23 Types of Growth Strategy

John Spacey, updated on May 19, 2023

A growth strategy is a plan to increase revenue. Business growth can result from the marketing, product development and operations of an organization. Alternatively, growth can be obtained with mergers and acquisitions. The following are common growth strategies.

Backward Integration Expanding in the value chain away from the customer. Example: a furniture company that grows its own trees.	Forward Integration Expanding in the value chain towards the customer. Example: a farmer who sells pies at a farmer’s market.
Top-line Growth Growing revenue, possibly at the expense of profitability. Example: startup with fast growth that is loosing money.	Bottom-line Growth Growing your actual profit instead of pursuing unprofitable revenue.
Market Penetration Increasing your market share in existing markets with existing products and services.	Market Expansion Entering new markets.
Product Development Creating new products.	Product Diversification Creating new types of products for new markets.
Market Development Entering new markets with existing products and services.	Geographic Expansion New locations or regions to reach more customers.
Market Entry Distribute products and services to a new market.	Distribution Partners Distribute through new partners such as ecommerce platforms.
Organic Growth Growth driven by your business activities.	Inorganic Growth Growth driven by mergers and acquisitions
Premiumisation Creating premium versions of your products.	Price Differentiation Making your products more accessible to price sensitive customers without loosing high margin revenue from price insensitive customers. Example: coupons that are inconvenient to find and use.
Vertical Integration Owning multiple levels of the value chain. Example: retailer that manufactures its own products.	Horizontal Integration Expanding your business at the same level of the value chain. Example: manufacturer opens a new factory.
Brand Extension Using an existing brand for new types of products and services.	Licensing and Franchising Using intellectual property to expand revenue with licensing or franchising.
Customer Lifetime Value Selling more to your existing customers.	Customer Retention Reducing the loss of existing customers can boost growth.
Production Growth Producing more of a product or service from an operations perspective.