Growth hacking is a broad term that encompasses a range of distinct growth strategies. It is used by startups in their early stages that require rapid budget growth. Sean Elis, a growth hacker, coined the term “growth hacking” in 2010.
What Exactly is Growth Hacking?
Growth hacking is a term that refers to the process of assisting businesses in acquiring and retaining customers with novel, low-cost strategies. A growth hacker is a full-time position that entails a range of responsibilities throughout the product or service development process, including product management and/or engineering.
A team’s primary characteristics, because of the start-up culture, are obsessive, curious, and analytical:
• Growth hacking is solely concerned with strategies for business expansion.
• Developing hypotheses and evaluating novel growth strategies.
• After that, analysis and testing are used to determine the most effective strategies.
When it comes to the optimal rate of growth, a growth hacker truly understands how to prioritise growth, customer acquisition channels identification, success quantification, and growth.
What Distinguishes Marketing from Growth Hacking?
The distinction is not always as stark as it appears. The job descriptions of growth hackers and traditional marketers are so dissimilar that they cannot be combined, which is why growth hacking warrants its own term.
Many people use the term ‘growth marketing’ to avoid the negative connotation that the term ‘hacking’ carries, particularly in business.
Six categories in which marketing and growth hacking are compared:
• A growth hacker is concerned with the next generation of growth, whereas marketers are frequently responsible for day-to-day marketing and branding.
• Whereas the majority of sellers focus exclusively on awareness and acquisition, a growth hacker considers the entire funnel, including retention and referral.
• A growth hacker conducts small experiments to determine the most effective approaches, whereas a marketer typically works on larger, longer-term projects.
• A growth hacker’s work is heavily data-driven, which is not true for the majority of commercial departments.
• A more skilled growth hacker is one who is technically savvy and understands programming, tooling, and automation.
• The product employs a growth hacker, among other things, because it must prioritise active customer retention.
Reclassification of Products.
While traditional marketers are adept at comprehending traditional products, the internet has completely flipped the definition of the term. Historically, a product was a tangible item; however, they can now be invisible bits and bytes in the form of software products such as a Netflix subscription. Automobiles, shampoo, couches, and firearms were previously considered products. Twitter has developed into a commercial product. A product is what your online accounting software is. Intangible objects can now serve as product representations. This transition facilitated the emergence of a new generation of growth hackers. The internet introduced a new type of product into the world, necessitating the development of new modes of thought.
As a result of this redefining, a product can now play a role in its own adoption for the first time.
Facebook, for example, enables you to share its platform with your friends in order to improve your own experience. This is something that your tires are incapable of. Dropbox, for example, will offer you free cloud storage in exchange for referring a friend. This is not the manner in which rice cookers are sold. You cannot fully comprehend growth hacking unless you understand the internet’s new classification of products.
How are you implementing Growth Hacking in your organisation?
Take the following into consideration:
• Am I a good fit for the product/market? If not, concentrate your efforts on enhancing your product’s appeal to a broad audience. Growth hacking cannot be used to improve a substandard product.
• Am I properly configuring my analytics? Am I capable of communicating with customers consistently? Growth cannot be hacked in the absence of data/feedback: You must determine how your growth is being stifled and devise the best strategy for reviving it.
• Are you equipped to execute specific fundamental growth strategies? Your business cannot grow solely on the basis of data analysis and strategy development, because no one knows what will work. Execution must take precedence over development.
Many professionals anticipate having a case study or an example of a business that has rocketed to new heights before committing to a new model of business expansion or development. Let’s look at some of the most well-known growth hacking techniques.
Airbnb is an online lodging company that leveraged technology and ingenuity to tap into the user base of a well-established website like Craigslist. By integrating automated listing generators from their app directly into Craigslist, they were able to increase the visibility of their product by essentially “hacking” into their system and allowing lodging offers and services from their side to be visible on a larger alternative platform. The word of mouth spread quickly enough that they were able to establish a lodging company without owning any property.
MSN elevated growth hacking to a new level, to the point where Microsoft acquired the company 18 months after its launch. However, what did they do to inspire that? They expanded at such a rate that 20% of active internet users at the time had a Hotmail account. With the addition of “PS, I adore you.” Get a free email account at Hotmail?” They grew at an unfathomable rate at the time, reaching 12 million users in less than a year and a half.
These rates of growth are unprecedented, and some start-ups have achieved absurd valuations in a short period of time. When it comes to growth hacking, it’s critical to understand that it’s more than a strategy; it’s a mindset.
If you are interested in developing your company exponentially using growth hacking, it is your lucky day. Cyngus Technology will be hosting a free webinar on August 3rd, 2021.
You can sign up for the “Growth Hacking your Digital Strategies to Triple your Sales” webinar on the OM’s website here. Learn how you can implement strategies into your company’s growth plans by an industry expert.