What Do You Think of Growth Hacking?

Obviously, growth hacking is nothing new and has been used by some big names (you could argue it was the driving force behind Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora, ect.'s beginning boost of users).

But it seems to be the buzz word of the moment, and the hype is getting immense the last few months. I can't seem to stop hearing my professional contacts talking about it, and a few of my clients have asked about it recently.

What is your opinion on the use of growth hacking in modern online marketing? Do you think it is better for new startups, or can more established companies/sites find their own "hack" to accelerate their growth?

 

The way I see it, as long as growth hacking doesn't happen artificially (through spam, creating numerous FB pages or buying some cheap traffic) it can actually benefit a business tremendously. The goal of growth hacking should be creating a faithful customer/membership base that will be passionate about your business or services.

 

i dont see the added value of growth hacking

 

I have read several definitions of Growth Hacking and still do not understand how it is that "amazingly different" than what good marketing companies have done for decades.

• Define your market.
• Find out what their hot-buttons, desires, wants, and needs are.
• Discover where they hang-out, how they communicate, and who influences them.
• Use that data creatively to put yourself in front of your audience.
• Seek to get the attention of people with major influence on your audience.
• Check every form of communication that might work with your audience and determine the most effective ones.

It appears to me the term has been coined more for the purpose of understanding the strategic ways new startups like Google, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc...have managed to permeate culture without using traditional marketing methods. They still went through the steps above, they just came up with new answers due to changing technology that was influencing changes in society.
Or maybe I'm wet behind the ears and don't really understand...if so, please direct me to something that will open my eyes.

 

I think it has been redefined recently to express a 'magic bullet' scenario. The idea that one amazing idea will magically boost user growth to a huge degree, and all people have to do is find their own secret trick to get the same results.

That's the danger of the buzzword in itself. You're right in saying that the methodology of marketing haven't changed, but the expectations have and are now more unrealistic than they were before now.

 

I like the term growth hacking. It's good marketing. It's a way to take something that has been done for ages, re-branding it as something new and exciting, and then running with it.

Like others have said, many of the ideas and questions are the same in terms of marketing as they have always been. The tools and resources change all the time.

Growth hacking is the search for the new golden grail. It's applying all the fundamentals of marketing to the ever changing landscape and trying to be the first one to discover the next technique or combination of tools to hit-it-big.

It's fun! Just remember, as others have mentioned, never lose sight of the main objective. It doesn't matter how many people you drive to your website if you can't get any of them to come-back. Growth hacking in combination with community building is the key to success. Otherwise all that growth is temporary.

 

Hey!
Growth hacking is the search for the new golden grail. It's applying all the fundamentals of marketing to the ever changing landscape and trying to be the first one to discover the next technique or combination of tools to hit-it-big.