What is Growth, What is Marketing?
Growth is emerging as a defining function in modern B2B marketing, yet its scope and implementation often spark debate. During a recent Adzact podcast, Joaquin Dominguez, Head of Marketing at Adzact, hosted Beth Carter, Director of Growth at Flexa, and Monica Myers, a seasoned Demand Generation Consultant, to discuss the intricacies of growth. Their conversation explored the evolving relationship between growth and marketing, the challenges of cross-functional alignment, and the cultural and organisational shifts needed to unlock growth’s potential.
Host
Joaquin Dominguez was joined by marketing experts to discuss the topic.
Guests
Beth Carter, Director of Growth at Flexa
Monica Myers, Demand Generation Consultant and Strategist
Growth vs. Marketing: Untangling the Relationship
The discussion opened by exploring the overlapping yet distinct roles of growth and marketing. Beth Carter described growth as a discipline that transcends departmental boundaries, integrating marketing, product, operations, and other functions to capitalise on opportunities across the entire business. Unlike marketing, which primarily focuses on demand generation and customer acquisition, growth addresses broader organisational challenges to drive scalable success.
Monica Myers expanded on this, highlighting marketing as a critical but singular lever within growth’s arsenal. True growth, she argued, is far more expansive, involving strategic initiatives that connect disparate functions to align business outcomes. This distinction, while powerful, is often blurred in practice, leading to siloed efforts that undermine broader growth potential.
"Growth isn’t confined to any single department or strategy; it’s about connecting the dots across the entire organisation. The real magic happens when you align everyone to pull towards a common goal, regardless of where the opportunities lie." – Beth Carter
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Breaking Silos for Growth
Both speakers emphasised that growth thrives on cross-functional alignment. Beth Carter described growth leaders as generalists who bridge organisational silos, uniting marketing, product, sales, and other teams around shared goals. She noted that growth demands a broader perspective than traditional departmental roles often allow, fostering collaboration to identify and resolve inefficiencies across the business.
Monica Myers pointed out that siloed functions often result in disjointed efforts, with departments unknowingly pursuing overlapping or even contradictory objectives. Without a centralised growth function, organisations risk missing out on transformative opportunities that require cooperation across teams. The panel agreed that fostering this alignment is a critical step in realising growth’s full potential.
"True growth is about breaking silos and bringing teams together. When every function understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture, that’s when you unlock the real potential of a business." – Monica Myers
Strategic Leadership and Cultural Shifts
The role of leadership in driving growth emerged as a key theme. Beth Carter noted that growth is an inherently senior function due to its cross-departmental nature. Junior-level growth professionals, often placed in under-resourced or isolated roles, lack the authority to influence teams like product or engineering, limiting their impact. Monica Myers shared examples of growth functions being treated as add-ons to marketing, leaving professionals overburdened and disconnected from other key areas of the business.
Cultural resistance to change also poses significant challenges. Beth argued that growth leaders must master the art of storytelling and clear communication to align teams and foster trust. Monica echoed this, emphasising the importance of demonstrating how individual contributions connect to overarching business goals. Effective growth leadership requires not only operational skills but also the ability to unite and inspire diverse teams around a common vision.
Evolving Growth Across Business Stages
The panel explored how growth strategies shift as businesses mature:
Early-Stage Companies: At this stage, foundational tasks like optimising websites and refining user touchpoints dominate growth efforts. Monica noted that these "table stakes" initiatives are critical for establishing a baseline of operational efficiency.
Scaling Startups: As companies grow, Beth recommended embedding growth professionals across teams to identify and address bottlenecks. She likened this approach to expanding narrow pipes in a system, ensuring smooth operations across all areas of the business.
Mature Organisations: Larger businesses require systemic approaches to growth, focusing on experimental strategies and big bets. Monica highlighted the importance of balancing risk with potential reward, using insights from earlier efforts to inform more complex initiatives.
Metrics and Unified Objectives
Defining and communicating a singular growth metric was identified as crucial for success. Monica Myers observed that without a clear, company-wide goal, departments often work toward conflicting priorities, leading to inefficiencies. Beth Carter added that growth metrics should reflect the company’s current stage and objectives, whether that means prioritising user acquisition, monetisation, or long-term sustainability. Aligning teams around a shared understanding of success is critical to achieving meaningful outcomes.
Advice for Aspiring Growth Professionals
The session concluded with practical advice for those looking to transition into growth roles:
Take Ownership: Monica Myers encouraged aspiring growth professionals to engage proactively with cross-functional teams and seek collaboration opportunities. By learning from different departments, individuals can broaden their perspective and identify areas for impact.
Start Doing the Job: Beth Carter suggested that individuals begin practising growth by mapping customer journeys, analysing data, and designing experiments—even without a formal growth role. Demonstrating initiative and curiosity, she argued, is often the best way to gain recognition and advance in this field.
Blend Art and Science: Both speakers emphasised the importance of balancing creativity with analytical skills. Growth requires both the ability to interpret data and the vision to craft strategies that drive meaningful change.
Conclusion
The conversation highlighted that growth is far more than a marketing extension; it is a unifying function that aligns entire organisations around shared objectives. By fostering collaboration, breaking silos, and adopting a holistic approach, businesses can leverage growth to achieve sustainable success in an increasingly competitive market.
Adzact’s podcast serves as a valuable resource for companies and individuals navigating the complexities of growth, offering actionable insights to transform challenges into opportunities and drive impactful results.
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