Surely many of you still do not know what growth hacker is or what is growth hacking? It seems quite new to many people! But actually, this is a term which is very popular among startup world in the world. Is this the secret to the success of many fledgling startup companies? And thereby impressing with tremendous growth?
So, what is the concept of growth hacking and how is it related to marketing strategy?
What is Growth Hacking?
Growth hacking is a combination of marketing, technology, data analysis and a little reckless. It is a mix of fields with only one goal of development.
What growth hacking cares about is growth only. The ultimate goal is to find a simple, repeatable and extensible way to develop. So, growth hacking is a process that requires patience and investment in time and effort.
This article will guide you to find out growth hacks that companies have been applying. Do not forget that to find effective growth hacking for your company is a long-term research process.
Growth hacking can be applied while building a startup. From the very first steps or when the company is going into expansion.
Misconceptions about growth hacking
I want to clarify some misunderstandings about growth hacking. Because I have heard many rumors about this topic.
- Growth hacking is not a magic code formula
Growth hacking is not a few lines of code you insert into a website or app to bring in millions of users overnight. If that was the case, everyone would be racing to create an app in a day, inserting this “magic code”! And wait for millions of downloads, sold the app with towering prices.
Many people dream of finding a way to create an app that attracts 10,000 downloads a day. Get 4 million email addresses from users who are involved and interested in their products each year.
10000 app downloads are not necessarily impossible, but it will not make sense if the user immediately uninstalled the app.
If you have 10000 downloads but 9900 people uninstall the app in 1 month, the actual download is only 100. But if you have 1000 downloads but only 100 people uninstall, you will have 900 real downloads.
So, the problem is not the number of downloads but the quality.
- Growth hacking is not necessarily related to computers and technology
Growth hacking is not about hacking computers or software even though sometimes both are one.
The main objective of promoting growth is sustainable development. Grow in the fastest way possible with the least budget or resources.
The goal of Growth Hacking
Suppose I found that the best way to grow a company about nutrition drinks is by distributing leaflets in densely populated areas with young children and housewives, distributing leaflets is also a strategy for growth hacking.
Many people believe that growth hacking must be related to computer hacking.
In essence, hacking refers to the way we manage to find a solution to accomplish something with the least amount of resources and resources. So, the word “hacking” is not just used for computers or technology. But it is also in all matters of life.
- Does growth hacking look like marketing?
Growth Hacking is not a traditional marketing method. Whether in some cases, growth hacking includes traditional marketing strategies.
To be honest, Growth hacking is not immoral. Although many people choose to grow their business in this negative way. If I buy a product and you feel satisfied, that’s not immoral!
What is growth hacker?
Growth hacker is an IT specialist, using marketing and market research knowledge with technical technology to provide marketing solutions for customers and business owners.
The word “hacking” here means using logical thinking and technology to achieve specific goals. In this case, it is often to retain customers and create sales, not the negative connotations often found in IT.
Growth hacking operation
Index / KPI and Growth hacking
First, startup companies need to focus on a certain type of indicator or KPI (Key Performance Indicators). Each company will have a separate index.
For example, for KPIs, Facebook chooses to use the number of monthly active users. Whatsapp choose the number of messages sent to each day. Youtube is the number of videos watched, Uber is the number of rides … Therefore, this indicator should be carefully selected and suitable for your own business.
Absolutely avoid unrealistic indicators such as hype or irrelevant to the business. For example, the number of app downloads mentioned earlier is a virtual index if the app is removed.
Another example, the number of social network fans is also a virtual index. A reasonable metric should be the number of sales, or conversion rate, of Facebook ads instead of likes.
After choosing the right indicators, you can start the growth hacking process correctly.
Select the preferred channel
To grow, growth hacker will have to use many outstanding methods such as:
- SEO
- SEM
- Social Media (SMO, SMM)
- Content Marketing
- PR
- Email Marketing
- Event online / offline
- Video marketing
- ASO
- Referral marketing
to create viral marketing, viral growth, UI / UX, and gamification effects (applying game elements to outside areas). Business alliance or strategic alliance, sales …
> Refer to some email marketing tools to support the development of email channels in growth hacking:Getresponse, Mailchimp, Infusionsoft, …
Applying the right sales and marketing strategy will help your startup thrive.
There are many channels you can choose to expand your startup. In it, I think that growth hacking combined with inbound marketing strategy will bring high efficiency.
Some issues about channel selection
But should we apply all of these channels?
The problem is that every company or business is different. Different fields, different goals, factors such as demographics, habits, geographic location, culture, language, religion …
So how does a professional growth hacker know which channel to use?
In fact, they will not know until they start experimenting and adjusting. Whether you are a company founder, are you sure which channel will reach your target audience most effectively without trying it first? Definitely not.
Ideally, you should try all channels to see which one will fit the goal but if you are a startup or small company, this is not possible.
So, you need to base on your judgment, test your competitors in the market, determine your marketing tactics. Finally, trust your intuition to choose the best channel and test it first.
A/B testing/Experimentation
A / B testing is the most important part of growth hacking. Because only experiment can find growth hacking.
You need to be psychologically prepared to have to try everything. At first you can judge and then you will have to try through all the assumptions.
So, besides testing each channel, you will have to test and compare between channels using A/B testing. For example, after testing individual social media, email marketing, PR and online events, you continue to use A/B testing to compare these channels.
More specifically, if you want to reach your target audience through social networks, you absolutely can use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Weibo or any other social media channel. Let’s say you choose Instagram. You need A/B test to find the best one.
Post lots of content, different images and hashtags at the same time, follow a lot of people. The communication process is similar to other channels even though you want to create a successful email marketing campaign or write interesting blog posts or make mobile apps ASO …
The goal is to check every detail, even the smallest, until you find the best option.
Data analysis
Growth hacking will not be possible without analytical data.
Without careful analysis of data, growth hacking will be inefficient. In addition, you also need to keep track of what you are doing. Everything must be recorded or otherwise will not see results to adjust the tactics later.
Therefore, having an analytical mind for data processing is an advantage. Not only do you want to focus on results, but also conversion rate optimization (CRO), customer retention rates, etc.
There are many ways to manage testing. Each channel will have different ways.
For example:
- If you are using email marketing, Infusionsoft would be a great choice.
- If you are using PR, the best management is to monitor the number of reviews or the number of bloggers / journalists who respond.
With such data, you will be able to define your own KPI.
User feedback
User feedback is extremely important. During A/B testing, you will receive feedback from users.
Whether it’s negative feedback, it will help you improve your product and users. You must even appreciate those negative feedback. Because 96% of customers who are dissatisfied with the product will immediately leave without telling the reason. So, the remaining 4% will tell you the reason to improve the product.
Chances are this audience will become loyal and constantly support your brand, if the product improves on their own terms.
Customers complain that they need your product and want to make it perfect.
You do not need to ask an expert how to attract users to use the product. Because they cannot know exactly. What you need to do is experiment.
For example, your startup company sells new software to help you easily contact customers without using email.
The founder of Pokemon Go is of course an expert in this field because of the global craze. But does he know your industry, your products and your customers? Definitely not.
Who knows your product?
So, in your opinion, who will be the person to understand that? They are the customers.
Customers know everything about the product because they are everyday users. So, if you want to improve your product, listen to your customers instead of asking for advice. Investing time and money in customers is always the smart and right choice.
So, for the SEO training course and SEO service that GTV is currently providing, we also always want to listen to customer feedback. From there, GTV can improve and bring the best experience for users, improve the quality of products / services.
Optimization
After analyzing and evaluating the data, you need to optimize and prioritize the effective channels, then return to the A/B testing step.
Don’t forget that experimentation is a cyclical process and doing so consistently will lead to success.
Using this data to optimize products and channels is the key to growth hacking and one of lean startup fundamentals.
Expansion & Automation
After optimizing the channel and improving the product, it’s time to expand because this is an important part of the process. There are many ways to expand startup companies such as encroaching on new markets or automating channels.
In addition, you should also start automating growth hacking, channels, strategies and tactics. This step can be done with support from many growth hacking tools. However, care should be taken to avoid automation of inefficient sections.
Case study about Growth hacking: Nasty Gal
Starting a business with Nasty Gal Vintage
Sophia Amoruso describes herself as a teenager who dropped out of college and have a passion for crust punk. After being arrested for stealing a George Foreman grill and not being able to afford the hernia treatment. She bought the book Starting an eBay Business for Dummies. She started selling vintage clothes online with the name Nasty Gal Vintage.
The process of developing Nasty Gal
Amoruso spent time developing relationships with other vintage clothing sellers, while working hard to find inventory.
She used Google to learn feminine fashion trends and chose items to buy and resell. She also searched for a model through Myspace and paid for it with a hamburger.
Amoruso acknowledged that its eBay listing earned more clicks when inserting the title of keywords describing clothes, beautiful images, art and ready-made clothing patterns so that customers know how to wear the most appropriate.
Amoruso was fired from eBay after using the company’s image to promote its own e-commerce site. 4 years later, the profit is over $100 million.
As of today, Nasty Gal has users in more than 150 countries. Two stores with a thriving e-commerce site have expanded into selling original designs.
Sophia also succeeded in building her own personal brand. With the best effort when releasing the New York Times Bestseller #GIRLBOSS, it is both an autobiography of her life and a handbook for businesses seeking to succeed.
The reasons why Nasty Gal grew rapidly
- Investing in product lines:
Amoruso is always careful in selecting and displaying products.
In addition to not only selling clothes, but also providing coordination services to wear products in the most beautiful way possible.
Focusing on the product that has a direct and positive effect on Nasty Gal’s gross profit margins.
- Testing and optimization: Amoruso tests each model and style she will buy and then tracks clicks on eBay listing.
For lists that didn’t work, she would never do that again. Gradually, Amoruso was able to refine its marketing and sales of Nasty Gal.
- Branding: Amoruso has used social media as leverage to convey her unique and personal Nasty Gal product line. Since then, the brand has attracted 3 million users on Facebook and Instagram.
This is an effective platform to earn new customers and interact with existing customers.
Conclusion
In short, to break through growth by growth hacking, you need the perfect product, reaching a reasonable goal, constantly testing methods, analyze the results and optimize missing aspects.
In addition, depending on each field and enterprise, there will be separate target indicators and approaches that require analytical ability of each person.
Hopefully, through this article, you will have a more accurate view of what growth hacking is. What is growth hacker? And more importantly, you know through misconceptions about growth hacking? So that can apply to improve the growth of your business.
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