Trends come and go very quickly in Marketing! Something that was effective last year may not be this year especially in the rapidly changing online environment where users are constantly changing their behavior!
One trend that has been garnering interest lately is Growth Hacking and it is not just a fad but deserves our attention! Growth Hacking has some principles that are worth incorporating into any Marketing even for companies that are not start-ups.
First of all, let's define Growth Hacking!
Growth Hacking is about finding unconventional ways to market your business and connect your target market with your product. Marketing is a big part of this, but growth hackers look for new, innovative or even unique ways to drive adoption, testing and most importantly, influence growth!
How to use the principles of Growth Hacking in Inbound Marketing!
The beauty of Growth Hacking is that it requires the entire team to set clear goals and then guide all actions. The method for achieving goals can and should be a fluid process but a dominant theme in Growth Hacking is defining clear metrics!
Set your goals using the SMART method:
S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Realistic
T: Timely
Defining your goals is the first step, but you also need to make sure you know what you're measuring.
Be bold with experimentation!
A defining characteristic of Growth Hacking is that it encourages experimentation! A classic Growth Hacking story is that of Airbnb. Before the company got so big, its Marketing team posted rental listings on Craigslist with a link to the Airbnb site. It may have been unconventional with traditional Marketing but it worked!
Iterate, amplify and optimize your experiments!
Once you have created your Growth Hacking experiment, remember to keep trying to make it better. Use 2 designs, for example, to see if one email works better than the other. If one tactic works, optimize it and see how far it can go. The idea is to stretch your imagination with new ways to get your message across and engage your audience!
Apply Growth Hacking to all Marketing and sales channels!
It can fit into all inbound marketing strategies (blogs, infographic downloads, webinars, SEO, social media) because they are easily measurable marketing methods. But Growth Hacking doesn’t have to be limited to inbound methods. You can also integrate it into outbound marketing (paid advertising, press releases, trade shows) and even into your product development strategies!
