What is Growth Hacking, and Could it Work For You?

Growth hacking is a term that originated in the tech industry—coined by entrepreneurs Sean Ellis, Hiten Shah, and Patrick Vlaskovits in 2010—and remains popular in Silicon Valley. In effect, it describes a non-traditional approach to marketing, wherein expansion of the business is the primary focus. Many growth hackers (some of whom have even adopted that title) would describe themselves as more-or-less analogous to the VP of Marketing at a conventional firm. Historically, growth hackers have tended to work with small- and medium-sized enterprises rather than major established companies—although there are indications that growth hacking is now making inroads into the corporate mainstream.

You needn’t be an IT wizard—or even a self-identified growth hacker—to take advantage of growth-hacking techniques.

A common perception of growth hackers is that they are mostly associated with the dot com sector, and as such, possess extraordinary technical knowledge and skill, including the ability to code at an advanced level. While this is undeniably true of many in the field, technical expertise is not necessarily a precondition for growth hacking. Marketing and expansion techniques familiar to growth hackers can be adopted by traditional marketers, entrepreneurs, managers—in fact, just about anyone in the business world. And now that website design templates are widely available, non-techies have ample opportunity to establish a profitable online gateway.

Growth hackers’ approach to marketing resembles more conventional marketing strategies in some respects, but principally revolves around the online medium. Like traditional companies, firms that adopt growth-hacking principles aim to attract customers, facilitate sign-ups, and retain clients over the long term, in part, by offering innovative products and services. But under a growth-hacking framework, the effectiveness of the website (and online pathways thereto) take precedence.

A simple, elegant website, with an easy sign-up process

Modern society is characterized by short attention spans, and a rule of thumb for business website design is that there is roughly a ten-second window in which to attract a prospective customer’s attention and pique h/er interest. In your initial user interface, aim for short but clear descriptions, understandable options, and visible (but not gaudy) links and portals. Allow visitors to navigate to some areas of your site without registering, and give them the option of signing up for additional services.

Another vital consideration is the process of registration itself: You’ll want to collect relevant data from your prospective clients, but it’s also important to ensure that they know exactly what they’re signing up for, and don’t feel daunted by the duration and/or arduousness of the endeavour. Many would-be customers will simply give up and move on rather than endure even a few seconds of unnecessary inconvenience.

 

Tools of the trade

Among the devices in the growth hacker’s tool kit are search engine optimization (SEO), data analytics, viral video, guest blogging, mailing lists, and a wide range of specialized survey and marketing software. A fairly extensive list of utilities for marketing and metrics is available here.

Some common objectives growth hackers emphasize in the development of a new product or business are virality, effective distribution, and ease of access and use of the business’s website (from the customer’s perspective). The purpose of metrics, surveys, and other data is to provide feedback as to the success of those efforts.

Start with your networks to drive traffic. Use “calls to action” to generate sign-ups.

Online advertising can get expensive, and virality can be a difficult and time-consuming ambition. For start-ups with low cash flow, the cost and challenge of driving traffic to a website can be especially prohibitive. One of the ways around this problem is to start with your social network. Let your friends on Facebook know about your business, send e-mails to your contacts, call up friends to gauge their level of interest.

Create a landing page separate from the website’s home page, and direct visitors toward it. Once they arrive, the next goal is to promote registration. An approach that many businesses find effective is the Call to Action—usually in the form of a prominent icon that visitors can click on in order to “learn more”, “get started”, etc. This is where registration kicks in, which you can then measure, analyze, and, in turn, identify ways to improve.

Of course, there is no shortcut to a robust level of growth. But a growth hacker’s mindset can help to propel your business toward that goal.

A wealth of additional information is available online. Check out QUICKSPROUT’s Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking, GrowthHackers, growth-hacker.com, and the personal blogs of growth-hacking specialists Aaron Ginn and Andrew Chen.     

Getting the Most Out Of SEO

There you are, finally ready to launch your online business. You went through weeks of planning with a web designer and got everything worked out and tested.

Then, finally, your website goes live. And you wait. And wait.

Where are the customers? Where's the traffic? That's when you'll hear the word SEO for the first time. It's a word you should make your new best friend!

Search Engine Optimization is what can put your site at the top of search page rankings. But how can you get those high rankings? Fortunately, there are many wonderful resources available online to help you beef up your SEO. The goal is to choose the right SEO services and make sure that you get the value for your marketing money.

Here's what a good SEO company should be providing:

Knowledge and tools to research strong keywords. Everything starts with the keywords. This is what the typical customer will use to type into the search engines. Finding the right combination of keywords is, well, key. Keywords or phrases should be based on your understanding of your customers’ buying cycle. A comprehensive keyword search includes keyword popularity, competitive research and product-related searches. There are some keywords that appear to rank high but might make no sense in terms of being added to content. Your SEO expert needs to decipher the difference.

Ability to create engaging copy. Once you've got the keywords locked down you then have to fold them into your content. This is what will be picked up by the search engines. Working them into headlines is easy but it's the copy that really matters. Search engines are becoming extremely sophisticated - they can sniff out "spam copy" and penalize you for it. Don't depend on an IT guy crunching algorithms or a web designer to be able to entice your customers with the written word.

Up-to-date information. Google is still the reigning champ of search engines but it is getting plenty of competition from rivals Bing, Yahoo and a whole range of other players. Your SEO expert needs to be on top of all of the search engine parameters because they are constantly being upgraded. You want someone who will be staying far ahead of the technology curve. Ask them when the latest update to a search engine was and have them explain to you how it can affect your website. 

As you look for an SEO expert don't hesitate to shop around to find one that best suits your needs. Obviously, you should start with the ones that have the highest rankings themselves. You know they're doing something right.

Changing the Online Advertising Business Model

The recent flameout of Facebook's introduction to the stock market should be a cautionary tale to any online

business. One the main reasons that the Facebook stock tanked was that days before they went public, GM pulled its advertising because they weren't getting a return on their investment.

This sent a shock wave throughout all corners of e-commerce cyberspace. How can you not benefit from having access to over a billion Facebook users?

The answer is simple: The online advertising business model doesn't always work... and it shouldn't be the main business model for your startup.

The Big Fail

On many levels, the fail of online advertising is paralleling the fail of traditional television advertising. Thanks to DVRs, viewers are able to zap through commercials with ease. There are even devices being specifically marketed that will "hop" over commercials.

Naturally, this has the broadcast networks in an uproar. How can they justify ad rates if no one is watching the ads?

The same thing is happening online.

When a user logs on they're on a mission. They have a specific activity they are engaging in whether that's sending an email, playing a game or checking their friend’s newsfeed. More than anything, the internet is becoming a social networking site that is equal parts global and local community based.

Anyone who is spending their free time on the internet doesn't want to be advertised to.

A New Way to Brand

Foisting a message onto an internet user who hasn't asked for that message is destined to fail.

Why?

Because we don't need a message we can find for ourselves. A company brand can no longer be built by specific messaging alone.

It will be built by the number of "likes" on a Facebook page or amount of Twitter followers. Now that everyone gets to share their opinions on places like Yelp, a good review is often more important than a traditional ad.

We share what we like and that's how the popularity of a product, a movie, a book or a restaurant grows.

Finding Information in the Cyber Age

The greatest tool on the internet is also the great undoing of the advertising model. That would be the search engine. Whether you are a fan of Google, Bing, Chrome or any other search engine, we know how to get information.

If you want to shop for a new car, a pair of shoes, an appliance or just about anything else, the first stop will always be a search engine. The next stop could be one of the many review sites such as Yelp or Consumer Reports.

Nowhere in that search is advertising needed or wanted. We're becoming a society of information gatherers. That's good for the consumer but not so good for the business, unless they find a way to improve their search engine rankings.

We're also becoming very sophisticated when it comes to blocking or ignoring ads. Don't want a re-targeting pop-up ad? No problem... just delete your cookie history.

The more advertisers try to insert their messages the more the Internet user will find a way to block the ads.

Build Out the Social Network

So, what is a hapless company supposed to do to find new customers? Don't fight the internet but put it to work for your brand. If this is a social medium then find a way to engage your customer base by starting a conversation.

Suppose you're selling a cleaning product. Perhaps you can start a conversation by asking folks "What's the worst mess you've ever had to clean up?" That's not selling your product directly but allowing folks to join in on a conversation.

Once they are engaged they can be invited to try the product. In other words, think less about reaching the masses with a single message and instead redirecting that message as part of a two-way conversation. That's the power of social media networking. 

How to Build Your Social Media Strategy

What is your social media strategy? If the answer is, "I don't have a social media strategy" then you better get on board. Even casual users of sites like Facebook or Twitter can see how successful companies are utilizing these platforms to expand their customer base. Are you ready to get in on all that action? Building a PR outreach program is important in getting media attention for your company. Here is how to do it:

Set goals.

Before you can launch your social media strategy you need to be clear about your goals. Yes, increasing sales should be at the top of the list but get specific. What type of return are you looking for? Do you need to increase sales by 10%? 20%? You can also put social media to work to support brand identity and build a customer base. Nothing wrong with an "All of the above" approach but get some target numbers together.

Keep the conversation going.

As you enter the wide world of social media networking, you need to embrace the concept that this is an ongoing marketing plan. This doesn't mean you have to monitor your company's Facebook page 24/7. However you do need to keep your followers engaged. You don't always have to hit them with the hard sale but ask questions to get a conversation going. Asking to share holiday memories is always a good conversation starter. You can relate your queries to your product without it coming across like a pressure to buy.

Build a content schedule.

Now that you know your goals (see above) you should begin to plot out your content schedule. How many messages will you send out in a day or week? What time will these messages go out? Keep in mind that if you post something on Facebook at 9 a.m. your west coast followers won't be up looking at their Facebook. By the time they do check in, your post could get lost in their newsfeed. Additionally, you'll want to put serious thought into your posts. Don't scramble and post something random just for the sake of meeting your schedule. Work it out in advance.

Give away stuff.

We all like free stuff. Whether it's an informative eBook, a coupon or 2-for-1 sale, offering your followers the occasional freebie will keep them checking in for more. This is a terrific way to build up your "likes."

Follow the numbers.

Once you put all your social media plans to work, you'll want to find out if they are being effective. Every social media platform has some type of analytics program to help you gauge your traffic. You'll be able to see where spikes in visitors occur and adjust your content schedule. Stay on top of these numbers and build from there. 

3 Best Social Media Books to Read

Understanding how to get the most out of social media takes an expert. Here are three books by the leading experts in the field.

Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks)

This is New York Times best-seller is all about achieving success through online word-of-mouth marketing around the simple premise of being likeable. The best recommendation for any product or service often comes from a friend. If you can get a network of friends to recommend a site or page than that's half the battle. This informative book provides helpful insight in how to tap into the power of this specialized form of marketing. The methods presented in this tome have been utilized with great success by such a diverse range of companies as 1-800-FLOWERS.COM and the Ford Motor Company.


Author Dave Kerpen is an expert in this field. As the cofounder the social media-marketing firm Likeable, Dave is among the brightest and most successful leaders in this industry. His tried and true methods have a proven track record of success and he is definitely someone you'll want to listen to for your own social media campaign.


The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success

Presenting helpful information about social media campaigns means you need to stay ahead of the curve. The Social Media Bible is now in its updated third edition. Presented in this 700-page tome are all the important resources for big and small business to utilize the far reach of social media. With this updated edition you'll be able to find out how to bring in iPad users and apps, Foursquare and other location-targeted networks. Find out the latest about Google's every changing search engine algorithms. That information alone is worth buying this book!

500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advice, Hints and Strategy for Business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More!

Yes, you read that right: This amazing text presents 500 social media marketing tips. Included in those tips are links to over 130 video tutorials which can greatly enhance your learning curve. Among the top social networks covered are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube. The expert tips will show you how to build your brand and engage with customers. When you consider that 22% of all North American online activity is spent at sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest than its clear this is a realm your business needs to tap into. 500 Social Media Marketing Tips will show you the way.