Growth hacking is a term generally used with marketing. The difference lies with the fact that marketing is an umbrella term that covers a number of activities that aren’t of much concern at the early stages of startups. Growth hacking according to the inventor of the term, Sean Collins, is completely focused on growth because that is the first thing startups need.

Growth hacking uses some creative and analytical techniques along with social metrics to market products. Now the products that are being sold are no longer physical goods. The era of internet has replaced them with software products, hence the marketing strategies can’t continue to be the traditional ones either. There has been a transition in ways of connecting with friends, ordering food, watching movies etc.

Everything has a convenient online replacement be it Facebook, YouTube or other such apps. This does not mean that we totally avoid the traditional marketing strategies. The goal is to gather all the information that you can, to study how the traffic moves about and think of some cost effective and innovative alternatives to the traditional tactics. Following are some of the objectives that you need to keep in mind if you want to apply growth hacking strategies for your business:

• Be innovative: Think of ways which are often overlooked by others, you can’t expect growth if you follow the same traditional tactics everyone else is following. A growth hacker is required to be inventive and curious, they look out for new ways and platforms to present their content to people.
• Take immediate actions: When your focus is on continuous growth, it is absolutely necessary that you make your decisions quickly. Though it is important to plan strategically, you have to use the best of your skills in quick and wise thinking.
• Set achievable goals: At first you’ll need to narrow down your focus to one particular goal that is necessary to achieve the greater ones. This will give direction to your strategies and enable you to track your success so that you can uncover your potential.
• Utilize your strengths: Look out for strengths that can produce greater impacts if used wisely. Think of ways to use those strengths in the right direction for optimal results.
• Be competitive: Growth hackers are required to be ambitious. Do not hesitate to outperform the competition. Your attitude matters. Believe in yourself and your big dreams if you want to see them come true.
• Be tech savvy: The word growth hacker itself contains the word “hacker” which means that person is required to have a technical background. It would definitely be advantageous if you happen to have knowledge about digital marketing basics like search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization and social media. Be the first to try new technologies, products and experiment with them. There might be situations when you’ll be facing some challenging issues trying to develop a software implementation of a service. It would require a level of coding expertise to solve the problems that are being encountered for the first time
• Take advantage of system flaws: That’s what hackers do, they look for holes in the current system so that they could utilize them to their benefit. Look for flaws in the current system so that you can penetrate the marketplace with your unique solution.

The Bottom Line

• Think of innovative ways to distribute content rather than the obvious ones.
• Make quick decisions to capitalize growth opportunities.
• Narrow down your focus to some actionable targets.
• Leverage your strengths in the right way for maximum impact.
• Be competitive and confident.
• Gain as much knowledge as you can about digital marketing techniques and sharpen your technical skills.
• Look for defects in the current system and use them to your advantage.

Read Also: Growth hacks for speedy improvements