7 performance marketing lessons in 7 years

As accelerators of business through performance marketing drive, we’re into delivering mega value and committed to turbocharge business growth.

But this isn’t a who’s who or brag board. It’s a look at what we’ve learned through our share of campaign wheel spins, taking launch corners at speed, data-driven oil changes and changing more than a few creative lanes to accelerate business growth in partnership with our clients.

LESSON #1

Business solutions are central. The performance agency that’s invested in people, process and technology presents clients with digital strategies to fix heavyweight business problems. This approach enables delivery of results that are not an emoji feeling or brand inkling, but a daily set of decisions and market positioning moves based on hard data and often tough calls.

“I want what you are selling” is the response we want from your customer when they initiate contact.

LESSON #2

Investing in people is pivotal. Being on the performance team is for the self-driven. The person who thrives here wants to beat the odds because they want to solve real problems with the tools at hand, as that’s what drives them. We’ve seen the power of training everyone in the team to think like a strategist, from identifying a problem and devising a strategy to fixing it and executing like a marathon runner until we get the job done.

There’s no power play here, just professional empowerment for everyone.

LESSON #3

Process is non-negotiable. Our brand of performance marketing is intelligence in action that calls for our team to track and act with the daily numbers while keeping technical dynamics on track. With many fast-moving parts, we have a vested interest in structured processes, down to the minute. From client onboarding to how we track performance, we’ve found process an invaluable support to consistency and accountability.

Mapped A to X, process drives efficiency and accountability and that’s why we care.

LESSON #4

What we sell is best tested by us, first. From client service to coders to campaign managers, we’re into trying out new things, testing tools, technology or methodologies on ourselves before applying them to client projects. We don’t build the plane as it flies. We fly the plane and onboard clients once we’ve piloted the plane that we’re asking them to trust us to fly.

Whether an outbound strategy or tool to build databases, we use anything in-house before considering it for our client.

LESSON #5

Data-driven learning is fluid. Being plugged into data keeps the mind crisp and ego on pause; it keeps us moving forward with perspective and fuels our desire for better intelligence.

We live data, having built internal and external data ecosystems to draw out insight and put our strategies to the test.

LESSON #6

Precision is progress. Precision in performance marketing calls for us to pay attention to the evidence that shows if our work is reaching the mark or falling short of it, and requires that we know how to reroute to deliver on campaign goals. It’s all in the experience of the team. Something we’ve also learned is the importance of throwing our minds (and not bodies or hours) at a problem.

What works is rallying the team’s collective intelligence to pinpoint the right strategies and implement with precision.

LESSON #7

Performance is personal. We’ll never promise we’ve got “the silver bullet” but we will get what a client sells to the right person, in the right context and ensure their product or service is well positioned at every stage of the customer's path to purchase. Business growth is personal to us and so, we make our client’s business our business.

Staying true to our focus on people, process and technology makes all the difference.

As we look to learn the next seven lessons over another seven years, we look to the future in a world of AI generated pop-songs and IoT cars, and we're excited to join the ride. Our goal is to make Correlate a vessel for the hungry, ambitious and motivated; a safe zone for the innovative to really innovate. And as the world accelerates to create its newest fast lane, we're here to embrace the change and champion the next phase of entrepreneurial greatness, one click at a time.

PS: Our new website is live and to mark the moment, we took two minutes to reflect on where we started, what we’ve learned and why that matters for the way forward.