5 Questions to Ask a Growth Marketing Mentor

1. What channels are most effective for user acquisition? 

Understanding which user acquisition channels are most effective for your startup allows you to allocate your marketing resources more efficiently. If you can identify the channels that are most effective for acquiring new customers, you can focus your efforts and budget on those channels to speed up growth. By contrast, if you invest resources in less effective marketing channels, you may waste time and resources without achieving meaningful results.

A growth mentor can help you determine the best user acquisition channels for your startup by leveraging their experience and expertise in growth marketing. They can help you analyze your target audience, identify which growth marketing channels are most likely to perform well in your market, and develop strategies for reaching your ideal users effectively.

2. How can we optimize our conversion rate?

Optimizing your startup’s conversion rate is critical for achieving sustainable growth. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) involves improving the number of visitors to your website who take a desired action, such as signing up for a free trial, making a purchase, or subscribing to a newsletter. By optimizing your conversion rate, you can increase the efficiency of your customer acquisition efforts and maximize your growth strategy’s return on investment.

Mentorship from a growth marketing expert can help you develop a sound strategy for optimizing your conversion rate. You can leverage the experience and expertise of a mentor to help you identify problematic areas of your website or sales funnel that may be causing leads to drop off, and receive actionable advice to help you fix the issues and improve conversions. A growth mentor can also provide advice as you A/B test different variations of your website or marketing content to help you identify high-value growth opportunities.

3. How can we increase user retention and engagement?

Increasing user retention and engagement is crucial for growth marketing because it drives sustainable growth for your business. While user acquisition is important for bringing in new customers, it can be costly and ultimately unsustainable if users are not engaged and retained over the long term.

High user retention and engagement not only lead to increased revenue and customer lifetime value, but also to positive word-of-mouth referrals and a strong brand reputation. When users are satisfied with your product or service and feel engaged with your brand, they are more likely to become loyal customers and advocates for your business.Additionally, retaining and engaging existing customers is almost always more cost-effective than acquiring new customers.

A growth mentor can guide you as you develop and implement user retention strategies, as well as help you identify roadblocks to retention and engagement that could be stalling your startup’s growth.

4. What data and metrics should we be tracking?

Understanding which metrics to track is essential for measuring your growth marketing efforts effectively. By tracking the right metrics, you can gain insight into which marketing tactics are driving growth for your startup and make more informed decisions about where to allocate resources to stimulate further growth. 

The best growth marketing metrics vary depending on numerous factors, but common examples include: 

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Customer lifetime value (CLV)
• Retention rate
• Churn rate
• Revenue growth rate

A growth mentor can help identify the most important growth metrics for your startup and guide you as you track and analyze your data. A mentor can also show you how to link metrics with growth goals and use the data you gather to inform your growth marketing strategy.

5. What are some cost-effective growth strategies for startups?

To grow your startup as quickly as possible, it’s crucial to focus on the most cost-effective growth strategies. Doing so will allow you to optimize the way you allocate your limited resources and minimize the risk of running out of funding before achieving sustainable growth.

By collaborating with a growth mentor, you can draw from their expertise and experience to help you identify the most cost-effective growth strategies for your startup. A mentor can provide valuable insight into which strategies have proven successful in similar scenarios and which tactics are likely to have the highest return on investment.

Moreover, a growth mentor can help you evaluate and prioritize different strategies based on your startup's specific goals, resources, and limitations. They can also guide you through the process of creating a sustainable growth marketing plan that aligns with your startup’s business objectives and timeline.

Did you know? The term "growth hacking" was coined by Sean Ellis, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and startup advisor who is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of the growth marketing movement. Ellis first used the term in a blog post in 2010, where he defined “growth hackers” as people “whose true north is growth. Everything they do is scrutinized by its potential impact on scalable growth.” However, the definition of growth marketing has expanded to encompass an entire, nuanced marketing philosophy since the term was first introduced.

Ellis gained widespread recognition for his work as the first marketer at Dropbox, where he helped the company achieve rapid growth through a series of innovative growth hacking tactics. Most notably, Ellis implemented a referral program that offered users free storage space in exchange for referring new users to the platform. This simple but effective tactic successfully leveraged the power of word-of-mouth to help Dropbox achieve massive viral growth — and the company soon went on to become one of the most successful startups of its time.

Ellis's experiences at Dropbox and other startups led him to write "Hacking Growth," a book that has become a must-read for growth marketers and startup founders. In the book, Ellis and his co-author, Morgan Brown, provide a comprehensive guide to the growth hacking mindset and methodology, offering practical advice on how to identify high-growth opportunities, test new ideas, and scale a business rapidly.