John Atkins, Senior Growth Marketing Strategist at Tuff, worked for years to master growth marketing strategies. But he took an unconventional path that continues to inspire his unique approach today.
Inspired by a high school English teacher, John originally pursued a degree in English literature. After graduating, he took the opportunity to teach English as a second language in Vietnam. However, he soon realized that this was not the right career for him.
In 2014, John returned to the U.S. and became the first employee at a Denver-based startup, where he took on the role of community manager. His responsibilities ranged from social media scheduling to writing blog posts on financial literacy.
“This was my first look at: ‘Here’s how you build a community. This is how you educate that community with resources and educational material. And then, here’s how you give that community a tool to build revenue off of,’” he says. “I’ve been hooked on those types of ventures ever since.”
John shared valuable insights with New Pattern Magazine, offering practical advice to help startups scale and succeed—regardless of their size.
Defining Growth Marketing
A simple way to explain growth marketing is this: it involves guiding someone from a piece of media—whether it’s organic content or paid ads on platforms like Facebook or Instagram—to a landing page or website where they take a desired action.
At its core, growth marketing is about driving user actions through conversions. It involves measuring those actions, then optimizing strategies to either increase the volume of conversions or reduce the cost of acquiring them. While there are many tactics within growth marketing, the main focus is on conversions—getting users to take measurable actions that you can analyze and improve upon over time.
What Are the Best Ways to Approach Growth Marketing?
Many people feel overwhelmed by marketing, thinking, “There’s so much to do—I can’t do it all.”
I would suggest finding ways to weave marketing into what you’re already doing. Focus on how it can complement your everyday efforts.
For early-stage startups, aiming to have everything a 10-year-old company has from a marketing perspective isn’t realistic or helpful. Instead, it’s better to set smaller, measurable goals that are easier to achieve in the early stages of your company.
Ask yourself: How can we get this growth marketing tactic off the ground? What does a lean approach look like? Begin by validating if the tactic works—maybe by booking just one meeting—and then figure out how to scale it further.
Over time, these smaller goals can add up to larger achievements and progress in your marketing strategy. Rather than trying to book 100 meetings per month through a growth marketing tactic you haven’t even launched yet, start small.
By focusing on manageable steps, you can build momentum and achieve long-term growth without feeling overwhelmed. Tools like Demand Curve can help you navigate this process and implement strategies that work for your business.
Key Points of a Successful Growth Plan
The key points to a successful growth plan include having a clear destination or conversion event in mind. Growth marketing isn’t just about spending money, like putting $1,000 into Facebook ads without a goal. To maximize your spending, you need to track what’s happening and have a goal for what users should do when they see your ad, interact with it, or land on your website.
You also need to define what they should do at the end destination and figure out the best way to optimize for that goal, whether through SEO content with specific keywords or ads designed to drive specific actions.
Another key component is understanding your ideal customer—knowing who they are, where they live, their profession, experience level, and expertise. Once you have the end goal and know your customer, you can test different approaches, like content, Google search, Instagram ads, or LinkedIn ads. By testing and analyzing results, you can refine your strategies, drive users effectively, and build on those learnings to improve future campaigns.
Are Social Media Platforms Like Twitter or Facebook Still Viable for Growth Marketing?
It’s uncertain how long people will continue supporting these platforms or what the future holds. I don’t believe Twitter is a viable paid advertising option anymore, and platforms like Facebook and Instagram could potentially follow a similar path.
I believe content will remain a key way for people to learn about their interests, search for information, and find solutions. For most startups, content has always been an accessible way to build community and drive traffic to their websites through SEO.
I recommend investing in content early on in your growth marketing journey. It’s a way to create something valuable that people will use, share, and rely on to understand your product and how it fits their needs.
Additionally, I think investing in video and written content is huge—especially video. Developing as much content as possible to be used across platforms is really helpful. Written content can also take different forms, like an e-book, which can then be repurposed into a YouTube short or video. It’s really important to consider how written content can be adapted into video, audio, or other formats.
About the Author: Tess Danielson is a journalist and writer focusing on the intersection of technology and society.
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