Growth hacking is the process of finding and implementing the fastest method to rapidly build the number of users and/or customer base of a particular product or service. It is commonly used by startup businesses and entrepreneurs looking to accelerate their growth.
For example, say that you have an idea for a new app that you believe has the potential to be popular. After months of working on it you finally release it into the market, only to find that no one is using it. You’re surprised because you have an awesome app, you spent money on marketing it and it’s better than anything out there at the moment. What do you do now?
This is the point where growth hacking comes into play, because it allows you to find loopholes that will help you grow quickly.
How To Growth Hack
Because growth hacking is by nature the process of using innovative methods to accelerate growth, there are countless growth hacking methods available. You are only limited by your imagination.
The following are just a few of our favourite methods.
“Pay With A Tweet” and similar sites cleverly leverage social media in order to get your customers to talk about you. They allow you to release content to your customers (freebies, deals etc) in exchange for them tweeting about your product.
This approach is win-win for everyone. Customers get a benefit for very little effort and you receive a direct endorsement from a real person.
Blog Regularly
I know, I know…enough about blogging! We are constantly being told how important it is as a tool to promote your business, but is it? These stats suggests it is:
- B2B Marketers that blog receive 67% more leads than those that don’t (Huffington Post)
- Marketers receive 13 times more positive ROI if they blog (Hubspot)
Blogs are the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information (Search Engine People) It’s important to ensure that you write blog content that is focused on helping your customers get information they are actually interested in. Where many companies go wrong is that they try to write blogs that promote themselves instead of writing content that speaks to their customers. This means directly addressing problems that they face on a regular basis.
Piggyback On Existing Platforms
Taking advantage of existing platforms is one of the best ways to growth hack. When Spotify first launched, they integrated their product into Facebook’s News Feed. Spotify was one of the first companies to do this and it changed the face of the business forever. The same goes for Paypal’s integration with Ebay.
This allows you to leverage existing customer bases, instead of having to build them completely from scratch.
