Embedding growth dynamics into our product development process

When I started at Panenco I observed an entrepreneurial spirit and an eagerness to deliver product value. I walked into an existing portfolio with a strong technical backbone and overall attractive UX, which was a comfortable starting point.

As I picked up the role of growth chapter lead, I quickly identified 6 domains to focus on:

1. Thought leadership at the core of all communication
2. Structuring our growth marketing activities
3. Supporting future direct sales models
4. Shaping our business development approach
5. Measuring effectiveness through growth metrics
6. Embedding the growth activities into our existing product teams
   

We are continuously refining these dimensions, guided by user feedback and our own learnings from the day-to-day operations.

1. Thought leadership at the core

As our growth efforts revolve around a central product strategy and mission statement, we tailor our communication building blocks from there on out, supported by a fine-grained online and offline presence.

We gather an in-depth understanding of our prospect user base through surveying, personal interviews and targeted questionnaires. We balance the fine line between assumptions and insights.

2. Structuring our growth marketing activities

We break away from the traditional B2C vs B2B point of view. Products serve users, not companies. Users should be front-and-center in the growth activities at all times. We take pride and responsibility for the entire lifecycle:

• Attraction: reaching out to prospect users through a variety of channels
• Onboarding: getting new users up and running and informing them about the product
• Retention: continuously listening to user feedback and measuring engagement while streamlining the day-to-day product communication to turn users into ambassadors

3. Supporting a direct sales process

Our growth chapter wants to be supportive and facilitating for the sales activities. We identify the highest quality leads, we refine the core messaging and we set up a system to structurally organise the sales process through consistent messaging.

4. Shaping our business development approach

We firmly believe in ecosystem thinking. We see it as our duty to find the right partnership models for the products in our portfolio. In the upcoming months, we'll be further crystallising our methodology.

5. Measuring effectiveness through growth metrics

We measure the impact of our growth activities in all stages of the funnel:

• Targeting metrics: Targeting the right audience is key to building communities across our products. With a mix of advanced social media settings and industry-specific insights, we are able to find this audience. To measure the success of the targeting activities we use CTR (click-through rate), the number of demo sessions followed and the number of free trials activated.
• User satisfaction metrics: We track the user engagement along the funnel, the overall user satisfaction score and the NPS (Net Promoter Score).
• Financial metrics: The number of free trial accounts converting into paid accounts, the churn rate, customer lifetime value and MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue).
  

The metrics listed above drive roadmap and business decisions in an objective manner.

6. Embedding growth activities into existing product teams

Growth activities are always closely intertwined with the technical backbone as well as measurement instruments. That's why we decided to integrate our growth activities into the existing product development workflow, keeping close ties with the product managers, software engineers, product designers and data engineers.

At Panenco, I'm able to combine my growth curiosity with the marketing and business development FMCG experience I acquired in recent years. Even though I'm just 8 months into the job, it has been the challenge of my career so far to shape these growth activities and gather a motivated team. The only way is up!

P.S.: we have internship and permanent opportunities in our growth chapter. Are you eager to experience firsthand how to trigger sustained growth across a product portfolio? Send me a message via LinkedIn or via thomas.beuckelaers@panenco.com.