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Traditional marketing strategies are now passé!
Today, success is all about hacking growth. There is widespread excitement about the term ‘Growth Hacking’, which has helped several startups script success. So many conversations around this term are rife, but do we truly understand this extravagant term? Let’s delve into the nitty-gritty of it.
Growth Hacking: What’s That?
Sean Ellis, Head of Dropbox, coined the term growth hacking. He defined a growth hacker as someone whose true north is growth. Sean believes 10-20% of the marketers he met have this mindset. Some of the marketers are also of the belief that growth hacking is an intersection between marketing and technology, which does turn out to be true.
So, how about looking at some of the exciting examples of growth hacking to decipher its unquestionable influence on the business sphere? Their secrets are out. Read how these big and famous names you’ve always known about have attained success with growth hacking.
Twitter began with quick publicity, which was a promising start. The buzz was not consistent always, but some of the following growth hack strategies propelled them to the top spot again:
a. Simplified homepage with a greater focus on Sign Ups and Logins, which elevated their conversion rates.
b. Persuading new users to follow a minimum of 10 people, which sparked up engagement and resulted in better retention rates.
c. Automated emails for a personalised touch and better retention rate.
Airbnb
A simple business involving facilitation of vacation rentals between peers, Airbnb bloomed into a unicorn with the astute implementation of some of the following growth hack strategies:
a. A powerful email campaign that took the website to the next level.
b. Joining Craiglist and using their listings for rentals to their own advantage.
Mark Zuckerberg steered Facebook towards becoming the largest social network through his long-term vision and a team of inquisitive growth hackers. Facebook generated a massive number of signups by following various strategies, some of which have been discussed below:
a. Embeddable Facebook badges/profile widgets that resulted in more clicks and impressions.
b. Buying service providers in third world countries to acquire their technologies and procure more email addresses
c. Creative, low-cost advertising techniques involving desirable customer acquisition.
Facebook is undoubtedly a huge name in today’s business world, but even well-known Indian brands such as Tata Business Support Services have leveraged social media for launching products.
Decoding A Growth Hacker’s DNA
Growth hackers deep-dive into the product/service capabilities and scope, to make the product/service speak for itself amid masses. Once the masses are drawn to the product/service, these growth junkies devise methods to turn their masses into evangelists who promote their products/services to no end.
The right mix of capabilities and evangelism ensures that their product speaks for itself among the masses.
What Is A Growth Hacker Expected to Do?
In this vacillating startup sphere, growth hackers need to keep their snorkels ready and deep-dive into product capabilities and scope, while examining the product DNA. Next, they need to ensure that their product speaks for itself among the masses, who turn into evangelists and promote the product to no end.
Often, people see growth hacking as a set of skills that could transform your business and take it towards growth. In spite of this well-known recognition, I believe growth hacking is an attitude that can yield brilliant results. The powers of data, creativity and curiosity coalesce to yield growth hacking.
Companies are bouncing along on this trend to achieve success with growth hacking, and so should your startup. It is time to adopt the mindset of a growth hacker to breathe life into those amazing dreams you’ve seen for your business. Let me know how you intend to hack growth for your organisation, through your comments below!
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