17 Growth Hacking Strategies for Startups that Guarantee Success
Growth hacking is a method of determining the most effective ways to grow a business through testing. It’s about rapidly experimenting with different marketing tactics, advertising efforts, web design decisions, data, and analytics to quickly convert leads and generate sales.
To reach your objectives, as a growth hacker you may employ a variety of techniques, including content marketing, viral marketing, email marketing, SEO, and A/B testing. Here are 17 growth hacking strategies that expand your horizon and boost your profits:
Don’t be afraid to partner up: Partnerships are the unacknowledged heroes of the growth hacking world. To stand out as a startup, you’ll need to collaborate with different renowned brands. Some of your potential partners are already market leaders; they have a database of your targeted customers. You need to find a business that complements your own; for instance, if you sell homemade baby food, you could partner with a business that sells baby accessories.
Conduct constant A/B testing: If something isn’t working, you won’t know why until you test it against a variation. A/B Testing, also known as Split Testing, is a proven method of comparing two versions of a webpage, Ad, or app against each other to determine which one performs better. It allows you to get to the truth of what content and marketing your audience wants to see.
Leverage adjacent markets: People often confuse the concept of adjacent marketing with white space opportunity. While white space opportunity is about creating a new market for your existing product, the adjacent marketing uses your skill and capability to create more sales in your existing channel.
Follow your biggest competitors & learn from them: Competitors are the most reliable source of information about the market and the value proposition. Enhance your business’s performance by learning from your competitor’s weaknesses. They serve as regular reminders that you should always be on top of your game.
Entice new customers with something ‘Free’: Freebies are the deals that no one can refuse; they have been proven to get people interested in your brand, and fast. A well-advertised social media giveaway is one option; you need to spread it in as many channels as possible to garner participation.
Turn existing customers into brand advocates: The first hundred or so customers that you acquire are the most important ones. You can climb the ladder of success by showing them appreciation and loyalty. And once you have that first group of customers, it’s time you turn them into brand advocates.
Be pro early bird: The early bird should always be rewarded. Benefitting your initial customers is the rule of thumb, and it never, ever fails. Remember, keeping customers is as important as making new ones.
Focus on superior customer service: Unrivalled customer service is a memorable experience that can be easily shared on social media. In fact, more than 80% of consumers will pay more money per product or service for a superior experience in customer relations. Since first impressions are very important, you want your business to be recognized as providing an excellent experience right from the start.
Appear larger online: Even the smallest business can appear much larger on the web. You don’t have to lie to attract consumers or investors, but you may need to be creative about how you present yourself. For instance, an impressive website design and highly detailed company information may help customers feel at ease.
Leverage social media & influencer marketing to create a hype & follow trends: Your startup can’t bloom if people don’t even know about it. Social media has become the primary platform to create awareness about your brand. Through social channels, you can introduce your brand, interact with your audience directly, get their feedback, communicate with your industry influencers, understand your competitors, and so on. This gives you the opportunity to build a community around your brand.
Leverage incentive-based marketing: Incentive-based marketing is when you offer someone a reason to help you market the business. For example, affiliates will help you sell your products on their own websites for a small percentage of the income. Essentially, you’re putting the marketing process in the hands of others to boost your business. This can be more cost-effective for your startup as some incentives may be less expensive than investing in advertising, and you’ll reach a wider audience who may not know you exist otherwise.
Leverage landing pages & email marketing: Email marketing is an effective way to acquire, engage and retain users for your business. You can create a hype about your products or services even before launch by sending attractive emails to your potential audience. Leveraging landing pages in your campaigns offers you a major edge over your competitors. You may not have control over your competitors’ budget or impression share, but you can leverage the traffic you’re getting from your email campaigns (and elsewhere) by employing a deliberate and consistent landing page strategy.
Leverage referral marketing: It’s one of the most popular growth hacking strategies that many startups use. Once customers turn into your brand ambassadors, you can encourage them to share your business with family and friends and offer them a decent amount of credit.
Use call to actions: Don’t underestimate the value of a call to action. This is when you prompt users to take action based on your content. For instance, ending a post with “Click here to subscribe today” has potential to increase sales and leads.
Comment on blogs: Sometimes you can earn a bit of recognition by replying to a blog you read. Find a blog that is related to your business to improve customer interaction. If you’re unable to supply a link to your website from the comment section, make sure to add your business to your name when commenting.
Use clients’ feedback to improve: If you can tap into what interests your audience, you will get a flood of appreciation for your products or services. The best strategy to improve the quality of your offering is to get reviews from real users.
Leverage Q&A sites like Quora & Reddit: The excessive use of social media marketing has created a hole in the consumer's mind; they often get confused and can't decide in the crowd of massive advertisements. Sites like Quora and Reddit help you introduce your business in an innovative way; you can search for queries related to your business and join the conversation, explaining in detail how your products or services serve their needs.
While technology today puts engaging forms of marketing in the hands of virtually anyone, growth hacking doesn’t come easily or naturally to everyone. To get a jump start, take a look at the list I provided above and discover the best growth hacks for your business.
Once you have a few strategies mapped out, start implementing them; don’t second-guess yourself. Though some of your growth hacking strategies will fail, that’s okay; stop and move immediately to the next thing. That’s how a growth hacker’s mindset works.
