Growth hacking, like most revolutionary ideas, was born out of the need for young entrepreneurs to maximize sales of products or services with a limited budget and huge appetite for success. Thanks to new techniques and creative solutions, he found his wide application in the startup environment.

What is growth hacking?

In Poland, there are still few internet marketing professionals using the term growth hacking. Growth hacking begins where marketing tactics are met with an established product development strategy. Sean Ellis first used the term in 2010, and it was promoted by Andrew Chen. The term mainly refers to optimizing actions for almost every goal on the internet, i.e. maximizing shopping conversions, building reach, increasing the number of clicks or registering accounts. Growth hacking is distinguished by the exceptional effectiveness of techniques that result in an increase in e-commerce rates and the acquisition of more customers. Of course, it does not presuppose the exclusion of paid advertising, but strongly prefers methods that require minimal cost of acquiring a customer. And what competences should a growth hacker have? First, it should move fluently in the IT environment. Secondly, have a well-developed marketing sense.

Source: http://yongfook.com/actionable-growth-hacking-tactics.html

Channels and tools for growth hacking

In order to achieve the goal, i.e. the most common increase in sales, all channels and tools within the internet are used, which allow you to reach the recipient easily and quickly. This can result in increased web page access, increased conversions, or improved ecommerce rate. The growth hacking technique is simply to optimize and intensify the activities carried out on the network. It works well for social media activities when we want to increase the number of registered accounts. Innovative and relatively cheap solutions are very often used, such as viral marketing or more traditional ones like email marketing.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/BryanFerguson/growth-hacking-10-keys-checklist

How to use growth hacking in your own company?

Growth hacking aims to develop your own e-business in the simplest and most effective ways. Within the internet, the best example is to speed up the operation of a website. If we want to keep a potential customer on the site and convince them to buy and – importantly – keep them with the brand for longer, we need to take the right steps. Following the blow, any customer can become a growth hacker if we encourage them to recommend their services to our client’s or potential client’s friends accordingly. This can work on the principle of giving away bonuses in the form of discounts or giveaways for each command.

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Growth hacking is used in e-mail marketing, where we maintain the customer’s interest in regular but inchable emails reminding us of the offer. It is very effective to use the available information about users, thanks to which we have a chance to personalize the advertising message. We will collect e-mail addresses informing the recipient about the possibility of subscription. Ideally, the information will be well exposed and on popular subpages. It is worth – in the form of an incentive – to give users a discount or free of charge in exchange for a subscription.

An important aspect of growth hacking is finding customers exactly where they are. From the data about them you can deduce which social channels they use and which services may be of interest to them. With such knowledge, you can better construct the advertising message and adapt the offer to potential customers.

Nothing attracts new customers like the recommendation of current users. Therefore, it is worth bragging about their opinions, certificates or awards. In addition, the internet marketing specialist will attract new users by offering bonuses, giveaways, discounts on first purchases. If such a customer becomes faithful to the brand and indues it to his friends, we will achieve the expected goals.

Misconceptions and archaic thinking about marketing lead to companies not taking enough opportunities to grow. Why don’t they see this marazm? Can printing several thousand leaflets per month and the belief that a good website with an expert blog is an unnecessary investment affect the unprofitability of the company? Certainly not always. However, there are brands and industries that, thanks to thoughtful online activities and attractive campaigns (not necessarily costing a dozen or tens of thousands) have increased their popularity and developed their business.

Here is a list of 9 myths that need to be debunked in order for companies to grow and invest in internet marketing without fear.

MYTH 1: Nothing replaces flyers

A readable page and blog certainly won’t land crushed in the trash… According to IMedia, as many as 60% of consumers perceive the brand more favorably through content marketing (Source). Garbage cans filled with crushed leaflets, scary at the entrances to the subway, shops, underground passages, shopping center are symbols of business ignorance, fear or ignorance. Business development through good, valuable, useful content is an inexpensive activity that should be implemented in a thoughtful, continuous way. What are the benefits of good content? Here are a few of them:

• Additional traffic to the site – often affects the increase in sales of products;
• Higher position of the website in Google search – unique content is appreciated by the search engine. Their high search position makes it easier for potential customers to reach the company’s website after entering phrases of interest to them;
• The position of advisor, expert, expert – good, qualitative content will make a brand or company perceived as an expert in its field. It is clear that we are more willing to trust experts who will prove to us that they know what they are doing.
• Viral marketing, or “about us without us” – good content, also visually attractive network users are happy to recommend to others: they like, share, share on social media. What does this mean for your business? The news about it is carried naturally, without sponsored posts, printing thousands more leaflets …

MYTH 2: Only young people use the internet

In the age group 45-54 there are 60% of internet users, that is, more than half of people of this age. What does this mean for brands and businesses that live in the belief that their target audience isn’t using the network? They lose a huge chance to reach potential stakeholders. Moreover, without investing in the activities of younger users, they exclude the possibility of “educating” themselves customers.

Source: http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2015/K_090_15.PDF

MIT 3: AdWords doesn’t guarantee visits

As long as you use spoofers, honest professionals pay for clicks. How the customer behaves depends entirely on the content and messages present on our website.

MIT 4: Users treat newsletters like spam

Only on condition that they receive them too often. However, in reality email marketing is one of the highest rate of return communication channels – for example, in the UK, the profit is an average of £38 out of one pound spent! (IContact).

MIT 5: Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat are the tune of the future

Is it really worth underestimating the number of users of these services in Poland? Accordingly: 2.7 million, 2.3 million, 1.5 million real users (WhySoSocial) can become potential customers. Thanks to competitions, graphics, photos, snaps, we build user engagement, educate loyal fans of the brand and ultimately increase sales.

MIT 6: Facebook and Google+ don’t sell

Source: http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/b2c-and-b2b-content-marketing-trends-compared-37444/

True, they are not direct sales tools, but the fact that Facebook is the most widely used communication tool in the B2C channel is hard to ignore. Check out how to communicate on Facebook here.

MIT 7: If a site has a high position on Google, SEO is not necessary

Are you sure the competition does not position its side too? Achieving a high position in the search engine does not mean that you should rest on your laurels with certainty that this item is already written to the company forever or at least for a very long time.
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MYTH 8: The Internet will accept everything

The network is not currently an advertising pole, and internet users will not endure everything. On the contrary , the bug can cost a lot, and the image crisis on the net is often a fire that is difficult to put out. It is therefore worth acting prudently and not implementing the crisis plan.

MIT 9: Success equals the end of marketing efforts

Marketing activities, like PR, do not last a week, a month or even a year. These are long-term, controlled steps that need to be checked, improved, changed. Successes in terms of increased search engine position, increased brand awareness, increased sales and product interest will not continue indefinitely if we abandon the actions taken. The success of marketing activities lies, among other things, in their regularity. Therefore, it is worth optimizing your website through Growth Hacking.