The term Growth Hacking was coined in 2010 by an entrepreneur, Sean Ellis. He was trying to come up with a new job title for someone who could advise and help businesses accelerate & grow. Sean Ellis described this person as “someone whose true north is growth.”
To grow is the only way to go for any business. As a startup, you need to be able to generate revenue and grow your business to survive. In most cases, the only option to do so is to increase your customers and increase them fast! Ascertaining that you have what it takes to grow your customer base and your revenue is no easy feat. This is where a growth hacker comes in! A growth hacker’s job is to find effective, efficient, and often unique ways to help a business grow and create space for itself in the market.
Growth hacker marketing works towards fast-paced growth and enabling the clients to survive and stay relevant in a competitive market. This is especially important for early stage businesses or startups. These methods are the lifeline of digital marketing companies for them to provide their clients with the best possible results. Not only is it extremely important, growth hacking is also a feasible exercise for most businesses. It’s innovative, effective, and budget-friendly!
Small enterprises and early-stage startups can build a quality customer base without investing tons of money and resources through intelligent growth hacking strategies.
What is Growth Hacking?
This is a collection of strategies that focus on increasing a business’ customer base in an efficient manner. These strategies and tactics usually require creativity, ingenuity and adaptability. The aim of growth hacking is to maximize growth at a minimized cost. As a prudent entrepreneur, you must consider that cost in such cases includes your money, your time, and the resources spent.
The role of a growth hacker is not to provide you with a specific tactic to carry out your operations at a specific stage of your business. Their job is to provide you an insight into a growth-oriented mindset and approach for a long term future of your business.
Growth Hacker Marketing is certainly the future of marketing and advertising agencies, to be able to provide them with solutions that are tailored to their business, achieve their business goals and objectives, and help the business grow.
How Do Growth Hackers Work?
Growth hacking is a here-to-stay trend and it is important for businesses to understand how this works towards positioning a startup for growth, or helping established businesses stay competitive and relevant.
This is a process that involves gaining an in-depth understanding of the business model, its goals and its objectives. Based on this understanding, growth hackers assess the potential challenges that may need to be eliminated for the business to grow. Once identified, they strategize and come up with innovative and cost-effective solutions.
Needless to say, growth hacker marketing needs a team qualified and experienced in the field of marketing and business operations.
Growth Hacking – What Does It Entail?
Growth hackers need to master the typical & basic needs of every project that comes their way. This means, the specialized know-how of a particular industry or business is something they can attain on the job.
A growth hacker should have the operational expertise in creating websites, creating landing pages, branding & design, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Hotjar, basics of HTML & CSS, AdWords, Facebook, LinkedIn. They should also have an expertise in concepts like Conversion Rate Optimization, AI in Marketing, Site Scraping, Chatbots, APIs and so on.
Why Is Growth Hacking Effective?
Growth hacking is particularly useful for startups as it enables them to quickly pivot specific aspects of their business and marketing strategy in order to see instant yet significant results. These modifications are usually minor but innovative, helping the business gain an edge.
Similarly, growth hacking strategies help established businesses introduce innovation in their operations and processes to stay on the top of their game and stay competitive in a dynamic market.
Groundbreaking Strategies for Growth Hacking Agencies
Let’s get a sneak peek into some groundbreaking strategies that growth hacking agencies should adopt to grow. It is crucial to note that these growth hacking strategies can give the desired results when they are implemented correctly, at the right time, and to the right demographic.
Strategy #01: Use Quora For Leads
Quora is a great way to get exposure and find new leads for your agency. You can answer questions related to your industry, and include a relevant link to your website or blog in your answer. This will help you attract quality traffic and potential customers.
Strategy #02: Create Infographics
Infographics are a great way to share detailed information about your products and services with potential customers. Moreover, they are effective at generating backlinks to improve your SEO ranking. You can create infographics using tools like Canva or Piktochart.
Strategy #03: Use No-code or Low-code Solutions
No-code tools offer flexible and advanced functionality, making them the perfect choice for testing hypotheses or validating ideas without spending too much money to launch new projects with custom features.
Strategy #04: Leverage Social Media
Share content and attract new leads on relevant social media platforms. For instance, LinkedIn is a great place for business professionals to network with each other – which means it’s perfect for growth hacker marketing! You can also use Facebook Ads to reach your target audience quickly. Make sure you offer real value to your audience on social media and not make it look like an obvious sales pitch.
Strategy #05: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools
Search engine optimization and ranking high in search results is crucial to reach potential customers in an organic way. Use techniques like keyword research and backlinking to improve your SEO ranking.
Strategy #06: Attend Marketing Conferences & Events
Attend marketing conferences and events to connect with other professionals from your industry, learn about new trends, and of course, network with potential clients. These events also serve as the perfect opportunity to showcase your expertise and create brand awareness for your business.
Strategy #07: Create a Case Study or Whitepaper
A case study or whitepaper is an excellent way to attract leads especially when you want to showcase yourself as a growth hacking expert. You can demonstrate your expertise, experience, the tools & technologies you use, and your previous work, giving a peek to your potential customers before they make any decision.
Strategy #08: Organize A Webinar
Organize and host live webinars on industry relevant topics, using tools like ClickMeeting that lets you record the session, giving you the perfect content material for later!. This type of content can go on your social media pages or your website for more visibility and engagement.
Strategy #09: Publish Blogs on Industry-Relevant Topics
Posting blogs helps share your growth hacking agency‘s expertise and work with potential customers in the market. Post blogs on industry specific topics and include links to your products & services within the article. This will not only help you establish yourself as an authority in your field, but will also drive user engagement.
Strategy #10: Paid Advertising
Paid advertising can help you reach your target audience effectively and quickly. With platforms like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, you can reach people who might be interested in or looking for your services. Paid Ads is a short-term but quicker method to get leads when compared to organic marketing.
Strategy #11: Optimize Your Website To Generate Conversion
Your website is the first impression that a potential customer will have of your growth hacking agency. Ensure your website is optimized for conversion. This means that your website should encourage visitors to take an action (like subscribing to your email list or purchasing a product or service or choosing to talk to your experts). Use Google Analytics to track your website’s performance and make necessary tweaks as and when needed.
Strategy #12: Host a Customer Appreciation Event
A customer appreciation event is an opportunity for you to thank your existing customers and meet new ones. This can be an annual or a quarterly event that you host on a regular basis. Promotion of such events and their content can be a great way to create an impression and reach people who are starting their own businesses!
Strategy #13: Personalize
Personalizing your agency’s marketing strategy to stand out in the swarm of competition. You could use SurveyMonkey to send personalized emails to potential customers, based on the data shared by them. You can also use custom landing pages with each customer’s contact info embedded within the page URL to promote your services.
Strategy #14: Sponsor an Event
Sponsoring is excellent for brand visibility. Choose events relevant to your industry, or a local charity for a cause. This not only gives you great content for social media but it also helps you create a connection with potential customers.
Strategy #15: Create an eBook
You can share your expertise and showcase your authority on a subject by launching an eBook with potential customers. Create an ebook on relevant topics of your industry and make them available to your potential customers through your website. With tools like Google Analytics you can track the performance of your website on account of the ebook and take future marketing decisions.
Strategy #16: Podcasting
You can interview industry experts or simply talk about topics related to your industry. Podcast content is on-trend and is a popular choice among people who are on-the-go. Using this content distribution option expands your reach and will also portray your take on new age industry trends and tools.
Conclusion
Growth Hacking is an utmost necessity for all businesses, big or small.
However, to be able to truly help businesses and enable them to grow, growth hacking agencies need to make their growth and development a priority as well. Staying updated with industry trends, compliances, technologies and tools should be the focus of all growth hackers.
Optimize your authority in business growth to empower your clients to grow!