Which growth marketing strategy will work in 2024: insights from a Growth Marketer at Restream

Together with insights from the podcast with Merge’s CEO, Pavel Tseluyko, and Lawson Zeugin, a seasoned growth marketer at the live-streaming platform Restream, we have collected the main marketing growth strategies of 2024 that are proven to actually work instead of giving your marketing department another chore.

Lawson has over 7 years of experience at Restream, seeing the company grow during the rise of remote work and virtual events. He's worn many hats, from support to web development, and now focuses on growth marketing.

Lawson Zeugin

Growth Marketer at Restream

"I love the strategy of growing organically, and your customers are your best marketers because they also bring like-minded people to the product."

Customer journey optimization

Before any growth marketing strategies, it is important to understand the customer journey in its entirety - from the initial ad click to the final conversion - and then search for areas for improvement. 

Then, rely on data and what it shows you. Analyze customer behavior to see what works and make necessary adjustments. For example, Restream monitors search ads to ensure they lead to high conversion rates.

One major focus is landing page navigation and optimization. 

The copy and layout of your landing pages are critical, even though most users don't scroll past the hero section. That’s why the hero and subheading should be particularly highlighted and use simple language. Basically, your users should make sense of it very quickly. 

Another tactic is minimizing friction in the conversion funnel. Don't give your users too many paths to choose from. One is enough. 

Growth marketing strategy: effective channels

Lawson Zeugin

Growth Marketer at Restream

"The highest traffic is our organic. We get a lot of traffic, about 700,000 per month, just from public tools.

Next up is probably our search marketing, which is brand and non-brand campaigns that they're looking for. We have social advertising, referral and affiliate marketing, email marketing, and influencer marketing.

I want people to be inspired by tackling not just one or two channels, but have seven or ten channels, and tackle them in balance because sometimes something can happen and the one channel can die immediately."

Here’s what you should include in your current growth marketing strategy, 2024 edition, with tips and examples.

Merge tip: We suggest you take a balanced approach and not rely too heavily on any single channel in case one of them experiences a major change (like the Google algorithm update, for example, which caused tons of blogs to suffer from traffic loss).

Organic traffic

In 2024, you need organic growth for sustainable success. Without further ado, here are the three best techniques.

Freebies and content

Organic traffic can also be accumulated through freebies and free tools. These usually rank well on Google and provide value to users, even if they don't convert directly to customers.

For example, Restream has over 60 free conversion tools, like video-to-MP3 converters, that drive a lot of organic traffic (around 700,000 visits per month).

We also suggest exploring quizzes and other interactive content, similar to BuzzFeed, as a way to drive engagement and organic traffic.

The idea is to create fun and shareable content, even if it's not directly related to the core product.

Focus the funnel

Keep your landing pages and conversion funnels laser-focused, preferably with a single clear call to action. Removing extra navigation options and secondary CTAs can increase website conversion rates by 20% or even more. 

Bring value upfront

Lawson Zeugin

Growth Marketer at Restream

"Bring value to the user as quickly as possible. Something I want to experiment with more as we go out through the year is to try and bring the product closer to the user as they first click on our page."

Another key tactic is to deliver value to the visitor as quickly as possible, even before they convert.

For example, there’s a nice trend of apps and tools right now that allow users to experience the core functionality before signing up. Doing this reduces friction and shows the visitor the immediate benefits.

Landing page optimization

Landing page optimization is another important aspect of an effective growth marketing strategy. Your landing page's primary function is to serve as a focused conversion tool, so you should reconsider including elements that might divert attention from the main call to action.

Removing navigation from landing pages can significantly boost your conversion rates. This is particularly relevant given that users often spend only three to five seconds on a page before deciding to leave or proceed.

Each click away from the landing page potentially represents a loss in your conversion funnel, especially after investing in targeted traffic acquisition. So, our advice? Present a single, clear path for the user without deviation or additional navigation.

Website copy

Take a look at your website copy next as part of your growth marketing strategy and embrace the paradox: no one reads, but copy matters. Here's the deal: most people don't scroll past the hero section, so you have to perfect that first impression.

We would suggest you have your content at a very basic, easy-to-understand level - around a 3rd-grade reading level (ideally, below a sixth-grade level). Most visitors only spend 3-5 seconds on a page before deciding to convert or bounce, so the messaging needs to be crystal clear and compelling from the very start.

Also, with shorter attention spans nowadays, you need to capture attention immediately. Heroes and subheadings (and imagery) should be easily noticeable, with straightforward language. Failure to do so may result in high drop-off or bounce rates.

Affiliate and referral programs

Here, again, use your existing users. Don't waste time actively recruiting affiliates. If you're in a business where your users have their own audience, they're already perfect potential affiliates. Here are some more tips:

• Keep it natural. Make joining your affiliate program a no-brainer for users who already love your product. They're already using you, so why not earn some cash by spreading the word?
• Start small and scale up. Kick things off with a simple referral program. As referrers prove their worth, invite them to the big leagues - your affiliate program with recurring commissions.
• Create a growth loop. Your referral program feeds into your affiliate program. It's a natural progression that keeps feeding itself.
• Let your users do the talking. If your customers become brand ambassadors, you're tapping into authentic, trusted voices.
• Stay hands-off. Once you set it up, these programs can run themselves.

Email marketing

Another crucial piece of all the best growth marketing strategies is email marketing. Basically, build your automated email funnels, nurture your leads, and guide them toward becoming paying customers. Our tip here would also be to keep the copy simple and avoid distractions. 

Honorable mentions: personalize your emails, automate your lifecycle emails, and use data (opens, clicks, conversions) to improve your strategy over time.

Social media and influencer marketing

Growing your business today will eventually require you to use social media platforms and influencer partnerships. 

Social media

If you want to reach the right audiences and drive conversions, go where everyone hangs out nowadays. You can run targeted ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, for example. Once there, quickly showcase your value and guide people to your product.

The key is to create genuinely useful content that solves real problems for your audience, not just promotional material.

Influencer marketing

Restream, for instance, naturally attracted content creators and broadcasters who already use the product. These "power users" are encouraged to join the affiliate program and promote the platform. Our tip is to provide tools and resources to make it easy for influencers to share your product rather than aggressively recruiting them.

Struggling with high user churn rates and low retention?

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The future of product-led growth marketing

As a wrap-up, a glimpse into the future of growth marketing. Here are a few key trends to watch out for in 2024.

First, make it super easy for people to experience your product's value. Successful product-led growth marketing in 2024 will be all about simplifying the path to conversion.

Another big trend is tapping into your existing customers to feed your marketing growth. Brands that turn their happiest users into promoters through referral programs and affiliate partnerships will have a major advantage. These passive, scalable customer acquisition methods are your base now.

Finally, specialized tools, interactive content, and engaging experiences are becoming increasingly important. Those kinds of frictionless, valuable content that drives traffic and sales. Diversify beyond traditional marketing!

And, as usual, keep an eye out for more insights from us and our partners.