Growth Marketing Isn't Magic: Insights from Ellen Jantsch

The Tuff Approach to Growth Marketing: Transparency and Experimentation

If your aim is to discover a standardized growth marketing playbook, this article will not provide one. Tuff, the agency founded by Ellen Jantsch, firmly believes there is no universal solution when it comes to achieving growth.

The team at Tuff possesses substantial expertise – and rather than offering “magic” or a “secret sauce,” they prioritize transparency and continuous experimentation. This approach has proven successful, as TechCrunch has received numerous recommendations for the agency through its growth marketing survey. (You can contribute your own recommendations here!)

Client Success and Remote Operations

Luke Oehlerking, VP of Product and Strategy at Zenernet, a solar company, highlighted Tuff’s ability to “truly move the needle with measurable results” while functioning as “an extension of [Zenernet’s] own team.”

Despite Jantsch and Oehlerking both being located in Colorado, Tuff operates as a fully remote team, serving clients globally. Beyond client projects, Tuff also developed Growth Guide, a remote training program focused on growth marketing for founders.

A Focus on Results and Creativity

A recent conversation with Jantsch offered valuable insights, complementing an earlier interview with LA-based agency MuteSix. Both agencies share a commitment to achieving results and fostering creativity. However, Tuff concentrates on a broader spectrum of industries than direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, while maintaining a smaller team size.

Understanding Tuff: Origins and Growth

What defines Tuff? What motivated its launch, and what is its current size?

Ellen Jantsch: Tuff is a growth marketing agency with a team of 20 professionals. We collaborate closely with startups and scaling companies to boost their revenue and sales. We’ve achieved success across diverse industries, from early-stage startups to established enterprises, but we are particularly well-suited for companies seeking to acquire new customers and scale through modern tools and strategies.

I founded Tuff as a solo venture driven by a desire to engage in impactful work with companies and founders I admired. While growth was always a goal, my primary focus has always been on cultivating a positive work environment for individuals passionate about assisting companies with innovative ideas. After nearly five years, I’m proud to have realized my initial vision and expanded upon it.

Services Offered by Tuff

What range of services does Tuff provide?

We specialize in developing efficient, comprehensive, growth-oriented marketing strategies. Our method is rigorously tested and consistently delivers results regardless of the industry or company stage. We prioritize continuous research and meticulous execution, constantly optimizing and refining to maximize efficiency.

Throughout this process, we leverage the expertise of all team members. We foster a collaborative, curious environment where we openly share hypotheses and findings with both our partners and internally to identify streamlined paths to growth. Radical transparency is central to our approach; we believe that open communication and demonstrating our work are essential for building strong, trustworthy partnerships.

Our services encompass PPC, social advertising, technical SEO, content strategy, creative development, email marketing, and conversion rate optimization (CRO).

Team Structure and Client Benefits

Does Tuff employ generalists or specialists on its team?

We recruit for two key roles at Tuff. We have growth marketers who are strategic thinkers with a broad perspective, and channel experts who possess in-depth knowledge of specific marketing disciplines. Each client account is assigned a growth marketer and a team of at least three to five channel experts, depending on the testing scope.

The growth marketer serves as a strategist and guide, ensuring clear goal definition and team alignment. Channel experts focus on optimizing performance and maximizing efficiency within their respective areas of expertise.

Agency vs. In-House: Weighing the Options

What are the advantages and disadvantages of engaging an agency like Tuff versus hiring an in-house marketer?

Securing a full-time hire can be beneficial for many companies. However, there are trade-offs compared to partnering with a dedicated growth marketing team. A key advantage is the expertise and dedicated time a full-time marketer brings. A skilled marketer can optimize a budget and stay aligned with overall business objectives. The primary challenges lie in finding the right candidate, the associated costs, and ensuring they can adapt to evolving tactics.

An in-house hire is ideal if you are confident in the channels that already deliver results and simply need someone to refine and scale those efforts.

Hiring a growth marketing agency typically provides access to a full team with a holistic view of your business, enabling collaborative identification of the best strategies and efficient delegation of tasks to specialized experts. Agencies offer flexibility and the ability to reallocate resources quickly, drawing on a wealth of experience.

Pricing, Playbooks, and Rapid Experimentation

How does Tuff structure its pricing, and what is the rationale behind it?

Many performance marketing agencies base their fees on a percentage of ad spend or revenue generated. While these methods are valid, Tuff employs a different approach: we charge flat-fee retainers based on the number of services provided concurrently.

This decision stems from the inherent unpredictability of growth marketing. Even the most experienced marketers may initially recommend a combination of PPC, SEO, and social advertising. If one tactic underperforms, it’s not a failure, but an opportunity to explore alternative strategies. Our pricing model allows us to seamlessly integrate new services or team members to test different approaches until we achieve the optimal mix.

The Limitations of Standard Playbooks

Can clients expect a standardized growth marketing playbook from Tuff?

Scaling a business is inherently challenging, and growth marketing is not a guaranteed solution. I haven’t encountered a playbook that can be universally applied across different businesses with consistent results.

We work with companies beyond e-commerce, including SaaS, fintech, and B2B businesses. This diversity has compelled us to develop a robust growth model and process, rather than relying on a rigid playbook. Consequently, our channel and tactic mix is always customized.

We prioritize rapid, fearless testing and operationalizing early successes to ensure they become repeatable. It’s one thing to achieve wins through established channels; it’s another to ensure your overall strategy can withstand the pressures of scaling.

Tuff’s Approach to Rapid Experimentation

Could you elaborate on how Tuff implements “rapid experimentation” and “quick wins”?

Even our most seasoned growth marketers may develop initial plans that don’t yield the desired results, despite thorough research. This is part of what makes growth marketing so engaging – there’s no guaranteed path to success.

Therefore, instead of rigidly adhering to a predetermined strategy, we begin each new partnership with a plan to test a variety of tactics within chosen channels. We monitor performance daily, reallocate budgets, analyze insights, and prioritize quick wins. Within a few weeks, we can identify what worked, what needs refinement, and formulate a plan for long-term success.

Scaling Early Wins

How does Tuff ensure that initial successes are sustainable as the business scales?

During the initial weeks of a partnership, we focus not only on achieving quick wins but also on designing tests and formulating hypotheses that generate insights for the coming quarters and years.

Our team’s commitment to continuous learning, curiosity, and adaptability are key strengths. We are willing to pivot even if it means abandoning tactics that have previously been successful.

A recent message from a prospective client perfectly illustrates this: “Our current agency was excellent – until iOS 14.5, and then things deteriorated because they only knew how to do one thing.”

Like all growth marketing teams, we experienced increased CPCs and decreased conversion rates following the iOS 14.5 update. However, our ability to adapt and scale is rooted in our fearlessness, curiosity, and expertise.

The Value of an In-House Creative Team

Why did Tuff decide to build an in-house creative team?

Ad creative differs significantly from brand creative, and we struggled to find agencies or freelancers capable of producing ad-optimized content efficiently and within budget.

Around the same time, several founders inquired about a growth marketing team that could drive revenue growth while simultaneously validating their messaging and value propositions. We experimented with testing different value propositions, creating corresponding visual assets, and measuring the results. The synergy proved highly effective.

Prior to establishing the ad creative team, we had already collaborated with talented UX designers. As CRO became an integral part of our growth marketing strategies, we recognized that bringing creative in-house would solidify our capabilities.

The Benefits of Remote Work

How has Tuff’s remote work model performed thus far?

We’ve operated as a remote team from the outset, which has prompted us to prioritize internal and client communication. Beyond defining growth strategies, selecting tools, and executing tactics, we’ve honed our communication skills.

As a remote team, we’ve invested significantly in fostering a culture of transparency and authenticity. I believe this extends to our client relationships. The more open, honest, and clear our conversations, the better the results we achieve.