Once the initial research is complete, it’s time to develop actionable strategies for growth. These strategies may vary in complexity depending on the nature of the business. In some cases, it may only be feasible to select one area of growth to focus on, while companies with greater resources may develop a more comprehensive strategy that affects numerous operations.  

For example, let’s consider a business whose objective was to increase marketing ROI. In order to achieve this, they may need to reduce unnecessary marketing expenses. Their first step may be to start using marketing automation software, as this would reduce the time required for managing marketing campaigns, allowing staff to spend more time on high level activities. Cost savings resulting from using the software could then allow for the introduction of new initiatives, and these should be planned as part of the growth strategy. 

Let’s consider another example. Suppose a company’s objective was to increase revenues by a given percentage within a specified time period; one aspect of their strategy may be to increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). There are many activities that could be improved or introduced in order to meet this objective. For example:  

• Improving customer service  
• Introducing a CRM system to achieve the above, and other objectives 
• Introducing or improving customer loyalty programmes 
• Applying actionable insights generated through gathering and analysing Customer Insights data
• Improving the user experience of your website 

Another facet of increasing revenues may be to reduce the customer acquisition cost. The components of achieving this objective could include: 

• Reducing the cost of marketing  
• Lowering the price of products or services 
• Increasing the effectiveness of marketing and advertising efforts 
• Improving targeting  
• Developing an SEO strategy to improve website visibility (or improve an existing strategy) 
• Developing partnerships with strategic partners to increase reach and influence 

There are endless activities that can be undertaken in order to meet each objective. Each business needs to assess its available options and apply creativity to put together a strategy that is suitable for their circumstances.  

The final example we’ll look at is how a company may approach the objective of diversifying their revenue streams. The first step would be to assess what revenue streams are suitable depending on the nature of your business. For example, would it make sense to introduce a subscription model? Could you introduce add-ons to an existing product or service? Could you offer consulting services?  

Once you have identified your potential revenue streams, you should assess the potential profitability of each one. This will help you narrow down your options and focus your efforts on those which are the most promising.  

From there, you would create a plan for how to pursue these new revenue streams. This may include doing further competitor research, planning new marketing campaigns, researching whether your target audience would be interested in those new features/services, and developing the necessary infrastructure to support the new revenue.  

If you have many ideas of where you want to grow and don’t know where to start, it’s a good idea to begin with scaling your core offering and move onto exploring other areas later on. In addition, prioritise fast-growing markets to benefit from such trends.  

Finally, there is no point in having a strategy without implementing it – in fact, 67% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution. So, make sure you also plan the means by which your plans will come to fruition.