What is Growth Hacking?
Growth hacking is a marketing technique that is driven by experiments to determine the most effective way(s) of growing a startup or business. The process involves marketing, development, design, engineering, data, and analytics. The reason why it is called hacking is that a growth hacker finds an innovative and cost-effective way of attaining growth.
A growth hacker can use a combination of methods to achieve the growth: content marketing, viral marketing, email marketing,
One formula which growth hackers follow is as follows:-
Product + Growth = Impact
Growth Hacking Strategies Every Startup Must Follow
This is a curated list of growth hacks for startups.
#1 Create a Pre-Launch Email List
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to find leads. Get your Focus on building an email list. It will allow you to reach the audience and also generate profits effectively.
It allows you to acquire potential customers even before your launch. But don’t just create a list of email addresses and then sit idle. You should try to make your audience eager for your launch.
#2 Launch Product Hunt
A launch on Product Hunt is essential for startups. But, there are dozens of startups launching. These platforms allow you to deliver your message to fresh audiences. Product Hunt exposes your startup to a global audience.
It’s like a “golden ticket” to numerous innovators and journalists. Also a chance to receive feedback and ideas for new opportunities. You’ll get to know your strengths and weaknesses.
#3 Leverage referred marketing
Referrals from friends, family or industry influencers relatively convert a lead much faster and cut down the costs, too
Also, increasing brand awareness and user reach. The idea was simply that Users will get $5 credit for every time other users used their referral code. This idea was so successful that it has been used by every ride-sharing app ever since.
#4 Make new brand partnerships
Startup partnerships with bigger brands do create a lot of noise. Smaller and bigger brands have found out that product partnership is an effective growth hacking strategy. It will also create a social media buzz. It is also an opportunity for news coverage. It also enhances the visibility of your products.
Partnerships even work in very different industries. For example, a partnership between Flipboard (a news app) and Airbnb ( a room sharing app) that allows users of one brand to leverage the strengths of the other partner. In this, Flipboard offers customized content to Airbnb users who could then make informed decisions when booking residences through Airbnb. On the other side, these users create content that Flipboard aggregates for its users.
#5 Host and Attend Community Events and Conferences
The fact says that 30% of new businesses won’t make it past 24 months. These are heavy statistics that make entrepreneurs think. But by attending a conference you can acquire the tools you need to make sure that your business is one of the few that is successful.
Go, learn from the best, make connections, learn about your industry and get some inspiration. You haven’t got anything to lose. Exposing your startup on some events and conferences will allow you to ensure success.
#6 Leverage Adjacent Markets
Adjacent markets are good for sales growth. Here, adjacent means markets that are close in proximity to what you do. The secret to this is to export your skills and capabilities, not products and services.
Before evaluating any new market, consider some factors first. What’s the competition’s like? How big is the opportunity in case of volume and profits? Are there any legal barriers to be tackled? Look at your skills. Find new ways to use those skills and then you’re on your way to new sales growth.
For example, Nike- Most people associate Nike with products that focus on track and field sports. However, Nike’s product range covers almost all sports activities for which you need high-quality footwear.
They started by offering footwear for mountaineering activities. Once they had customer loyalty, they branched out with great success.
#7 Build a Social Media Community Around Your Product
Social media is an essential part of marketing for startups. You can use social media communities to promote yourself and interact with industry influencers.
It takes time to develop content for products and build an audience. For this, startups should strive to align their social media activities with the direction of the growth.
Conclusion:
Importance of growth hacking for startups
Growth hacking techniques such as social campaigns, content marketing, CRM automation, and influencer targeting have helped startups succeed much better than traditional marketing. With growth hacking techniques, you shall get a better insight directly from consumers and users which enhances your product better. There’s also the advantage of being on the top of your competitors if you get things such as
