Growth Hacking
Growth hacking (also known as 'growth marketing') is the use of resource light and cost-effective digital marketing tactics to help grow and retain an active user base, sell products and gain exposure. Think ‘hacking’ in terms of life hacks those little shortcuts that make your life easier rather than nasty bits of code that can ruin your computer and your life.
Growth hacking is most commonly associated with start-ups and small businesses, i.e., those organizations that don’t have a huge amount of cash to spare but need results quickly. However, it’s a scalable concept applicable to any online business looking to maintain the growth and retention of an active user base.
Many people think of growth hacking and marketing as one and the sameHere are some examples of well-known growth hacks that have been successful in generating massive results for top tech companies:
Hotmail – ‘Get your free email at Hotmail’ with a link to the sign-up page automatically added to users’ signatures
LinkedIn – One-click endorsements for existing connections
YouTube – Making it as easy as possible for people to share YouTube videos on their own sites by providing embed codes
Twitter – Automated notification emails
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DropBox – Incentivized ‘refer-a-friend’ tactic to get new users
Airbnb - cross-posting all new listings on Craigslist for free. However, there are subtle yet important differences.
Growth hacking is like marketing in that its ultimate aim is customer acquisition or to encourage more people to use a particular product or service. However, because of its origins within the start-up community, it relies heavily on tactics that don’t involve spending massive budgets to which larger businesses have access.
Typically, growth hacking combines marketing, optimization and developmental know-how to pull off automated marketing on a small budget. For example, automated notification emails, simple sign-up forms or sign-up driven homepages or streamlining onboarding for new customers
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