Growth hacking is a concept that has gained increasing prominence in marketing language over the past few years but remains unfamiliar to a number of people.
Entrepreneurs and business leaders are constantly on the lookout for new techniques that could help them improve the overall performance of their organization, and this is where growth hacking comes into play.
But what does the term refer to and how can it impact a company’s sales strategies?
For more information, our experts from the My Little Big Web agency cover the subject for you. Let’s get started!
First, what does growth hacking mean?
Growth hacking was invented by Sean Ellis, founder and CEO of GrowthHackers, in 2010. The term refers to the various strategies that are used to increase and accelerate a company’s growth. It is generally used by start-ups that need to achieve massive growth in a short period of time and on a small budget.
The goal of growth hacking is to quickly acquire a large number of users or customers with the least amount of money. Used by Facebook, Dropbox, Hotmail, AirBnB and many other companies, this technique has shown impressive results.
Before looking at how growth hacking can be useful, let’s take a look at the role of a growth hacker.
What is a growth hacker?
A growth hacker can leave a negative image because of the word hacker. However, in the field of digital marketing, the growth hacker is a positive and creative player.
The growth hacker’s main goal is to help a company grow by combining various digital marketing techniques such as SEO and email marketing.
A good growth hacker also needs to think objectively and find solutions that are tailored to his goals. If a project doesn’t work, he has to think of another way to achieve his goals or simply find a new solution. A good mental capacity and a sense of detachment are essential to completely change one’s priorities and look for different opportunities. He therefore has more than one trick up his sleeve.
The AARRR framework: a growth hacker’s work pattern
Invented by entrepreneur Dave McClure, the AARRR framework is a kind of blueprint that a growth hacker works with. This framework is a broad description of how all technology companies operate in their early days. Short for Acquisition-Activation-Retention-Recommendation-Revenue, this framework defines the different stages a growth hacker must pay attention to. In other words, it is a conversion funnel.
Let’s take a look at these different steps.
Acquisition: the first step in a growth hacking strategy
The first step involves attracting Internet users to a product or service. Acquisition therefore includes the resources implemented by a company or a growth hacker to communicate with customers.
This requires a good knowledge of the different channels through which you want to acquire traffic. In addition, the value proposition of the service or product must be relevant and quickly understood by the user. Social networks, advertising and forums are all places where content can be mentioned online.
Activation: get your prospects to take action
The activation stage is used to persuade customers to take action. In other words, to buy into the products or services. Activation usually involves simple actions by customers on a website. For example, subscribing to a newsletter, sending an e-mail with questions about products, requesting a free consultation. All these examples provide a little more information about the product in question.
This is also the time to gather more precise information on potential clients and increase the database for future campaigns. Here is an example of a loss leader that can be used to determine customer interest in a company and expand your customer base:
Retention: keep your users coming back
Retention ensures that the customer uses the various platforms on a regular basis. When a company finds that its site or social networks are not regularly visited, the growth hacker can encourage users to check in on a more regular basis. This can be done with push notifications or personalized emails.
Recommendation: the fourth stage of growth hacking
The recommendation stage is an opportunity to promote the product through ambassadors or referrals. Word-of-mouth is an effective way to promote products or services. Peer referral increases your audience and generates qualified traffic on various platforms.
Nowadays you can regularly see influential people in networks (influencers) recommending the products of a certain company with the help of promo codes or contests.
Revenue: maximizing your conversion rate
The final step in the framework involves maximizing the conversion rate. That is, maximizing the rate at which the customer will complete the buying process. This can be done by offering temporary deals on the site, offering various types of online payment, including customer reviews, etc. These strategies will improve the online buyer’s journey and encourage users to make a purchase.
The 3 most commonly used growth hacking strategies
Growth hacking can be useful in two key situations. First, when a new company wants to expand its customer base and promote its services or products, and second, when it wants to increase its number of followers on social networks.
Three strategies are best suited to achieve these goals: content marketing, product marketing and advertising.
The least expensive strategy is content marketing. Here are some typical examples of this marketing:
- Starting a blog
- Content creation for social networks
- Podcast
- Contests and giveaways
- Promotion in forums
- Influence marketing
- Newsletter
Product marketing, on the other hand, includes techniques designed to make a product more attractive to users. It includes, for example:
- Technique (FOMO)
- Affiliate marketing
- Various subscriptions for more benefits (Premium)
Finally, when it comes to advertising, growth hackers generally opt for PPC and social advertising.
The term PPC stands for “Pay Per Click”. The company pays to advertise on a website, search engine or social network. Each time the user clicks on this ad, the user is taken directly to the company’s website. Social advertising refers to the use of different social networks to market to the target audience.
As a start-up grows, it is recommended to use these various techniques to gain more visibility with customers.
Growth hacking and SEO: a winning team!
Never forget that the principle of growth hacking is the implementation of a tactic that aims to rapidly grow a company. One of the priorities would therefore be achieving a position on the first pages of search engines, especially Google, which has a large share of the search market.
Therefore, combining growth hacking with an SEO strategy can be beneficial. Creating quality content on your website and working on the user experience to give users the answers they need will boost your search rankings.
You can also outsource your SEO strategy to an agency if you want to build quality links on reputable sites.
Growth hacking: a solution for starting your business on the right foot!
In short, growth hacking is an effective strategy when you want to quickly gain visibility with a smaller budget. When combined with various marketing techniques, growth hacking helps to expand your community.
At My Little Big Web, we can handle social media management and the creation of quality SEO content.
If you think you need a helping hand to grow your community, don’t hesitate to contact our team of experts. It will be our pleasure to put our expertise at your service, whatever your needs may be.