Summary
Growth hacking means testing practical changes to bring in or keep customers. This guide shares seven ideas. Try reusing content, asking for referrals, or running a social contest. You can also sort email readers into groups or partner with another business. Other options are to improve an app’s store listing or show ads to past visitors. Test one idea at a time and track the result before adding another.
Introduction
These seven ideas are part of our complete guide to business growth and marketing. Pick one to try, then track whether it helps your business.
1. Content maximization
Reuse a useful blog post in another format. Record it as a podcast, turn it into a video tutorial, or make an infographic.
2. Referral programs
A referral program gives customers a reason to recommend your product. Drew Houston’s 2010 presentation says Dropbox grew from 100,000 to 4 million users. That growth took 15 months. The presentation also reported that referrals brought in 35% of daily signups. Treat this as a historical example, not a result every program should expect.
3. Social media contests
Invite people to enter a contest on social media. Set a clear goal, then track how many people take part and how many see the post.
4. Email list personalization
Sort email readers by their interests or past activity, then write a message for each group. Mailchimp reported results from 11,000 campaigns. Emails sent to groups had 100.95% higher click rates than emails sent without groups. They also had 14.31% higher open rates. Click rate is the share of readers who clicked. Open rate is the share who opened the email.
5. Partnership marketing
Look for a business that serves a similar audience but offers a different product. A partnership can help each business reach the other’s customers. Both can share useful content with those customers.
6. App store optimization
App Store Optimization (ASO) means making an app easier to find in the store and showing people what it does. Use relevant search terms and clear screenshots that show the app’s main purpose.
7. Retargeting ads
Retargeting ads reach people who visited your site but did not buy. Choose which past visitors will see the ads and set a budget. Track clicks and how often people see the ads. These ads can remind visitors about a product, but they cannot guarantee a sale. See how this fits into a sales funnel.
Our Recommended Reading
We recommend “Hacking Growth” by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown. The book shares practical growth strategies from their work.
The book explains how to turn business goals into clear results. Ellis and Brown draw on years of experience in Silicon Valley to make a toolkit readers can use. The toolkit helps marketers, entrepreneurs, and managers plan for steady growth. It also shows how to control costs and use data to guide decisions.
One reviewer wrote, “If you think Growth Hacking is marketing, then you need to read this book.” A second reviewer praised the book’s advice on where to focus growth. They wrote, “If you need Growth at your company but aren’t sure if you should focus on existing customers, new products, new customers, etc., you need to read this book.”
Get your copy of “Hacking Growth” with the button below.
Conclusion
Choose a tactic that fits your main business problem. Decide how you’ll measure the result before you begin. If you work alone, see our guide to business growth hacks for solopreneurs. It offers ideas that fit your limited time and budget.
Further Reading and Resources
More on these tactics:
- OptinMonster’s Growth Hacking Examples
- Single Grain on Content Maximization
- Forbes on Creative Ways to Maximize Content
- ReferralCandy’s Blog on Referral Programs
- Sprout Social on Social Media Contests
- Klaviyo’s Blog on Email List Personalization
- Forbes on Creative Ways to Use Partnerships
Related reading
- Business Growth and Marketing: The Complete Guide and Hub
- Unlock 300% Growth: 5 Strategies Top CEOs Don’t Want You to Know
- Why Customer Experience is Your Competitive Edge: Insights from Forbes, SuperOffice CRM, REVE Chat, and Zappos
- Super Bowl LIX’s $500M Playbook: Business Lessons You Can’t Afford to Miss
