Growth marketing is basically figuring out how to get more customers in a way that builds on itself over time. Instead of paying for every single visitor (like you do with ads), you create things that keep working for you month after month.
Think about it like this: if you write a helpful blog post that ranks well on Google, that post might bring you 50 visitors a month for years. Compare that to paying for 50 clicks on an ad, which costs money every single time.
The four things that actually matter
When you strip away all the fancy terminology, early-stage growth comes down to four things:
Getting found. People need to discover you exist. This happens through search engines, AI assistants like ChatGPT, word of mouth, or someone mentioning you in a community. The goal is to show up when someone is looking for a solution to the problem you solve.
Building trust. Once someone finds you, they need to believe you can actually help them. This comes from testimonials, case studies, being mentioned on sites they already trust, and generally not looking like you launched yesterday (even if you did).
Converting visitors into users. Your website needs to clearly explain what you do and make it easy for people to try it. This sounds obvious, but most startup websites fail this basic test. Ask five random people what your company does based on your homepage. If they cannot tell you, you have a problem.
Borrowing other people's audiences. You do not have a big email list or social following yet. But other companies do. Partnerships, guest posts, and cross-promotions let you reach people who already trust someone else.
Why most early teams mess this up
The biggest mistake is trying to do everything at once. You read about content marketing, so you start a blog. You hear about LinkedIn, so you start posting. You think you need a newsletter, so you set one up. Then you see a competitor doing webinars...
Before you know it, you are spreading yourself thin across ten different channels and making zero progress on any of them.
A better approach is to pick one thing per week and actually finish it. One solid page on your website is worth more than five half-finished blog posts sitting in drafts.
A simple weekly rhythm
Here is a sustainable way to approach this:
On Monday, look at what happened last week. How many people visited your site? How many signed up? What pages did they look at? You do not need fancy analytics for this. Even basic Google Analytics or your product's built-in stats will tell you what you need to know.
From Tuesday to Thursday, ship one thing. This could be a new page on your website, an email to potential partners, a guest post, or improvements to your signup flow. The key word is "ship." Do not just work on it. Finish it and put it live.
On Friday, tell people about what you shipped. Share it on LinkedIn, send it to your email list (even if it is just 50 people), or post it in relevant communities. Then plan what you will ship next week.
Principles that actually work
Measure things, even crudely. You do not need a perfect analytics setup. Just track the basics: how many people visit, how many sign up, where they come from. If you cannot answer "did this week's work actually help?" then you are flying blind.
Change one thing at a time. If you rewrite your homepage, launch a new feature, and start posting on LinkedIn all in the same week, you will have no idea what worked. Make one change, wait a bit, see what happens.
Consistency beats intensity. Shipping something small every week for a year beats going all-in for a month and then burning out. The companies that win are usually the ones that just kept showing up.
Build things that keep working. A well-written page on your website works for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for years. An ad stops working the moment you stop paying. When you have limited time, prioritize things with a long shelf life.