What is growth hacking? Detailed explanation

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Every sector has its buzzwords, and in the field of digital marketing, “Growth Hacking” is one of those terms that has been the buzz in recent years.

Much more than just hip jargon, Growth Hacking has become a discipline in its own right, merging marketing, technology, and analytical thinking to drive growth.

If you've ever asked yourself, “What is Growth Hacking?” , then you've come to the right place.

In this article, we're going to dive deep into the world of Growth Hacking, demystify its concept, and understand how it's redefining the modern marketing landscape.

What is Growth Hacking?

Growth Hacking is the new magic formula for marketing, without the magic. Let's find out what it is and why it's so popular.

  • Approach: Growth Hacking is an innovative fusion of marketing, data science, and engineering aimed at accelerating business growth.
  • Methodology: They use a specific approach, often referred to by the acronym GROWS, which allows them to test and refine their strategies for better results.
  • For startups: In this fast-paced universe, Growth Hacking is essential. It validates ideas, reduces risks, and ensures rapid growth of new products or services.
  • Established businesses: Growth Hacking isn't just for startups. All businesses, big or small, are adopting it to innovate, remain competitive and improve their conversion processes.
  • Main objective: Attract the maximum number of users or customers with the minimum expenses, combining creativity, strategy and efficiency for constant optimization.

In conclusion, Growth Hacking is not just a buzzword. It's a strategic approach that is revolutionizing the way businesses think about growth, regardless of size or industry.

Difference Between Inbound Marketing and Growth Hacking

1. Origins and Evolution

Growth Hacking has emerged as an innovative response to the specific needs of startups. The key is to accelerate growth at a lower cost.

  • Racines : Born in the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley startups.
  • Objective : “Hacking” growth for rapid and effective market entry.

Growth Hacking is positioned as an agile, data-driven and profitable alternative to stay ahead of the competition, relying heavily on innovation.

2. Sean Ellis: The Pioneer

Sean Ellis
First “Growth Hacker”

Sean Ellis, an iconic figure in growth hacking, has redefined marketing with a focus on growth.

  • Background: A former PayPal marketing manager, Ellis introduced the term “Growth Hacking” in 2011.
  • Qualities: Product mastery, marketing knowledge and a vision focused on sustainable growth.

Under his leadership, Growth Hacking emerged as a departure from traditional marketing, offering a new approach that was more agile and focused on growth.

3. Growth Hacking, 21st Century Marketing?

Graphique de popularité du Growth Hacking - Google Trends
Growth Hacking popularity chart on Google Trends

Is Growth Hacking just a new form of marketing or is it something completely different?

  • Vision of the customer journey, differences between the Growth Hacker and the marketers.
  • Experiment, test several strategies.
  • Data-Driven approach, based on data analysis.
  • Technical skills, an arsenal to boost growth.
  • Product integration, to build loyalty.

Although close to marketing, Growth Hacking is distinguished by its holistic approach, its data-driven methodology, and its obsession with growth.

4. Inbound Marketing vs Growth Hacking

Inbound marketing attracts customers with quality content, while Growth Hacking is constantly looking for innovative ways to drive growth.

  • Customer strategy: Growth Hacking differs from traditional marketers in its vision of the customer journey.
  • Experimentation: The need to test different strategies until you find the one that gives results.

With a data-based approach and a great deal of importance given to the technical skills of Growth Hacking.

Growth Hacking is emerging as a distinct approach, even if it shares some similarities with inbound marketing.

5. Key Skills

Compétences des Growth Hackers - modèle T-Shaped
Growth Hacking Skills - T-Shaped Model

A Growth Hacker combines marketing and technical skills to drive growth.

  • Versatility: Ability to juggle between different disciplines and growth hacking techniques
  • Autonomy: The ability to work independently on your growth hacking techniques

The mastery of various tools and a great deal of autonomy define the Growth Hacker, distinguishing him from traditional marketers.

6. Marketing channels

Creativity is at the heart of Growth Hacking, in contrast to the proven methods of inbound marketing.

  • Creativity: Finding innovative solutions to stimulate growth.
  • Diversity: Possess a varied range of skills to stand out in a crowded digital ecosystem.

7. Data

The digital age has brought data to the forefront, and it's vital for Growth Hacking.

  • Guidance: Data guides every decision in a startup, whether in inbound marketing or Growth Hacking.
  • Optimization: Data is essential for refining and perfecting each stage of the conversion funnel.

8. State of mind

Beyond skills, it is the mentality that distinguishes a Growth Hacker.

  • Priority: An unwavering focus on growth.
  • Agility: The ability to be flexible and adapt quickly to startup challenges

Embracing Growth Hacking means adopting a philosophy, an inexhaustible passion for growth and innovation.

How to succeed in your Growth Hacking strategy?

1. Define your requirements for Growth Hacking

Before diving into the exciting world of Growth Hacking, make sure you have the essentials in hand:

  • Minimum Viable Product (MVP) : For startups, validate your idea with an MVP before thinking about growth.
  • Personas Marketing : Know your audience. Answer critical questions about their needs, problems, and preferences.
  • Channel Personas : Identify the most relevant channels to reach your audience.

A Growth Hacker should work closely with product teams.

That's what sets it apart from traditional marketers.

Good collaboration allows product problems to be detected and rectified quickly.

2. Adopting the GROWS process

GROWS: Process used by in Growth Hacking

A good Growth Hacker knows the need to “Test, Test, Test.” But how?

  • Setting up a process : GROWS is an agile method used to identify growth drivers.
  • Pirate Funnel : Focus on where you are losing the most customers and seek to improve that aspect.

The “One Metric That Matters” (OMTM) is crucial.

This is the indicator you should focus on the most.

3. Experiment with “Growth Hacks”

The core of Growth Hacking lies in experimentation:

  • Agility : Experiment with different tactics, analyze the results, and adjust accordingly.
  • Sources of ideas : Use historical data, brainstorming sessions, and competitive analysis to identify new hacks.

Don't bet everything on one idea.

Test several Growth Hacks on a small scale, then bet big on the ones that work best.

4. Understanding the Pirate Funnel

Pirate Metrics
Pirate Metrics and Finding Bottlenecks

Each stage of the sales funnel is crucial:

  • Awareness and Acquisition : Most marketers focus on it.
  • Activation, Revenue, Retention, Referral : That's where the Growth Hacker makes the difference.

A Growth Hacker makes use of the entire funnel, always seeking to optimize each stage.

Pirate Funnel visiteur VS étapes
Pirate Funnel in Growth Hacking

5. Putting data at the heart of the strategy

In today's digital age, data is a gold mine:

  • Tracking tools : Thanks to them, we can analyze almost any user behavior.
  • Data-based choices : Forget intuition. Base your decisions on concrete data.

A Growth Hacker relies on data to maximize the return on investment for each initiative.

Growth Hacking, when done right, can radically transform a company's growth trajectory. With a combination of data, experimentation, and adaptability, you are well on your way to success.

Dive into the heart of growth strategies for start-ups!

Within Start ups innovative, the Growth Hacking is often used as a marketing strategy wrench.

Originally, the term was popularized by Growth Hackers and closely associated with Sean Ellis, although Sean Ellis is not the only one who has used it.

Sean Ellis is known for his work in various Start ups, laying the foundations for some marketing strategies iconic.

  • Les Start ups quickly understood the importance of optimizing their website and their social networks to attract more visitors.
  • With the predominance of social networks and the need to have a website efficient, the Growth Hacking has emerged as a necessity.

Popular Growth Hacking Techniques

  • PS I Love You : A method that has become popular for engaging users on the social network or encourage them to visit a e-commerce site.
  • Search engines : Play a crucial role in this marketing strategy.
  • E mailing : A technique often used to reach and convert customers.
  • Word of mouth : A traditional but still effective way to spread an idea or a product.

On the longterm, each Start up must establish a marketing strategy solid.

This includes the judicious use of E emails, the presence on the social networks and optimization for search engines.

The objective is always the same: to grow on the longterm and reach as many people as possible.

So, for anyone who wants to know more about the techniques of Growth Hacking, it is essential to understand the associated terms, to learn Growth Hackers experienced and to adapt best practices to one's own website or e-commerce

How does Growth Hacking fit into a marketing strategy?

Growth hacking is an innovative approach that combines techniques, strategies, and specific tools to accelerate the growth of start-ups and businesses. Looking at the definition of the term, we find that it was popularized by Sean Ellis and is now widely recognized in the marketing world.

Unlike traditional marketing methods, growth hacking is not based solely on isolated techniques. It is a coherent set of methods adopted by a growth hacker, a specialist who has a unique mind focused on maximum growth with minimum resources.

An essential element of the growth hacking strategy is the use of specific tools that respond to a defined function within the company or start-up. These tools, combined with an adapted marketing strategy, aim to optimize each stage of the customer journey to ensure rapid and sustainable growth.

This article aims to shed more light on the mindset, strategies, and techniques of growth hacking. So, whether you have a website, an established business, or a start-up, you will find relevant information to help you in your quest for growth.

Remember that growth hacking is constantly evolving. Ask questions regularly, stay informed, and adapt your methods to stay competitive.

FAQs

What is lead generation?

Lead generation is the process of attracting prospects to your business and converting them into potential customers.

These may include job postings, blog posts with web forms, the collection of registration information for online events, and other content that contains visitor information.

Gathering accurate visitor information in this way allows you to identify interest in your company's offer and to follow up with them.

If a visitor enters their contact information to receive access to a white paper published by your business, you can follow up on that lead by providing them with information about a relevant service or product that you offer.

READ MORE: Understand everything about Lead Generation?

What is a buyer persona?

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer.

The development of these personas is based on market research and real data from your existing customers. This data can then be used to find patterns and create detailed personas that highlight customer needs, interests, habits, and other characteristics.

Using these personas helps you get closer to your main buyers and provide better content and message. This practice is extremely effective in producing results.

READ MORE: What is a marketing persona?

What is a Pirate Funnel (funnel marketing)?

A marketing funnel is a process that your prospects go through to become your customers.

The buyer journey starts from the customer's initial discovery of your business to the time your business is converted into a customer.

A marketing funnel is designed to create an automated system that makes it easier for a prospect to buy and shows them why your solution is the best choice for their needs.

As a bonus, a marketing funnel provides measurable checkpoints throughout the customer journey, allowing you to quickly identify potential bottlenecks that are holding back your growth.

READ MORE: What is the Pirate Funnel? The AARRR framework?

Conclusion

At the end of the day, Growth Hacking is not just a tactic, but a mindset. It's about constantly looking for innovative ways to increase growth and engagement, using resources cleverly.

By truly understanding growth hacking, businesses of all sizes can adapt, innovate, and thrive in today's digital environment.

If you haven't yet integrated Growth Hacking techniques into your strategy, now is the time to start.

After all, in the fast-paced digital world, those who adapt (and grow) quickly are the ones who succeed.

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Stephen MESNILDREY
CEO & Founder

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