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growth marketing vs performance marketing
8 min read

Growth Marketing vs Performance Marketing: What's the Difference?

Did you know that nearly 20% of businesses fail within the first two years? The good news, however, is that there are steps you can take to prevent this from happening.

As you might assume, marketing is one of the most important obligations that entrepreneurs have if they want to run a successful business.

However, you'll need to understand growth marketing vs performance marketing if you want to get the best results possible. So, we've put together a brief guide about growth vs performance marketing. Let's explore what you need to know about these marketing options.

What Is Growth Marketing?

As the name implies, growth marketing is all about helping your business grow. It focuses on customer acquisition, retention, and engagement in order to bring more customers into the fold and increase a company's revenue.

Businesses of any size can benefit from growth marketing. After all, every company can benefit from establishing a larger presence in its industry.

What Is Performance Marketing?

Performance marketing focuses on the immediate results of a campaign, such as clicks and conversions. It's all about optimizing campaigns in order to maximize the return on investment (ROI).

This is particularly important for small businesses that might have trouble hitting target metrics otherwise.

The Difference Between Growth and Performance Marketing

The main difference between growth and performance marketing lies in their respective goals.

Growth marketers aim to grow the business in the long run, while performance marketers focus on short-term results such as clicks, conversions, and impressions. Performance marketing is focused more on paid ads, while growth marketing encompasses a variety of tactics.

What Are the Goals of Each?

Understanding the end goal of each strategy is crucial. This will play a large role in determining which one is best for your situation.

Let's explore this topic below.

Goals of Growth Marketing

The primary goals of growth marketing are to acquire and retain customers, as well as increase engagement.

Over time, both of these will lead to increased revenue and brand awareness. Put simply, growth marketing aims to grow a brand as quickly as possible.

It also aims to do so across a multitude of different channels. These include search engine results, social media, etc.

Goals of Performance Marketing

The main goal of performance marketing is to drive immediate results, such as clicks and conversions.

This strategy is all about optimizing campaigns to maximize ROI. As such, performance marketing is great for businesses that need quick and measurable results.

So, performance marketing is better suited for short-term campaigns.

An In-Depth Look at the Tactics

Growth marketers use tactics like email campaigns, social media ads, and content creation. They also use A/B testing and influencer marketing to help reach their goals. These all have the aim of building relationships with customers, driving traffic to a website, and increasing brand awareness.

Performance marketers will often rely on tactics such as retargeting ads and search engine optimization (SEO). It also involves pay-per-click advertising (PPC). All of these strategies are focused on getting immediate results such as clicks, conversions, and impressions.

How Do They Deal With Metrics?

Growth marketing prioritizes metrics like customer lifetime value (LTV), user engagement, and customer retention. These metrics help marketers understand how customers are interacting with their brand.

It also provides insight into how effective their strategies are.

Performance marketing, on the other hand, relies heavily on metrics such as clicks, impressions, and conversions. These metrics tell marketers whether or not a campaign is working in terms of driving immediate results.

Performance Marketing Vs Growth Marketing: Which One Is Better?

Ultimately, the answer to this question depends on your business goals and objectives. For businesses that need short-term results, performance marketing is the way to go.

If you're looking for long-term growth, then growth marketing is the better option. For businesses with limited budgets, a combination of both strategies is often the best route.

You can use performance marketing to quickly drive results and then leverage growth marketing tactics to build relationships and further increase your customer base. No matter what you choose, it's important to keep in mind that each strategy has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Make sure to thoroughly assess your goals and objectives before deciding which one is right for you.

If you aren't quite sure where to start, consider hiring a professional to help. They will have all the tools and resources necessary to help get you on the right track. They can also help you avoid obstacles you may have otherwise encountered.

When looking for a professional to work with, be sure that you consider their past reputation. Seeing what past clients have had to say will provide valuable insight into what you can expect from them. You should also take a look at their past projects.

This is the only way that you can have proof of what they are capable of. Finally, to somebody that you are comfortable communicating with. If they don't seem like they prioritize your needs, it's best to look elsewhere.

Growth Marketing Vs Performance Marketing Doesn't Have to Be Difficult

Although these topics can seem difficult to understand at first, growth marketing vs performance marketing is relatively straightforward. Just be sure that you keep the above information in mind so that you can make the decision that is best for the future of your company.

Want to learn more about what we can do? Be sure to reach out to us today and see how we can help you.