As a small business owner, the only thing you should be looking for is ways to grow and increase your business objectives. The only way you can grow your business is either by investing money into your business or by finding alternatives, and this is where growth hacking comes in.
If you are not familiar with this term, that’s okay; it’s something relatively new. It’s been around for a few years now, first used in Silicon Valley, where they combined the word “hacking” with other terms like “Growth Marketing” or “Growth Hack.” It’s a strategy where several experiments are applied across marketing channels to identify the most efficient ways to grow your small business.
What is growth hacking?
Growth hacking is a field of marketing focused on the fast growth of a business. Here are a few definitions I found on the internet to help you understand it better:
- Wikipedia: Growth hacking is a subfield of marketing focused on the rapid growth of a company. It is referred to as both a process and a set of cross-disciplinary (digital) skills. The goal is to regularly conduct experiments, which can include A/B testing, that will lead to improving the customer journey, and replicate and scale the ideas that work and modify or abandon the ones that do not, before investing a lot of resources. It started in relation to early-stage startups that need rapid growth within a short time on tight budgets, and also reached bigger corporate companies.
- Semrush: Growth hacking is an experimental business strategy focused on achieving exponential growth in a short time frame.
- Marketing teams—especially those working on a tight budget—use growth-hacking techniques to rapidly generate brand awareness and grow their customer base.
- Optimizely: Growth hacking (also known as ‘growth marketing’) is the use of resource-light and cost-effective digital marketing tactics to help grow and retain an active user base, sell products and gain exposure. Think ‘hacking’ in terms of life hacks – those little shortcuts that make your life easier – rather than nasty bits of code that can ruin your computer and your life.
As you can see, understanding even the basics of growth hacking is important. This is your ticket to growth with minimal spending and achieving results faster than using traditional marketing strategies.
“A growth hacker is someone who has thrown out the playbook of traditional marketing and replaced it with only what is testable, trackable, and scalable.” ― Ryan Holiday, Entrepreneur
Here are some steps you can take to take advantage of growth marketing hacks for your business:
1- Fix / audit your website:
One of the most important steps you should always consider is fixing your online shop. Your website is the gateway, the front of your business, so it is crucial that it is well-designed and optimized, and that it speaks effectively on your behalf.
“Great web design without functionality is like a sports car with no engine.” – Paul Cookson
There are many ways you can do this. I recommend reaching out to one of our team members to help you with this (it’s free of charge). But if you are one of those handy types, here is a simple way:
First, as we always say, know who your customers are, what they like, and how their online behavior looks like. So, check your website for patterns and behavior. When they land on the homepage, observe where the majority are clicking, what content they like, and how they navigate, etc.
Once you have that information, the next step is to ensure your navigation is easy and your calls to action (like “Click here to buy”, “Find out more”, etc.) are clear, visible, and easily accessible. Also, make sure the links are working—you’d be surprised how many people don’t check this.
and lets not forget we are living in era that everything is in the palm of hand, so make sure your wesbite is mobile friendly first, and that it looks good on all mobile devices, as user experiance is the most important factore here, user come to your webiste and find the info related and accessable on his mobile device.
And there’s another thing many seem to miss (even the professionals): do not forget to set up tracking for your website, like Google Analytics or GA4, as the new version is known. This allows you to see the traffic on your website, how many visitors there are, where they land, etc. Plus, you must get listed on Google Search Console Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools. This will enable you to track your website’s performance on search engines and report on errors, if any.
And last but not least, make sure to always test and update your website. You never know when Google’s algorithm, your server, or the hosting company has an update that will affect your website. A/B testing is a big plus for everything, so make sure you keep testing every theory you have, from simple messages to shifting placements.
2- Social Media
Social media presents a highly influential platform, and it would be prudent for businesses to leverage its potential as a growth hacking tool.
“Social media is not a media. The key is to listen, engage, and build relationships.” – David Alston
It is one of the ways to reach your audience/customers and also nurture existing ones.
Social media can be a valuable tool for businesses looking to increase brand awareness and generate leads. It offers both awareness-based and performance-based marketing opportunities that can help businesses grow.
Choosing the platform: it is crucial to identify the most suitable platform to focus on. Given the number of social media platforms available, it is essential to ensure that efforts are directed towards the most appropriate one.
Creating the content: One of the ways to take full advantage of social media, of course, is creating valuable content. This could be in the form of blog posts, videos, images, or infographics.
Engaging with followers is one of our recommended growth strategies for gaining traction. I noticed that you responded to comments, answered questions, and created polls and surveys.
Paid campaigns: Social media is one of the excellent platforms to run targeted advertisements. It enables you to create a specific audience based on demographics and interests.
3- Email Marketing
Email marketing is a strong tool for growth hacking marketing strategy And a way to perfect this is to create a very strong email list.
a lists, of course, is a collection of email addresses from people who show interests in your business slash servic And they want to receive update news and offer from you.
A small list that wants exactly what you’re offering is better than a bigger list that isn’t committed.” -Ramsay Leimenstoll
Email marketing enables you to communicate directly with your audience, offer exclusive content or promotions, and share success stories. By providing valuable and insightful content, you can effectively nurture your client relationships.
And this way you can stay engaged. I’m connected with your audience that will increase the chances of first-time customers becoming returning ones.
Identify your audience. This applies to all other practices in the growth hacking strategy. Understand what your audience wants and prefers. Determine the type of content they would like to see in your email.
Creating a list should be your next step. You should begin by collecting addresses from your current clients. For new clients, there are several effective methods, such as offering free coupons, guides, or special discounts in exchange for their email addresses.
Sending emails. After collecting emails, it is important to send emails regularly, either by creating a weekly newsletter or sending offers and reminders twice a week. Always ensure that your emails are relevant.
Managing the list is another important practice for email marketing. It is advisable to keep your list clean by regularly removing unsubscribers and reminding inactive users to interact with your emails. Simultaneously, focus on growing your list.
Conclusion
For small business owners, adopting growth hacking strategies can significantly accelerate growth without the hefty expenses associated with traditional marketing. Key actions include optimizing website functionality, leveraging social media platforms for targeted engagement, and implementing robust email marketing campaigns. By continuously testing and refining these strategies, businesses can enhance their reach and effectiveness, ensuring sustained growth in a competitive market.
