A company scaling for PROFIT is most interested in scaling efficiently - so increasing revenue without incurring significant costs.
How this impacts marketing efforts:
Lean budgets
There will be more pressure on efficiency
Focus on highest margin products & services
Conduct a cohort anaylsis to maximize LTV, know what products customers purchase the most/first
Typically more mature companies who have PMF (product market fit)
A company scaling for REVENUE is most interested in growth.
Willing to invest more in people, tech, ad spend, etc. despite taking some losses.
How this impacts marketing efforts:
Open to spend more to make more
Typically can be start-ups or companies that recently got a 2nd or 3rd round of funding to drive fast growth
There will be more opportunities for incremental spend and/or new channel opportunities.
Questions to ask clients to ensure we're aligned:
What does your C-Suite care about? Profit? Top-line revenue?
Are you looking for growth or scale?
What is your current gross profit margin and net profit margin and what is your goal for the year ahead?
Are you looking for further investment/capital?
We cannot scale for profit and revenue at the same time. This is a common problem as clients want to grow but within a tight boundary (ie CAC).
It’s important to explain how the different goals affect our marketing efforts and align on prioritization. For example,
"We can scale spend 10x but expect the CAC to increase above the $50 target as we're currently as efficient as possible. Would you rather increase spend or keep CAC w/in the target?"