Chances are you’ve probably heard of the term growth hacking before. These two little words collectively make one of the true buzzwords of now. As it may be said that traditional sales is not as effective for new technologies, growth hacking seeks to effectively translate sales and marketing into a form specifically designed for the technological innovation that the company is trying to sell.

In today’s digital sales and marketing, companies are always trying to find better ways to improve on sales. Growth hacking looks at finding these new ways, exploiting the opportunities and moving with the market trends and behaviours.

What is Growth Hacking?

Growth hacking is used to describe the process of rapid experimentation in sales and marketing channels to find the most efficient and effective way to generate sales and revenue, and thus grow the business. The “hacking” part comes from the way in which growth hackers attempt to find new, innovative ways to generate sales rather than rely on blanket principles, and finding low cost methods to exploit these opportunities.

An example of effective growth hacking is the continuous experimentation companies go through for building search engine marketing campaigns, iterating and experimenting with keywords to find the optimal mix.

Principally, growth hacking is about experimentation, more than it is result. Some of the best growth hackers I’ve met in the industry discuss their failed experiments as much as their successes, as it allows others to see the science behind it.

Who are these Growth Hackers?

Unlike traditional sales which are often conducted by sales people, growth hackers can be anyone from marketers to engineers, product managers to business development managers. A growth hacker is simply someone whose specific task is to find new ways to engage the organisation’s user base and convert them into customers.

What does a Growth Hack look like?

Some of the best growth hacks often come from the most unlikely places.

One example of a good growth hack is content writing. Content is like the WD40 (oil lubricant) of most business websites. Applied correctly, it can help users find their way to becoming customers with very little friction. A great growth hack companies often use are white papers, which can be readily converted into a lead generating products as they’re often sent to email addresses. With the right content, users can become engaged in a new way to the business.

Another example of growth hacking is the adoption of sharing mechanisms into a website to build engagement. One of the earliest methods of growth hacking was Hotmail’s “get Hotmail” hyperlink located at the bottom of Hotmail’s earliest emails. This in turn helped to spread Hotmail’s viral coefficient, in turn building their user base massively in a relatively short period of time.

What does a successful Growth Hack look like?

Ultimately, growth hacking is about one measure only. If the experiment conducted manages to lower the customer acquisition cost for a company, then it may be considered a success. Even if the hack is something simple like ensuring sales leads are properly organised, to stopping existing process if they prove too costly, as long as it helps the company grow, it’s a growth hack.

Prashan Wijeyewickrema - Talent Broker, Social Media

=======================================================

Prashan Wijeyewickrema works for a leading Digital recruitment firm S2M with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore .

If you are a Digital Marketer interested in a confidential chat, then get in touch on p rashan .wijeyewickrema @s2m.com.au