Growth hacking was initially used to describe short-term, quick, and inventive growth strategies. Today, however, growth hacking and growth hacker have much broader meanings.
Growth hacking focuses on innovative, bold marketing strategies to quickly and inexpensively gain new users for the brand's products or services.
A growth hacker is a person who understands how the strategies in question are carried out - and the mechanisms behind them.
In short, a growth hacker is a person who knows how to apply data and analytics creatively and curiously in order to achieve rapid growth in a short period of time.
However, a growth hacker is much more than that - and has three very distinct traits.
This blog post examines the three most important characteristics of a growth hacker, who is a growth hacker, and what they do.
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Growth hacker is a relatively new term. It has been claimed that even in the "Mecca" of growth hacking, Silicon Valley, there are only a few hundred growth hackers.
However, it has become clear that all growth hackers have certain things in common.
A growth hacker knows how to find inventive and cost-effective alternatives to traditional marketing methods. Instead of conventional, often expensive, marketing methods, a growth hacker uses digital channels, social media, and various precisely targeted campaigns to high effect.
The characteristics of a growth hacker include understanding and utilizing data and analytics, creativity, and curiosity. A growth hacker wants to constantly learn new things and is endlessly curious about the reasons behind a good customer experience.
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Unlike, for example, an engineer, a growth hacker usually does not have requirements for specific education or skills.
🕵️ Growth hacking is more of a way of thinking than a distinct degree or set of knowledge.
A growth hacker is a combination of a marketer and an analyst. He aims to answer the question "How do I get customers for my product?", using A/B tests, data analytics, and conversion rate optimization.
This is a bit simplified because a growth hacker also tries to find new ways of doing things. He has a comprehensive set of tools, a vivid imagination, and a passion for doing things differently.
Skills for growth hacking are learned by doing, usually because it's what the situation demands, as is often the case in startup companies.
But the motivation for learning comes from the passion for data analytics, creativity, and curiosity. These things always drive the growth hacker forward.
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Growth hacking is not all about data analytics, creativity, and curiosity: What gets a growth hacker excited is constantly learning something new.
However, these three characteristics always come up when describing a growth hacker.
Although the goal of growth hacking is rapid, often viral growth, its always based on the persistent utilization of data and analytics.
Results are monitored, and plans are constantly refined based on A/B testing. Continuous testing and quick reaction are at the heart of the growth hacking operation.
Therefore, growth hackers have an analytical approach to growth and a passion for tracking growth metrics.
These metrics can be anything from conversion rates to the number of new newsletter subscribers.
However, growth hackers do not use the data only as a reporting mechanism. Data and analytics provide a basis for constantly developing better products and services.
Using data and analytics alone is not enough. They must be combined with a creative way of thinking and doing.
A growth hacker relies on data but knows how to use it creatively to acquire and retain customers.
"Growth hacking is both an art and a science," says Michael Birch, founder of Bebo, one of the first growth hackers.
A growth hacker is a mix of an analytical and a creative person. Creativity helps to envision the best product for the customer, and the analytical side streamlines processes.
Driven by data and metrics, growth hackers are creative problem solvers, even “psychologists”: They understand their customers' mindsets and pain points and solve problems in innovative ways.
Growth hackers are endlessly curious and have a constant desire to learn. The growth hacker is interested in customer behavior, specifically online.
A growth hacker is fascinated by how a person visiting a website is converted into a customer and how that customer gets committed to the brand.
Illogically, a growth hacker doesn't necessarily care about growth in and of itself, but seeks to understand the reasons behind the growth.
This curiosity leads to a deep understanding of a great user experience.
A growth hacker is also never done. He knows that new growth is always achievable.
As a good example, Facebook has more than 2 billion users - but also a team focused solely on growth.
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Growth hacking was critical in growing Airbnb's popularity and customer base in the early days.
Airbnb used Craigslist (The U.S. equivalent of tori.fi or "yellow pages") to achieve growth, allowing them to get website visitors quickly and with little effort.
How?
Every time AirBnB saw a new rental ad in their region on Craigslist, they would email the apartment owner and ask if they would like to list their home on Airbnb.
Because of this, the owner often spread the word about this new booking platform.
Airbnb then wrote a script that does the same thing automatically.
It might not sound very convenient or "hacking" at first, but the point is that they understood the significance of this method by doing the work manually first. As any great growth hacker understands, the data demonstrated an enormous demand for the service.
They also understood that the key to success would be to get customers to do the work for them.
After that, Airbnb sought to scale the process to a large scale through automation.
Airbnb added a feature that allowed customers to copy their listing directly to Craigslist with the click of a button. This combined the visibility from Craigslist with AirBnB rental and payment systems seamlessly.
Airbnb continues to grow today. The website and user interface are optimized, new features, products, and services are added, and new markets are opened.
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A growth hacker strives for innovative, bold marketing measures, the goal of which is to quickly and inexpensively get a lot of new users for the company's products or services.
Growth hacking is more of a mindset than a specific degree or collection of knowledge.
In short, a growth hacker is a person who knows how to apply data and analytics creatively and curiously, in order to achieve rapid growth in a short period of time.
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