Accelerated Results through Growth Hacking Strategies

Did you know that Facebook, Paypal, Airbnb, Uber... use growth hacking strategies?

In fact, these are the strategies that play a key role in their becoming iconic brands that millions use daily.

These brands are super-impressive because they grew quickly.

Fortunately, we'd be learning about the process they use.

Learning about growth hacking strategies is one of the most profitable things one could do.

Because it alters our perception of what's possible.

And if properly deployed it'd accelerate the growth of your business.

The brands mentioned above are inspiring exemplars.

Because they are showing us what's possible.

Facebook, for example, set a record, when it attained a fifty billion dollar valuation in just ten years!

Did you know that 1.37 billion people use it daily?

Man, 1.37 billion daily users!

I bet, you secretly wish you could build a business like that.

You do, right?

This is because they are profitable, huge, and global.

And there are many insights to glean from how they operate.

The most remarkable lesson relates to their sustained, rapid growth.

And you might be wondering:

How were they able to realize it and how can one replicate it?

 

Before we go further, it's vital to stress that growth hacking is not a set of silver bullets.

Unveiling Growth Hacking Strategies

Essentially, we’d be exploring three things:

First, we’d look at what growth hacking strategies really mean.

Second, we'd learn about a simple and effective process for using growth hacking to accelerate business growth.

Lastly, we'd look at some examples.

Not to worry, what we'd learn would help you to fast-track the growth of your business.

What are Growth Hacking Strategies?

In the past, to achieve that kind of growth, you’d need to spend hundreds of millions on traditional advertising.

In addition to a lot of sweat equity.

Fortunately, growth hacking is not about having deep pockets.

Or, harassing friends, family, and total strangers to buy our products.

It’s about innovation.

And, it's about using affordable, creative, analytical methods to exponentially accelerate growth.

Therefore to be great at growth hacking, we'd have to imbibe the habit of thinking out of the box.

You'd have to "think on your feet" to be a growth hacker.

Above all, it requires unleashing a spirit of experimentation, testing, analysis, and the quest for perpetual improvements.

Consequently, we'd have to be laser-focused on objectives, rather than following traditional pathways.

As a matter of fact, being fixated on how things are done can inhibit our creativity and foster rigidity.

Indeed, startups are known for using growth hacking.

And because of its success, many established businesses, too, use it.

You, too, can use growth hacking.

Fortunately, you don't need to be a programmer before you can employ it.

Of course, for some applications which require coding, you'd need those with programming skills on your team.

But, before we run ahead of ourselves.

In the first place, what does growth hacking mean?

Sean Ellis, a consultant, who helps start-ups, coined the term, seven years ago.

He consulted for Dropbox and other top brands.

Traditional Marketing and Growth Hacking

He was facing serious challenges finding people who could replace him when he leaves a startup.

Because he recognized that a traditional marketer was not suitable for the role.

Why?

Traditional marketers have to juggle many tasks.

And are used to entrenched patterns, while a hacker is focused on a singular goal, and is highly creative.

And, growth hacking often entails having a broad appreciation of how value is created.

Insights from engineering, software development, analytics, product development are often needed, in addition to an excellent grasp of marketing.

"The First Growth Hacker"

It's helpful that we quote Sean Ellis.

“A growth hacker is a person whose true north is growth."

He also said that "Growth hacking is experiment driven marketing."

Conducting experiments on a regular basis is integral to growth hacking.

It's helpful to remind ourselves that these experiments are not based on emotions or conjecture.

But are data-driven.

And are aligned with the company's grand strategy and trajectory.

They are not haphazard experiments.

For growth hacking to be effective, other professionals (programmers, psychologists, data scientists...) apart from marketers would be needed.

Naturally, the type of team needed.

Is a function of the kind of project being worked on.

It’s actually a cross-functional activity.

The grand objective is how to attain exponential growth within a short time.

And then to do it again and again...

Some people prefer using the term, a growth manager, instead of a growth hacker.

Actually, the activity, not the label, is the key thing.

Is Growth Hacking Ethical?

It's vital to stress the fact that growth hacking is not unethical.

Hacking, in this context, simply mean finding ingenious ways to quickly achieve a goal, with limited tools and budget.

So, don't think of an unethical computer hacker, instead, think of someone who is obsessed with conducting experiments.

In a nutshell, the growth hacker is focused on using experimentation, testing, and analysis to discover ways to achieve rapid growth,

Growth hacking is not about coding or a particular marketing technique.

It's an eclectic blend of super-effective techniques.

Whose validation stems from the rapid growth they bring about.

From the foregoing, we can deduce that it's ideal to think of growth hacking, not as a collection of hacks, or a magic bullet.

Oh, no.

It's a mindset, a skillset, an approach that's best realized through a process.

Now, let's look at a process.

Why we Need a Growth Hacking Process

In the first place, let's recall two vital truths, that we hardly stress because they're not sexy.

And yet, they are the foundation of growth: the quality of our product and the people.

The product's quality and the human resources are the most vital variables in our quest for growth.

A great product would generate accelerated virality, while a mediocre product would die, no matter how brilliant the strategies we employ.

And we know that the quality of growth hacking ideas that'd propel a business is a reflection of the quality of the human resources.

If you have a great team, it's easy to accelerate growth.

Seeing as the techniques cannot implement themselves.

You need awesome, driven team players who love endless iterations.

Now, let look at a simple process.

A framework or process is ideal because it'd help us ensure that we can always replicate the strategies, even if we are dealing with a different business.

It's about having a system in place.

Tactics are not enough.

When the system is simple and effective, it'd easily become part of the company' strategy.

A set of tactics that works with company A may be futile for company B.

A process is a guideline which you can leverage as a framework, to implement your own business-specific tactics.

The truth is there are so many tips, techniques, tactics, hacks, and approaches.

You could easily get confused if you don't have a structured path (process).

If you want to get the best from growth hacking, don't focus on tactics, fixate on the process.

After all, we are not interested in occasional, unpredictable wins.

Right?

A Scalable, Predictable and Repeatable System

With growth hacking, we want to build a process that's scalable, predictable, and repeatable.

It is wise to document the process, the experiments executed, and the results.

They are a part of the company's most valuable assets, which must be available to all who need them.

Ideally, they should be on a password-protected intranet.

The process, tactics, and reports of their implementation must not reside on an employee's head or hard drive.

Imagine what'd happen if the employee were to leave.

Or, if the hard drive crashes!

And one vital point:

The growth team must be given the freedom to operate independently.

Do not constrain them.

Trying to fit the team into your entrenched ways will be limiting.

So, off we go to "process land."

A Process for Using Growth Hacking Strategies

The process has 6 simple parts.

Which include brainstorming, prioritization, testing, implementation, analysis, and systemization.

Let's explore each one.

One could argue that brainstorming is the most vital step.

Because the results that'd be obtained are dependent on the quality of ideas that are being generated (and implemented).

"Ideas are the fuel for growth." Morgan Brown

This begs the question of how one can generate great ideas?

There are many ways.

Brainstorming and Growth Hacking Strategies

The most vital factor is to be intentional about it.

And to turn brainstorming into a fun ritual.

Our intentions and rituals are vital factors in our quest for success in any facet of life.

The reticular activating system (a part of the brain) helps us when we are intent on any activity.

James Altucher recommends that one cultivates the habit of generating at least 10 ideas each day.

It's difficult to derive optimal value from something we do on a sporadic basis.

Turn Ideation into a Habit

That's why it is ideal that we turn ideation into a habit.

To easily entrench this habit.

You could devote time to studying creativity and innovation.

There is a misconception that only artists are creative.

This is a highly limiting notion because we are all creative.

Apart from studying creativity and innovation, you could "steal" ideas.

Or, better expressed, you could emulate what the best-in-class companies do.

Most growth-producing ideas need not be unique.

Naturally, you need to adapt them to suit your purpose.

Performing regular analysis of your highly-successful competitors will help with idea generation.

Because you will discover the kernel of their astonishing results.

Think like Consultants

A great way of generating ideas for growth is to think like consultants.

The best consultants oft start with an in-depth analysis of the status-quo.

Then, they question how things are currently being done.

And then, they generate ideas about better alternatives.

Let's say your company is spending a lot of money on billboards.

You could simply ask why?

You could check the ROI.

And then ask if you don't have better and cheaper ways to reach customers.

What if your analysis reveals that most of your customers and prospects are on Facebook?

Would it not be smarter to find creative ways to reach them there?

Instead of spending a fortune on billboards?

You are likely to be flooded with a plethora of answers if you ask the right questions.

You can now sift the answers, to separate the grain from the chaff.

Let's look at another way to generate ideas.

Networking.

Face-to-face networking is ideal.

But, digital interactions are good, too.

The more you interact with peers, mentors, consultants, customers...

Fortunately, the easier ideation will become.

At times, the best ideas may come from a casual comment by someone in your network.

You could incentivize members of your growth team and other employees to generate awesome ideas.

If you attach an impressive reward.

Rewards often stimulate us to achieve more than we ordinarily would.

To derive immense rewards from leveraging growth hacking strategies

You need to be goal-oriented and granular.

The more specific your goals, the easier they'd be to attain.

And, also the easier it'd be to generate ideas.

As an example, it is easier to generate 10 ideas on how to improve retention rates, than 10 ideas on how to grow.

Executing Growth Hacking Strategies

Even though growth is the grand objective, there's a need to be granular.

When it comes to the execution phase.

Now that you have several ideas.

The next stage is to prioritize them.

You could rank them in terms of probability, impact, and ease (PIE).

Now, you could test (experiment) the ideas on a small scale.

Ideally, you'd use A/B testing so that you are sure of the vital variables responsible for success.

You can now go on to implement the winning ideas on a large scale.

After which, you'd perform an intense analysis.

To know the experiments that actually fast-track growth.

You're happy with the results, but your work is not over.

You also need to systemize the learnings.

Ideally, you'd capture every facet of the growth hacking strategies you employ.

From ideation to analysis in a database.

This will serve as a playbook (a guide) for future experimentation.

High Impact Areas to Focus Your Growth Hacking Strategies

You can be easily overwhelmed when running a business.

Because every facet seems important.

And it can be daunting to decide what to prioritize.

There's a simple notion that'd help.

It requires that you start by focusing on 4 high impact areas:

Acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue (AARR).

You could easily see how your business will grow rapidly.

If these 4 factors are the pillars of your marketing.

Naturally, each would require a lot of work and metrics must be in place.

We have explored what growth hacking strategies entail and a simple process you could use.

Now, let's consider a few examples.

Examples of Growth Hacking Strategies

Instead of using Ipads to incentivize people who fill their surveys, a B2B Saas company used Cupcakes.

Surprisingly, their conversion rate soared.

Many marketers are familiar with lead magnets.

You could use lead magnets to explode retention rates.

For example, a customer has just paid for a product on your online store.

As they are reading the "thank you" page.

They receive a notification that they will receive a gift (on the house).

As an appreciation of their patronage.

Where do you think they'd go to the next time they are shopping for a similar product?

Many may not know this, but guest blogging can attract leads in droves.

Buffer (a social media software company) used it to grow rapidly.

The secret is to blog on sites frequented by those you want to attract.

In fact, highly successful blogger, Jon Morrow, also leveraged this strategy.

After all, it's not easy building an audience from scratch.

Guest blogging allows you to tap into "ready-made" markets.

For example, you could invest a lot of resources into building great products and giving them away for free.

This is one of Google's main growth hacks.

Hubspot uses it a lot, too.

These products are not a waste of resources.

In fact, they are strategic traffic generators, that work ceaselessly.

When to Stop Using Growth Hacking Strategies

Growth hacking never ends.

In fact, as Andrew Chen notes in his post "The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs."

A lot of marketing initiatives become ineffective as more and more people use them.

For example, consider Banner ads.

At a point, they were the coolest tactic,

Now, they are mostly ignored.

Finally, it is helpful to think of growth hacking as a mindset and skillset, not as a set of silver bullets.

So, to stay on top of the food chain, you'd have to constantly test and experiment new approaches.

It's about the perpetual pursuit of profitable innovations.

Michael Newman