A growth hacker is a person whose true north is growth – Sean Ellis
Growth Hacking is a term that has been used by startups for the last couple of years. I would describe it as the type of Marketing, savvy startups engage in, using all the available technology at their disposal. It is a no frills approach to attract users to your startup. It is also not a magical new technique. Growth Hacking was originally coined by Sean Ellis in an article, on his Startup Marketing blog. ZDNET offers a concise textbook definition:
“Growth hacking is a marketing practice used by technology startups where products and services are marketed well at low costs through analytical thinking, usage of social metrics, and other creative techniques, as opposed to traditional marketing such as buying advertising through billboards, radio, television, or print ads, and stand-alone PR. Growth hackers simply do well with techniques such as content marketing, analytical marketing, A/B testing, SEO, using creative social media strategies and planning through Google and Facebook advertising, and primarily focusing on low-cost and innovative alternatives to traditional marketing”.
Ever since the term Web 2.0 was uttered into existence, there has been perhaps an annoying attempt to classify everything with sexy catchphrases. Danny Boice suggests that founders of start-ups were really doing the obvious all the time. Things such as customer acquisition is a logical natural thing to do, or even be passionate distributors of their products. He says, “I liked it better when we simply said we were “growing” or “distributing our product” or “finding scalable channels for customer acquisition.” What was wrong with that? Why did we have to go and make it a “thing” with job titles and annoying catch-phrases”?
Continuing his amiable rant, he suggest recruiting growth hackers might be a tricky proposition:
“Oh, and one more thing: the mythical “Growth Hacker” you’re looking for DOES NOT EXIST. Good luck finding that purple unicorn who codes and understands SEO and paid advertising and content strategy and customer acquisition and design and user experience and A/B testing and analytics and social media AND buys hipster glasses from Warby Parker to wear with his/her Jeggings”.
Growth Hacking from Mattan Griffel
There are quite a few online resources where you can learn more about the basics of growth hacking in addition to the slideshare above:
1. Startup Marketing (Sean Ellis)
2. The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking
3. Defining a Growth Hacker
4. How Growth Hacking Came To Be
5. Sixteen Ventures
6. Mashable – The 5 Phases of Growth Hacking
7. Growth Hacker Is the New VP Marketing
8. The 6 Best Growth Hacks to Get Customers Without Having to Pay for Them
9. Become a Growth Hacker
10. The Difference Between Growth Hacking and Marketing
Hayden Richards is Contributor of IntelligentHQ. He specialises in finance, trading, investment, and technology, with expertise in both buy-side, sell-side. Contributing and advising various global corporations, Hayden is a thought leader, researching on global regulatory subjects, digital, social media strategies and new trends for Businesses, Capital Markets and Financial Services.
Aside from the articles, interviews and content he writes for IntelligentHQ, Hayden is also a content curator for capital markets, analytic platforms and business industry emerging trends. An avid new media explorer Hayden is driven by a passion for business development, innovation, social business, Tech Trading, payments and eCommerce. A native Trinidadian, Hayden is also a veteran, having served with the Royal Air Force Reserves for the past 10 years.
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