When a startup validates its product-market fitThe team often feels a mixture of relief and giddiness. Relief because the product works and the market wants it. Vertigo because now comes the most difficult step: climb.
We have seen it many times: enthusiasm translates into opening every possible channel, launching a thousand campaigns at once or hiring more people all at once. And the result is usually the same: lots of movement, little real growth.
Growing up is not about doing more of the same or spending more. It's about choosing the growth strategies suitable for your stage, your equipment and your budget.
In this article we tell you about 3 proven strategies that we have applied (and seen work) in startups that were just at that point: they had validated their product and needed to moving from chaos to solid and sustainable growth.
1. Optimise your acquisition and conversion funnel
Once the product has been validated, the first objective is to increase the volume of users or customers in a profitable way. To do this you need a acquisition funnel of course:
- Define where your traffic comes from (channels): If you don't know where your users are coming from, you won't know what is working and what is just noise.
- Measure how leads convert at each stage: Check how many are progressing from one phase to the next to detect where opportunities are falling through.
- Adjust messages and friction points: Small changes in copy, offer or process can make the difference between a lead moving forward and a lead being lost.
Example: If you invest in paid media but your lead-to-customer conversion rate is low, perhaps the problem is not the channel, but your value proposition. A small adjustment in the copy or offer can improve the conversion rate. CAC (Cost of Customer Acquisition) without increasing expenditure.
2. Boost your customer retention and LTV
Growth depends not only on attracting new customers, but also on retaining and increasing the number of customers. Lifetime Value (LTV) of those you already have.
- Improve onboarding so that the user quickly understands the value of your product.
- Devises strategies for engagement (emails, content, notifications) so that they use your product frequently.
- Offer upsells or premium plans that increase the average ticket.
Fact: Increasing retention by 5% can increase profits by between 25% and 95% depending on Harvard Business Review.
3. Strategically open new procurement channels
Not all channels are for all startups. Once your main channel is working, it's time to open new avenues... but with your head:
- Organic channels: SEO, content marketing or partnerships can complement your paid media.
- Qualitative outbound: If you sell B2B, outbound campaigns (well targeted) can open up opportunities.
- Events and relationships: In some sectors, events and networking generate high quality leads.
Council: uses the method Bullseye Framework. Evaluate all possible channels, select 2-3 promising ones, run small tests for a few weeks and duplicate only on the ones that work.
Key metrics to keep an eye on
- CAC: How much does it cost you to attract a new customer?
- LTV: How much does that customer leave you during the entire relationship with your startup?
- Conversion rate: What percentage progresses through each stage of the funnel?
- Retention: Do they stay with you or do they leave after the first use?
Scaling a startup is not about doing more things. It's about prioritising actions that have a real impact on the business.
- Adjust the funnel.
- Retain and build customer loyalty.
- Gradually open new channels.
If you apply these growth strategies with judgement, you will have more income and less wear and tear.