted a CLG strategy by focusing on building deep relationships with its customers. The company did this by:
Creating a customer advisory board: Freshworks created a customer advisory board to get feedback from its customers on its products and services.
Hosting user conferences: Freshworks hosted user conferences to bring its customers together and share best practices.
Developing a community forum: Freshworks developed a community forum where its customers could connect with each other and share support.
Outcomes: Freshworks has also achieved high customer satisfaction scores and low customer churn rates.
Analysis: Freshworks' success can be attributed to its focus on building deep relationships with its customers. The company's customer advisory board, user conferences, and community forum have all been instrumental in helping Freshworks to understand its customers' needs and wants.
Decision Quadrant for Customer & Community focus in Go-To-Market
The quadrant categorizes Go-To-Market strategies based on the business type and intensity of community and customer focus:
1. High Community Focus, High Customer Focus - Synergistic Quadrant
Characteristics: Strong community engagement combined with deep customer insight integration.
Approaches: Co-creation of products with community, ambassador programs, extensive use of customer feedback in product development.
Best For: Startups looking to build strong brand loyalty and advocacy
Example: A tech startup developing a new customised Gen AI app for plugins.
Strategy:
- Create a beta testing group from the community for early feedback.
- Host virtual sessions and webinars for makers.
- Use customer feedback to tailor app features, like customization.
- Encourage community members to share their plugins on social media.
- Leverage community feedback for continuous app improvements.
2. High Community Focus, Low Customer Focus - Community-Driven Quadrant
Characteristics: Emphasis on building and nurturing community, but less focus on individual customer feedback.
Approaches: Community events, forums, social media engagement; less personalized product development.
Best For: Startups with products/services that benefit from strong community networks and viral growth.
Example: A startup building GenAI SaaS startup for marketers.
Strategy:
- Build an online community around AI-led marketing.
- Conduct large-scale community events like AI Tool Talks or AI Marketing use-cases campaigns like this
- Focus on broad community needs rather than individual feedback for product development.
- Use the community platform to increase brand awareness and advocacy, rather than for detailed product feedback.
3. Low Community Focus, High Customer Focus - Customer-Centric Quadrant
Characteristics: Primarily driven by individual customer feedback, with limited community engagement.
Approaches: Personalized customer experience, targeted marketing, one-on-one customer interactions.
Best For: Startups in niches where individual customer needs vary significantly and personalization is key.
Example: A B2B startup offering customized CRM solutions.
Strategy:
- Concentrate on one-on-one client feedback for CRM customization.
- Offer personalized training and support for each client.
- Utilize customer insights to refine and enhance the CRM software.
- Limited community engagement, focusing more on direct customer interaction and tailored solutions.
4. Low Community Focus, Low Customer Focus - Broad Market Quadrant
Characteristics: Limited engagement in both areas, possibly due to resource constraints or strategic choice.
Approaches: Standardized products, broad-based marketing strategies.
Best For: Startups in early stages or those with a mass-market approach where customization and community building are not priorities.
Example: A startup selling generic office supplies with a mass-market approach.
Strategy:
- Focus on broad market trends and standard product offerings.
- Utilise traditional marketing and sales tactics.
- Limited investment in community building or extensive customer feedback mechanisms.
- Rely on market research for product development rather than direct customer or community insights.
In conclusion, Go-To-Market strategies have been and will be evolving continuously. As a Founder or a Marketing Leader, it becomes imperative to keep evaluating the approaches shared and practised across the globe.
You never know when you'll hit a winning streak…
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