A Brief Guide On Growth Hacking Lessons from Successful Companies

Have you heard about the marketing revolution that's happening?

Behold, the revolution in Marketing. Growth Hacking to marketing is what the internet was to the people in the late nineties. It is everything that marketing is, and then some. But exactly what is it? Let’s find out.

Traditional marketing or the conventional techniques of digital marketing are perfect. A business, in order to expand and grow, will make use of all these marketing techniques. However, the existing ways of marketing envision a steady success rate over a set amount of time. On the other hand, Growth Hacking is literally a hack that gets you straight to the top. Traditional marketing is like taking the stairs, whereas growth hacking is like taking the elevator. Both ways take you to the roof, but the only difference is growth hacking is ridiculously fast with insane amounts of revenue.

This is especially vital for startups and medium-sized companies because if they can’t make their presence felt in the market as quickly as possible, someone else might, and then the startup is dead. Growth hacking is relatively new but it’s all that people in the startup valley talk about. So, if you are a budding digital marketer, then it’s better to understand the ways of Growth Hacking.

What is Growth Hacking and Who is a Growth Hacker?

A growth hacker is a person who is responsible for overseeing and executing growth hacking strategies. Growth hacking is a process of rapidly experimenting with different marketing and product development techniques in order to find the most efficient and effective way to grow a business. A growth hacker is someone who is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to grow a company.?

Some of the most common growth hacking strategies include: creating compelling content, using social media to generate buzz, using data and analytics to track and optimize results, and running A/B tests to constantly improve conversion rates. Growth hackers are often creative and resourceful individuals who are always thinking outside the box.?

If you're looking to take your business to the next level, then you need to start thinking like a growth hacker.

An Important Growth Hacking Model

The AARRR Growth Hacking Model is a framework for thinking about and executing growth hacking strategies. It is based on the idea of the "customer funnel," which describes the journey that a customer takes from awareness to purchase.?

The AARRR model has five stages: acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue. Each stage of the customer funnel corresponds to a different growth hacking strategy.?

Acquisition is all about getting new customers. To do this, growth hackers focus on strategies like search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing.?

Activation is about getting customers to use your product. To do this, growth hackers focus on strategies like onboarding and user experience (UX). For instance, Spotify has an impeccable user experience.?

Retention is about keeping customers coming back. To do this, growth hackers focus on strategies like engagement and customer support.?

Referral is about getting customers to recommend your product to others. To do this, growth hackers focus on strategies like referral programs and viral marketing.?

Revenue is about generating revenue from customers. To do this, growth hackers focus on strategies like pricing and monetization.?

The AARRR model is a helpful framework for thinking about growth hacking strategies. However, it is important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to growth hacking. Every company is different and will need to tailor its growth hacking strategy to its own unique needs and goals.

Lessons from the Leaders

Here are some stories that all businesses wish were theirs. A decade ago, you would have chalked it up as the stuff of dreams. However, all of these stories are true. These aren't exactly the stories of rags to riches, but they also aren't far from it.

So, here's a quick summary of them all!

DropBox:?

Upscaled by 60% overnight without a single penny in marketing. How? They revolutionised the "refer-a-friend" function by rewarding both parties (the one who refers and the one who gets referred) with 250MB of extra storage.?

Airbnb:?

Some broke guys in San Francisco started this company. They saw some growth when they focused on the quality of the photos of their house listings. And then came the genius idea. Users were able to cross-post their listing on Craigslist which already had a large user base.?

LinkedIn:?

The users on LinkedIn grew from 2 million to 200 million. How? They offered public profiles that can be listed on the google search engine. Hence, extending the reach beyond the initial value proposition.

How did they hack their way to the top?

There's one common thing in all of them. A pattern.

1. All of them did something beyond traditional marketing.?
2. Their growth technique involves a unique and innovative idea that builds on the already existing product.
3. This wasn't the only thing they tried.

Growth hacking is not one-size-fits-all. It's a cycle of implementing, testing, and learning. The only ingredient in growth hacking is innovation.

Here’s a simple exercise. Think about your favourite brand or a service that you could offer.

Now, what's an innovative, outside-the-box strategy you can come up with to accomplish your goal? Tell us in the comment section.

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