- Startups
- 6 mins
Growth hacking started as a buzzword representing a trending marketing style popularized in business magazines and financial blogs in the early 2010s. In the nearly decade and a half that the term has existed, it has transcended from a buzzword and marketing technique to a full-fledged career role.
Growth hacking encompasses a mindset of adaptation, agility, and innovation. Growth Hacking is no longer the exclusive domain of the marketing realm. Growth Hackers may work in product development, engineering, or any other area of business operations.
No matter what area of business they work in, Growth Hackers are constantly exploring new growth opportunities and leveraging data and cutting-edge technology to optimize each part of the customer journey.
At the core of growth hacking lies a relentless focus on growth, supported by continual testing and metrics analysis. The field blends outside-the-box thinking, experimentation, and innovation with pragmatic data analysis and heavy use of the latest technology, all working in synergy to create the most effective strategies for maximizing business growth in the shortest period of time for the lowest possible cost.
What Is Growth Hacking?
As mentioned, growth hacking was initially an umbrella term born in the startup world. The term describes a type of strategy focused solely on the most effective path to rapid growth, preferably at the lowest cost to the startup or business.
Traditional marketing often uses long-term strategies spread across various channels to generate and nurture steady growth for a business or brand. In contrast, growth hacking is a marketing technique that uses unconventional tactics to create quick and powerful bursts of rapid growth, getting the brand a lot of attention and engagement as quickly as possible. An argument could be made that growth hacking could be seen as viral marketing.
However, while the core focus is rapid growth and attention-grabbing tactics, the growth hacker is always looking to create that rapid growth in a way that is scalable to provide sustainable development at a later date.
A growth hacker will generally focus on these core goals:
- Data Analysis: Leveraging data metrics to understand where the best opportunities for growth are likely to be found
- Product Market Fit: Tweaking the product until it resonates with the target audience.
- User Acquisition: Finding and employing creative, low-cost customer acquisition strategies.
- Retention Strategies: Ensuring that once customers are acquired, they remain engaged and satisfied.
A growth hacker’s goal spans the entire customer journey from awareness to advocacy. The role requires a marketer who is agile and responsive, always ready to change course at a moment's notice if the data suggests a new direction is warranted.
However, the role also requires a deep understanding of traditional marketing and the ability to create innovative, powerful tactics that drive rapid growth but are ultimately scalable and sustainable for long-term growth.
What Growth Hacking Is Not
Growth hacking is NOT a silver bullet
Growth Hacking requires persistence, creativity, and a solid understanding of the audience and the product. But it is not a right for every brand, and it cannot turn a dud of a product with no value proposition into a viral trend flying off the shelves.
Growth Hacking is NOT traditional marketing
Traditional marketing generally involves blending different techniques over several channels to generate sustainable, steady growth. Growth hacking is a style of marketing, different from classic marketing, that focuses on innovative, unconventional techniques to craft cheap and ultra-effective tactics for generating a lot of attention and growth at once.
Growth hacking is NOT reckless or disruptive
Despite its experimental nature, growth hacking is fundamentally data-driven. Growth hackers are not chaos agents, and they are not trying to disrupt or eliminate traditional marketing. While they may create innovative and imaginative strategies, their approach is methodical and rooted in analytics.
Growth Hacking is NOT unethical
The word “hacker” in the title concerns some who still subscribe to the original definition of a hacker as a subversive criminal hacking into computer systems. Growth Hackers do not engage in any type of illegal hacking, nor do they engage in unethical marketing tactics that infringe on user privacy.
Growth Hacking is NOT a one-time stunt
Growth Hacking is more than a no-hold-barred attempt to grab attention. Growth Hackers are seeking imaginative strategies that are capable of generating a burst of engagement at the front end but are ultimately scalable to create sustainable growth over the long run.
Growth Hacking is NOT the right choice for every business
Growth hacking is not the right choice for every business. Although the technique has branched out to other uses, it is still primarily used by startups and small businesses that need faster-than-average growth. Many businesses still prefer the slower growth of the traditional marketing model, if only because their operations are not ready to handle rapid growth.
What's The Difference Between Growth Hacking & General Marketing?
Growth Hacking and General marketing represent two marketing strategies with different core goals. While both ultimately seek a stable and sustainable growth strategy for a brand or business, general marketing starts with this goal, while growth hacking starts with the goal of using innovative techniques to generate a powerful burst of rapid, short-term growth.
The growth funnel is an excellent tool for illustrating the difference between general marketing and growth hacking. The growth hacker tends to focus almost exclusively on the uppermost portion of the growth funnel, which is concerned with generating attention and engagement. Growth hackers could be said to specialize in this particular field.
In contrast, the general marketer focuses on the entire growth funnel, from attention generation in the upper stages to the sustainable growth created by analyzing and optimizing ongoing marketing campaigns
Let’s compare and contrast how the Growth Hacker and the General Marketer approach each stage of the growth funnel.
Acquisition
Growth Hackers: Growth hackers will seek to acquire customers using creative, out-of-the-box strategies designed to generate an explosion of engagement and a surge of enthusiasm for the brand.
General Marketers: General Marketers are also working to acquire customers at this stage. However, they are likely to use a slower, more methodical tactic. They will consistently test different styles of ad campaigns and other platforms throughout the process, looking for the ideal equilibrium of performance, cost, and sustainability.
Activation
Growth Hackers: Growth Hackers will be focused on providing a memorable experience that will keep the customer at a state of peak enthusiasm for the brand and encourage the customer to act as a brand ambassador.
General Marketers: General Marketers are also concerned with providing a good user experience. However, they are more likely to focus on the overall user experience for all users rather than giving an unforgettable experience for one user.
Retention
Growth Hackers: At this point, growth hackers are likely to start playing a smaller role in the process and dropping off. They may provide another experience or one-off incentive to retain the customer, or they may turn the process over to the general marketer and return to the top of the funnel to generate a spike in engagement.
General Marketers: The General Marketer will use tools like email newsletters and promotions, discounts, and other incentives to keep current customers satisfied and returning.
Revenue
Growth Hackers: If Growth Hackers are still active participants at this stage, they will likely favor a steep customer loyalty discount or gift with purchase to drive solid and fast sales revenue.
General Marketers: The General Marketer may seek to increase revenue in the short term using upsell techniques and focus on increasing revenue over time by strengthening the sales funnel, analyzing customer data, optimizing marketing campaigns, customer service, product options, and other factors that impact customer buying habits.
Referral:
Growth Hackers: Growth Hackers are not generally participants in this last phase of the growth funnel. They may use referral programs as one-off engagement promotion in the early stages of the funnel.
General Marketers: General Marketers value the referral program as a strong driver of sustained long-term growth and a useful tool for relationship building.
As this final example of the growth funnel clearly illustrates, both Growth Hackers and General Marketers have a significant role in the growth of a brand or business and the customer journey. While some businesses can accomplish all of their foals with a General Marketer only.
Startups and companies seeking rapid expansion will likely require the specialized skills of the Growth Hacker to achieve that accelerated growth. Once the first phase has passed and the growth strategy moves into the maintenance and long-term growth phase, businesses will mainly require a general marketer to handle the optimization and analysis tasks associated with sustainable growth management.
