Growth Hacking Blue Paper

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Growth Hack ing

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Growth Hacking

Hear the word “hack,” and it’ll likely conjure up thoughts of computer hackers,

forcefully making their way into a computer system to take or manipulate data. If

you hear the term “growth hacker,” are you to extrapolate a similar concept with

growth? If so, how does one “hack” growth?

Growth hacking is a relatively new strategy in business, and like computer

hackers, growth hackers do their work swiftly but strategically. And, data is their

friend.

What exactly is growth hacking? While the term can be

defined in a broad sense, growth hacking differs from

company to company. It’s marketing, yet it’s not. It’s

engineering, yet it’s not. What growth hacking does is use

data to put focus on reaching people, generating leads and

growing companies—quickly.1

This Blue Paper® will define growth hacking by showing

examples of successful hacks, describe the phases of growth hacking, identify

traits of successful growth hackers and provide techniques to start growth

hacking in your company.

Focused yet not complexThe term “growth hacker” was coined in 2010 by startup entrepreneur and angel

investor Sean Ellis from a concept born with startup companies that didn’t excel in

marketing or have the dollars to hire a marketer or a marketing consultant.2

In describing a growth hacker, Ellis said it was neither a marketing replacement,

nor someone better than a marketer. A growth hacker is simply different from a

marketer.3 Whereas a marketer looks at the big picture, a growth hacker hones in

on a single—usually digital—focus to achieve a single goal—company growth.

While growth may be the result of a growth hacker’s efforts, the speed at which

these hackers achieve the growth is far faster than traditional means. A growth

1 Tjepkema, Lindsay. “What Is Growth Hacking and Why Should You Care?” Business 2 Community. N.p., 3 Aug. 2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://www.business2community.com/strategy/what-is-growth-hacking-and-why-should-you-care-01292059>.

2 Holiday, Ryan. “Everything Is Marketing: How Growth Hackers Redefine The Game.” Fast Company. N.p., 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3003888/everything-marketing-how-growth-hackers-redefine-game>.

3 Ibid


hacker begins with focus on a single metric, takes a technology-centric approach,

leverages multiple disciplines to identify insights and finds a workable solution.4 A

growth hacker may use traditional marketing methods, but he

or she is more likely to implement innovative ideas.

In the case of growth hacking, innovative doesn’t necessarily

mean complex. Looking back at business successes, growth

hacking can be identified well before the term came into vogue.

Hotmail® often is cited as one of the best examples of growth

hacking. By simply adding, “P.S. I love you. Get your free email

at Hotmail.” to e-mails in 1996, the startup boasted 3,000 new

users in one day, grew to 1 million users within six months, and

was purchased by Microsoft® within 18 months, when it logged

8.5 million users.5

Other social media platforms followed with their own growth

hacking strategy. Twitter® added more than 60,000 users in one

day with one data point—the fact that new users were more likely to return to

the social media platform if they followed a minimum of 10 people upon signing

up. Twitter excelled at signing up new users by including suggestions of people to

follow as part of their signup process.6

Before you hackThe secret to growth hacking is the willingness and ability to be nimble and

creative, because your growth hack probably won’t look like one from the

business across the street or from your biggest competitor. In addition, growth

hacking may likely be the most exciting and most frustrating business venture

you’ve ever done, as it involves testing and possibly failing.7

No matter what your product or service, you’ll get the most out of growth

hacking with the following strategic map:8, 9, 10

Before you can attract users, you need a good product. Traditionally, marketing

kicks in after the product is developed, leaving marketers scrambling if the

4 Relander, Brett. “How Growth Hacking Is Redefining Marketing.” Entrepreneur. N.p., 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242034>.


6 Ibid7 Ibid8 Holiday, Ryan. “The 5 Phases of Growth Hacking.” Mashable. N.p., 2 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://

mashable.com/2013/09/02/growth-hacking/>.9 Tjepkema, Lindsay. “What Is Growth Hacking and Why Should You Care?” Business 2 Community. N.p., 3 Aug.

2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://www.business2community.com/strategy/what-is-growth-hacking-and-why-should-you-care-01292059>.

10 Schwarzapel, Josh. “How to Start a Growth Team - Android & Tech News.” Medium. N.p., 09 July 2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <https://medium.com/android-news/how-to-start-a-growth-team-ff70cd29c0f2>.


product doesn’t fit the market. Successful growth hacking needs a great product,

so step one is to test and improve the product.

Have an executive cheerleader, ideally the founder or CEO. Growth hacking often

strays into methods that are unconventional or controversial. You need the ability

to experiment without constraints.

Have measureable, trackable goals.

Find your hack. Hacks are opportunities. What opportunity can you leverage to

get more users? Find it, optimize it and be able to discard it if you hit a dead end.

To reiterate, growth hacking cannot reverse a decline of a poor product. It’s more

like adding fuel to a fire—in a good way. Like Twitter’s example, it works best

when it builds on successes, using small changes on an already-established user

base.11

A successful hackerGrowth hacking is important to companies in both stages of development—

startup and those established and looking to grow.12 Traditional marketing tools

are seen as both expensive and unreliable, whereas growth hacking is inexpensive

and has proven success.

Melinda Byerley, in a Venture Beat article, describes two of the most famous

growth hackers, Andy Johns and Sean Ellis, who have very different approaches.

Neither approach is wrong, but each has its place in

companies with specific needs. Byerley describes each

approach using the analogy of the California gold rush:13

The Prospector (Ellis): Does best in startup or early-stage

companies to find product-market fit.

The Miner (Johns): Does well in large or fast-growing

businesses. Miners excavate data and turn learnings into

new growth.

Mix the two by putting the prospector into an established

company or vice versa, and you may find your strategy headed for failure. Make

a miner do prospecting, and he or she will spend time digging without striking it

rich. Likewise, a prospector told to mine gold will spend time looking for silver.

11 Byerley, Melinda. “Why Growth Hacking Is Failing Most of Us.” VentureBeat. N.p., 12 July 2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/12/why-growth-hacking-is-failing-most-of-us/?utm_campaign=Submission&utm_medium=Community&utm_source=GrowthHackers.com>.

12 Ibid13 Byerley, Melinda. “Growth Hacking Has Two Phases — and Using the Wrong One Will Sink You.” VentureBeat.

N.p., 11 Aug. 2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/11/growth-hacking-has-two-phases-and-using-the-wrong-one-can-sink-you/?utm_campaign=Submission&utm_medium=Community&utm_source=GrowthHackers.com>.


Therefore, not everyone is fit to be a growth hacker. It takes a person or team

that possesses a myriad of soft skills that complement hard, technology-based

skills. Successful growth hackers often are identified by the following traits:14, 15, 16

Creative. Growth hackers must be naturally curious and good at problem-solving.

They ask questions and find answers. They also are creative in finding inexpensive

answers and are able to deploy new tactics without a big budget to sustain them.

Open-minded. Sometimes, great ideas are counterintuitive, so those who are rigid

in their beliefs may likely miss great opportunities. Open-mindedness also is key

because growth hacking is constantly evolving—what worked for one product

may not work for another, or what worked six months ago may not work today.

Think for themselves. Growth hackers need to be skeptical of company truths and

test their own theories by using and testing data.

Quick learners. Growth hacking doesn’t involve strategic planning or action

mapping. Those are the umbrellas under which growth hackers work. Instead,

they work quickly in the now. To that end, they need a variety of skills, from

copywriting to data mining. Not all growth hackers are deep in all skills, so they

have to adapt and learn new skills quickly.

Tech and data savvy. They analyze and measure data with an understanding of

search engine optimization, social media marketing, conversion rates and digital

marketing.

Team player. Growth hackers don’t have big egos because they can’t generate ideas

and implement them. They need a team to design, execute, measure and improve.

Focus and discipline. Either they or a team working

for them need excellent detail-oriented project

management skills that include follow through.

Grit. Growth hacking may lead to failure—many

times. Hackers need the tenacity to keep trying.

Gett ing startedYou have a great product, a leader who supports

you and a hack-worthy team behind you. Now what? Josh Schwarzapel, who has

experience on a growth hacking team, says there are three things you should do

in the first month of your project:17



16 Byerley, Melinda. “Growth Hacking Has Two Phases — and Using the Wrong One Will Sink You.” VentureBeat. N.p., 11 Aug. 2015. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/11/growth-hacking-has-two-phases-and-using-the-wrong-one-can-sink-you/?utm_campaign=Submission&utm_medium=Community&utm_source=GrowthHackers.com>.



Focus on one metric. A hotel may focus on nights booked. A social media content

team may focus on increased engagements. By starting out with one metric, the

team can prioritize, focus and allow for contributions from all members.

Get high-impact wins and spread the word. You will have doubters, so you’ll

want to pick a metric that you can change quickly. Test copy or implement calls to

action. When you have a win, promote the results.

Invest in the right tools. Simple, quick wins should “create compound interest”

with many small or medium wins rather than fewer large ones. For this, you

need tools to help you identify and mine wins quickly. The tools will differ from

company to company, so watch what others are doing to get referrals on the best

tools for your data analysis.

Once you have a baseline metric for which to move the

needle, you’ll need specific tactics. The ideas are endless,

but again, they don’t have to be complex. Analytics expert

Neil Patel says one way to move the needle is to develop a

content marketing strategy.18 Three tactics may be included

in your content strategy:

Write a blog and promote it. Even in our harried, busy

world, people crave good content.

Guest blog. In the same vein, he also suggests writing guest

posts on websites that fit your niche. Pitch the site owners,

write a post and promote it to your users.

Engage online personally. Develop your social profiles carefully to enhance your

personal brand, with the intent to become a “celebrity in your own right.”

Patel also says to look past the social media hype to a more traditional digital

communication technique—e-mail. The number of e-mail users exceeds that of

social media, and it’s still most effective at lead generation. A simple growth hack

is creating an e-mail opt-in function on your website.

Patel cautions that the data growth hackers seek may not always come in forms

of numbers. Data may include content performance or customer information.

Traditional analytics platforms and dashboards may not be enough. Dig deep, and

find data that is actionable.

Once you land on a tactic, don’t rest your laurels on initial results—whether good

or bad. Do further testing. If you’ve decided to send an e-mail or post on a social

media platform, do A/B testing by changing the content, reviewing the results

18 Patel, Neil. “6 Growth Hack Techniques You Can Try Today.” Entrepreneur. N.p., 06 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 Aug. 2015. <http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241142>.


4imprint serves hundreds of thousands of customers with promotional items throughout the United States,

Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. 4imprint offers corporate gifts, personalized gifts, custom T-shirts,

promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it® Notes, custom calendars, custom shirts

and much more. For additional information, visit www.4imprint.com.

and improving based upon what you learn.19

Finally, if you’ve had a successful growth hack, find a way for your past and

new users to help you do the heavy lifting. Dropbox® did it by giving users more

storage space when they referred friends. Find what works for you and your new

users. As marketer Ryan Holiday says, “It’s the growth hacker’s job to engineer

virality.”20

F inal thoughtsTraditional marketing efforts often cost significant amounts of money, so that

failures can be disastrous to a company. Holiday argues in favor of growth

hacking because it’s cheap, effective and practical:21

“Instead of putting the cart before the horse and promoting a half-baked idea,

growth hackers are intimately involved in product development. Instead of

chasing vague notions like branding or awareness, a growth hacker drives users

and clients. Instead of spending money, growth hackers look for scalable growth

from viral factors and social sharing. Finally, instead of hoping these things

magically happen and customers organically stick around, they ruthlessly optimize

and improve efforts based on data.”

You shouldn’t expect growth hacking to be

easy, but if done right with the right team, it

may likely be the most effective way to drive

growth at your company.


20 Holiday, Ryan. “The 5 Phases of Growth Hacking.” Mashable. N.p., 2 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Aug. 2015. <http://mashable.com/2013/09/02/growth-hacking/>.

21 Ibid