The term Growth Hacking is becoming more and more fashionable.. They are heard on topics related to digital marketing, especially in the case of startups. But what is Growth Hacking?
If you are dedicated to marketing and want to stay up to date with the latest developments, this concept interests you. In this article we are going to give you the keys so that you can understand what it refers to and how you could be one of the pioneers in providing the service in Spain. Shall we start?
What is Growth Hacking?
A quick and easy to understand definition of Growth Hacking is that it refers to a methodology that seeks to increase users or income in the easiest way possible, spending the minimum in money and effort.
If we break down the word and break down the meaning, we will realize that what we have said previously has a lot to do with it. Growth means growth and virality, while Hacking is related to hacking. Thus, we could say that it is about “growth hacking” to achieve better results without having to invest so much.
And before you ask yourself, no, it does not mean that illegal techniques are used or that it may result in a penalty from Google or from users, customers, sales... In reality, The goal is to grow as quickly as possible and with as little money as possible. (and also time and effort).
What you see gives you an idea of the type of clients who may be most interested: those companies that are small, do not have the financial, personal, time or effort capacity to grow their business and need someone who, using techniques and adequate tools, can make it grow.
The origin of the term Growth Hacking
The term Growth Hacking is relatively modern. In fact, It is said that the first time it was minted was in 2010, by Sean Ellis.
And although at first it was focused on startups, the truth is that now it is one of the services most sought after by small, medium and large companies.
In fact, many jobs have been created related to this work.
What does a Growth Hacking professional do?
With what we have seen so far You will be able to get an idea of the objective you have as a Growth Hacking professional.. You have to be a specialist in business growth.
And what does this imply?
A growth hacker, which would be the term for these professionals, is responsible for redefining a company's product or service. And also to change its distribution. So that? It seeks to get the maximum number of people but using the minimum amount of effort. (time and money.
When redefining the product or service, what they do is analyze what the product or service has (the characteristics it has) and look for those that can generate greater growth. That is what they use to distribute in the channels and thus get a lot for little.
Among the qualities of a growth hacker, he must have some important ones such as:
Be analytical
And we could say that as objective as possible. The job consists of being very conscientious when analyzing the product or service to provide the best strategy for growth. And if you don't do a good analysis, no matter how much you want, you can't find what is going to really work.
Be creative
Sometimes a product or service is the same as the competition, but if it is sold in a different way, it attracts more attention. I give you an example: imagine two dolls; One has been on the market for years and although it is maintained, it does not seem to be growing. Another has just been launched and is characterized by teaching girls not to have to be the typical 90-60-90 model and to be themselves, trust them...
The day of its launch it is a brutal success. And that affects the sales of the first doll.
What will the competitor do? Get a new doll. For example, with a new hat. This is creative, even if it is just another accessory. But since it has been girls' favorite doll for many years, the fact of releasing something new makes them return to it.
This example, which in case it sounds familiar to you, is from The Simpsons, gives you an idea of creativity on two fronts: a new company and an already consolidated one that only has to change something to continue maintaining sales.
Be curious
We continue with the qualities of a Growth Hacking professional and, obviously, curiosity is one of the strong points. Because we are not only talking about being curious about learning many things; but in apply techniques, study others, learn them... to see which ones you can get a better result for your clients.
How Growth Hacking works
Imagine that you have a company and You want to hire a Growth Hacking professional. However, you don't really know how she works. Well then. When someone agrees to work for a company as a growth professional, their work is divided into several phases:
Analysis of the product or service
The first thing you need is to know the product or service in depth.. It is also possible that it requires a minimum of knowledge of the company, resources, workers... to get a better idea of how it works.
But in reality it is the product or service that matters most to you because you must know all the features it has.
Likewise, this analysis is also comparative with other products or services in the market where it operates. This way You can know what differentiates them and find the key to what to enhance.
Establish the strategy to follow
Once the analysis has been carried out and conclusions have been drawn, The growth hacker develops a strategy to follow to maximize profit that will be obtained with the minimum possible budget.
Obviously, this strategy will be based on techniques that will be applied. But they don't have to always be successful. This work implies that some strategies are given but we have to see if they work (trial and error).
If it does go well, then you move on to the next phase. But if not, it is analyzed again and tested with other tools until the best possible one is found.
Strengthen the strategy and go viral
Once you know that the roadmap is appropriate, you have to take it to the maximum and that means promoting it and making it viral to achieve the best results.
Loyalty
Although many companies stop in the previous phase, those that continue move on to the next phase, which is to maintain the success they have. And for this, They use techniques to build customer loyalty and to improve the functionalities they provide.
Its objective? Get them to not only be customers who buy in a store; but rather that they see that store as the best when it comes to buying and they always opt for it.
Is it clear to you now what Growth Hacking is?