For the people who are concerned with marketing, the term growth hacking creates confusion as it is closely linked with what traditionally marketers do. Growth hacking has recently become a buzz word and can easily be mistaken for something it is not.

Though there is elaborated knowledge available on the net regarding growth hacking, many seem to miss its distinctions when it comes to marketing. Here are highlighted some differences between growth hacking and traditional marketing that all small medium business owners should know.

 

Growth Hacker vs. Marketer

It is essential to learn how a growth hacker is different from marketer and the difference originates in the core of a person’s background.A marketer’s knowledge is based on how well informed he is about the data and technology while a growth hacker has a sound technical background to begin with.A marketer possesses scarce knowledge of technical terms and niches, could belong to an artistic or economic background and will most likely follow a traditional approach to formulate growth solutions. A growth hacker possesses dominant skills instead of having shallow knowledge about marketing techniques and follows a strictly analytical approach to figure out growth solutions.

Approach for Growth Solutions

A growth hacker follows an approach that targets the manufacturing of the product while a marketer targets at the sales of a product. A marketer understands the specifications of the products and then lays out a plan to target audience accordingly to create brand awareness. But a growth hacker intervenes at each step in order to develop a product which will automatically appeal to the audience just with slight efforts in marketing. So the role of a growth hacker is more intricately weaved in the production of a product or service than the usual marketers, which in turn provides them with a profound knowledge of what the service is about.

Marketing Channels

Apart from all the differences there are, growth hackers differ from marketers in the choice of marketing channels they choose. Since marketers are known for following traditional methods of marketing, they are likely to choose sources of paid advertising to promote their brand or products. Paid advertisements are a good way to steal the spotlight but they are definitely not cost effective when it comes to targeting a wide array of audience. Growth hackers usually opt for those channels that are very cost effective and mostly free. They try to include free promotional offers through their current customers to increase their customer pool using invitations vouchers etc.

Stipulated Processing

A marketer generally follows an unscheduled methodology to promote the brand name. It can be ad hoc or even a pre-formulated plan from start to finish. This technique has its own limitations as it is rigid and unyielding mostly because the outputs of one step are not incorporated for the functioning of the next step. Marketers are not concerned with analytics in their approach. On the other hand, growth hackers make analytics as the foundation of their growth plan. They follow a flexible funnel concept where each step greatly affects the next one in the funnel. They build brand reputation slowly but steadily.

The Bottom Line

Though the terms marketing and growth hacking differ in a manner, both are important when it comes to business outline. Growth hackers follow a comprehensive approach to achieve business targets involving digital marketing and sales as well. Their technical background assists them in achieving a deep rooted understanding of the entire process and the product.

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