Introduction
The term growth hacking was found by Sean Ellis in 2010, to differentiate between traditional marketing where the main focus is on brand equity and customer service, and an agent whose complete focus is on growth, new markets, new audiences and new technologies with creative inventions.
It is in a numbers game, where the most significant increase in customers is generated at a cost as low as possible. Compared to traditional sales, it is more strategic as data drive it and also because growth hackers don’t focus on short-term goals but long-term sustainable goals.
Growth hacking is a constant process of rapid experimentation across areas of business, like product development, sales segments, marketing fennel and the other regions to identify efficient ways for a company to grow. A growth hacking team is set up, which consists of developers, marketers, product managers and engineers. Their primary focus is on engaging the user base and building the business.
The Growth Stage
Growth Hacking has been around for a few years, but it’s catching fire rapidly. As growth for any business is the make-or-break metric, every startup is looking to build its business by hiring growth hackers.
The customer size for startups usually is shallow. It is not a marker of success and investment but also about survival. As they don’t have access to resources to the marketing budget, these startups resort to growth hacking. This helps them capitalize on the network effects of product adoption among their audience and also validate the need or their product to their investors.
As a growth hacker, any strategy that is executed, every tool that is implemented and every technique that one develops must be done with the desire for growth. Digital is a battleground where marketers fight to achieve a competitive advantage over the other. A conventional approach towards marketing is no longer enough in this technologically growing business environment. The only way to exist is to adapt. Use of social media, guerrilla marketing tactics and word of mouth, analytics and influencers, has helped growth hackers target niche audiences.
Effect of Growth Hacking on Established firms and Startups
Established firms don’t have the in-house resources to analyse their audience and activities to facilitate effective and efficient growth. On the other hand, startups can tap into inexpensive data sources and identify key influencers that can help achieve higher than double digital growth.
Assuming that cost efficiency is the value attached to growth hacking, it doesn’t make sense for established firms to be doing it themselves. Employment of dedicated data analytics, the expenditure of data analytics software and creative product innovators, would significantly reduce the benefits that they gain from the market.
As the primary goal of every firm/organisation is to survive and adapt, growth hackers and growth marketing agency have been given priority. It is easier for a firm to delegate it rather than to develop such software, especially when the resources are not available in-house.
Examples of Growth Hacking Agencies
Voxturr is one of the leading growth hacking agency comprises of advisors and a growth team that have combined experience 100 years in digital marketing, growth strategy building, user experience designing digital product development, and core development. The team has helped many startups, Fortune 500 companies, and top-notch firms, including McKinsey and BCG.
GrowthRocks is another growth hacking agency which is based in Belgium. Their team comprises of business consultants, website developers, and designers, marketing experts, and designers. Some of the listed services that they provide are Convert Rate Optimisation, Content Marketing & Strategy Actionable, Analytics, Performance Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Engineering as Marketing, Social Media Strategy and GDPR Compliance.
Conclusion
Firms assume that clever advertising can control brand perception and that sales and discounts can negate the negative impact of poor customer experience. A more effective strategy to maintain and grow market interest would be to innovate around the changing customer habits. While marketers are in the trade of evolving behaviours, it is myopic to believe that unplanned changes in businesses must be stood up to. Marketing professionals need to adapt to protocol shifts in technologies and communication with insight and empathy. A growth hacking agency will help firms adopt the best approach for growth.