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What is lean marketing?

Article originally published in February 2024 by Stuart Brameld. Most recent update in April 2024.

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Definition of lean marketing

Lean marketing is a strategy that focuses on optimising your marketing efforts to achieve the best results with the least amount of resources. It’s all about being agile, testing different approaches, and quickly adapting based on what works best. This method helps businesses to save money, increase efficiency, and ultimately drive more successful marketing campaigns.

Lean marketing also encourages a culture of continuous learning and improvement. By using data-driven insights, marketers can make informed decisions about where to invest their time and resources. This approach allows for rapid experimentation, with the aim of finding the most effective strategies quickly. It’s not just about cutting costs, but also about maximising the impact of every pound spent. In a competitive business landscape, lean marketing can give companies the edge they need to stand out and succeed.

How does lean marketing work?

Lean marketing works by focusing on strategies that maximize customer value while minimizing waste. This approach involves continuous testing and measurement to identify what works best and to eliminate ineffective tactics. It emphasizes understanding customer needs, creating value propositions that meet those needs, and delivering them in the most efficient way possible. Lean marketing also encourages agility and flexibility, allowing marketers to quickly adapt to changes in the market or customer behavior. By using data-driven insights and iterative processes, marketers can optimize their efforts and achieve better results with fewer resources.

An example of lean marketing

Growth Method, a SaaS company, decides to implement lean marketing. They start by identifying their target audience: small to medium-sized businesses in need of efficient growth strategies. They then create a minimum viable product (MVP), a basic version of their software, to test the market.

To promote their MVP, they use cost-effective digital marketing strategies. They create engaging content about growth strategies on their blog and share it on social media platforms. They also use SEO techniques to increase their visibility on search engines.

They offer a free trial of their software to attract potential customers and collect feedback. They use this feedback to improve their product and tailor it to their customers’ needs.

They also use data analytics to measure the success of their marketing strategies. They track metrics like website traffic, conversion rates, and customer engagement. They use this data to make informed decisions and adjust their marketing strategies as needed.

By using lean marketing, Growth Method is able to test their product in the market, attract customers, and improve their product based on customer feedback, all while keeping their marketing costs low.

Questions to ask yourself

As a modern growth marketing or agile marketing professional, ask yourself the following questions with regard to lean marketing:

  1. Am I effectively using data to drive my marketing decisions?
  2. Do I have a clear understanding of my target audience and their needs?
  3. Am I continuously testing and improving my marketing strategies?
  4. Am I able to adapt quickly to changes in the market or customer behaviour?
  5. Am I maximising my resources and budget to achieve the best possible results?

Other articles you might like

Here are some related articles and further reading on lean marketing you may find helpful.

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