Growth hacking is an operation mode focused on the rapid growth of a company. Though sometimes defined as a sub-field of marketing, it is a process based on quick growth experiments including sales, product development, and other company departments apart from marketing.
The word "growth" defines the focus on increasing the target values in the customer channels such as internet traffic, social media followers, etc., through centering customer experience, product experience, and sales process. As for "hacking", the emphasis is to develop effective and innovative solutions for problems through various methods & techniques other than conventional methods.
Growth hacking demands a much more experimental organizational structure because of the experimental nature of innovative and more progressive approaches. Constant experiments and result evaluation are necessary to explore unfamiliar, unknown, unpredictable growth paths. So, the rapid experimentation process is key to the success of growth hacking. There will be many experiments, and most of them will fail. Yet, a few and successful ones will yield striking results.
Growth Hacking is a much more crucial process for startups
The Growth Hacking process is central for startups. The main reason is the nature of the startups since their goal is either to achieve something that has never been done before or to solve a present task or problem through different methods. In this environmental uncertainty, conventional marketing, sales, and product development methods may not be enough to reach the desired result. Your success may be on average, and the expected big leap may not occur.
The Growth Hacking process is mainly based on rapid tests, making time management, their most crucial need, easier for startups. Many startups have a very limited time until the next venture round. So, they will have to push their growth chances through more effective and various methods with limited resources.
Startups must follow more economical processes and focus on achieving more growth with less money in these experiments compared to conventional methods. The money spent at a high rate for marketing also shortens the period until the next venture round. The big leaps create an opportunity for the next venture while the expense amount shortens the time for the next investment.
Startups following the right business model must use Growth Hacking at the right stage
Growth hacking is seen as a more suitable technique for B2C since digital marketing techniques play a crucial role in the process, and digital marketing agencies, in particular, embrace this popular concept. However, growth hacking is a flexible process, appropriate for all industries and business models - regardless of the industry and business model. The goal here is growth, so turnover and sales. A certain number of sales is the only prerequisite for a large number of tests.
The product becomes much more effective once it is compatible since growth hacking requires a specific transaction flow. Early-stage startups, in particular, can experimentally work through growth hacking methods. All the same, growth hacking becomes essential once the product is compatible with the market.
Source: hypergrowth.io
More than one competencies are in the foreground for Growth Hacking. Other than marketing, carrying out growth hacking with the help of various roles and tasks in the startup is possible. Growth hacking demands some competencies.
Being data-driven: Growth hackers must be prejudice-free and must work data-driven while carrying out their innovative tests. They may need products such as Google Analytics, Hotjar, Mixpanel, Kissmetrics for this. Surveys and all other statistical tools can be conducted.
Having technical competence: To carry out and measure experiments like A/B tests, making improvements through simple, especially by conducting a wide range of experiments, is necessary.
Persistent experimentation: Most tests may fail in growth hacking. Thinking up creative ideas with high motivation with no energy loss as a result of these experiments is a must.
Thinking outside the box: Developing various perspectives and carrying out innovative experiments are significant for growth hacking. Apply marketing methods that outside the box called Guerilla Marketing might be necessary.
In short, growth marketing is an essential process that demands data-driven, analytical approaches based on rapid and innovative experimentations, especially for all startups that achieve marketing compatibility and are at the scale-up stage.
Umut Esen
Managing Director
