AppVirality. Traction - How Successful Startups First Got Users [infographic] - Funders and Founders. An Epic List of 100 Growth Hacks for Startups. I recently launched my first SaaS product after four months of planning and design and another eight months of development.
That gave me a LOT of time to start planning for growth and in particular, customer acquisition. I read everything I could from Sean Ellis, Liam Gooding, Ryan Holliday, Andrew Chen, and many others. In fact, I spent over 100 hours preparing one hundred different growth hacks to implement for my startup and I have prepared them for you to review below. These growth hacks can be used by startups and established businesses as well.
Take what you can and apply them, but remember, they won’t work for every business or strategy. I broke these down into different stages, which Dave McClure came up with and appropriately named “pirate metrics” (due to the AARRR acronym). AcquisitionActivationRetentionReferralRevenue Most of the growth hacks listed here are in the “Acquisition” stage. 1. Almost ALL websites see a dip in traffic on the weekend. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. What is a growth hacker? Growth hacker (noun) - one whose passion and focus is pushing a metric through use of a testable and scalable methodology.
“Growth hacker” is a new word for most but a long held practice among the best internet marketers and product managers in Silicon Valley. With mass media fading away and the onslaught of mass customization & niching on the web, marketing as we known it for the past 100 years has died. People are awash with mounds of data and marketing fatigue is at an all-time high. Users are drowning and won’t pay attention to the next best widget, regardless of how good it is. Distribution is now the number one problem that faces every product and every startup. Growth hacking appeared as the modern way in the age of Web 2.0 to reach a market and distribute an idea. The #1 Inbound Marketing Community. Content Promotion Sites - Google Sheets. What is “Growth Hacking” really?
There is a lot of buzz around the new term "Growth Hacking", and many companies I know or have met recently are looking for a "Growth Hacker".
I worry sometimes that this feels like a fad and people think "ooh, I will grow much faster if I can just find a magical unicorn growth hacker" or start to believe that you really can hack sustainable growth in any way. While I think it is fantastic that many more companies are taking growth seriously, I think it is important that people keep their eyes on the big prize of building deep, sustainable companies and networks. You can't hack the long term patterns of growth -- when someone is so actively using a product that they keep sharing it with their friends without realizing it. Or so in love with a product they tell everyone about it. Or they demand their friends join so that their friendship gets even better. That said, you do need to find the right "hacks" that help you get to those points of sustainable growth. 1. 2. 3. Distribution Hacks. Marketing’s Battle Royale: Growth Hackers Vs. Brand Marketers. Posted by thunderfactory 18 March 2013 blog While grilling me recently on my marketing experience and capabilities, a prospective client threw me a question that took me by surprise: "Do you consider yourself to be a 'growth hacker'"?
Ignoring the code* that I strictly adhere to in selling situations -- "Don't open your mouth unless you know what the shot is" -- my answer to the prospect was the following: "To a certain degree. " (*That code was promulgated by Ricky Roma/Al Pacino in the movie version of the incomparable play "Glengarry Glen Ross. ") I don't think my less than convincing answer was exactly what the prospect wanted to hear. Clearly, he was looking for a dyed in the wool growth hacker, not a marketing consultant who considered growth hacking to be just one of the arrows in his business-building marketing quiver. What is growth hacking? What is growth hacking? Find a Growth Hacker for Your Startup. Once startups are ready to scale, their biggest challenge is often hiring someone capable of leading the growth charge.
A marketer with the right talents and approach can kick some serious ass once product-market fit and an efficient conversion/monetization process have been proven. But the problem is that most startups try to hire for skills and experience that are irrelevant, while failing to focus on the essential few skills. Typical job descriptions are often laden with generic but seemingly necessary requirements like an ability to establish a strategic marketing plan to achieve corporate objectives, build and manage the marketing team, manage outside vendors, etc. Generally speaking, the job requirements/skills mentioned above are not paramount for startups in or before the early growth phase.
After product-market fit and an efficient conversion process, the next critical step is finding scalable, repeatable and sustainable ways to grow the business. Learn Growth Hacking: 35 Resources to Help You Become a Growth Hacker. At many technology companies, traditional marketing roles are transforming into growth hacking roles.
In fact, the work has become so popular now that some companies are hiring “growth hackers.” Learn Growth Hacking: 35 Resources to Help You Become a Growth Hacker. An Epic List of 100 Growth Hacks for Startups.