Growth Hacking
Growth hacking is a marketing methodology focused on rapid experimentation across marketing channels and product development to identify the most efficient ways to grow a business.
Growth hacking sits at the intersection of marketing, product development, and data analysis. Unlike traditional marketing that focuses on brand awareness and long-term campaigns, growth hacking prioritizes rapid, data-driven experimentation to find scalable growth channels as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Famous growth hacks include Dropbox's referral program (give free storage to both referrer and referee), Hotmail's 'Get your free email at Hotmail' signature in every outgoing email, and Airbnb's integration with Craigslist to reach apartment renters. These weren't lucky accidents, they were systematic experiments that found disproportionate returns.
In practice
- Dropbox grew from 100,000 to 4 million users in 15 months through their double-sided referral program, reducing their CAC from $388 (paid ads) to essentially $0
- A SaaS startup tested 20 growth experiments per month, found that in-app referrals drove 3x more qualified signups than paid ads, and shifted 60% of their budget accordingly
- An ed-tech company added a 'Share your certificate' feature after course completion, which drove 30% of new signups through social proof on LinkedIn
- A fintech app tested 5 different onboarding flows and found that letting users see a preview of the product before signup doubled activation rates
Not sure how this applies to you?
A senior engineer walks your site, your search presence and the way enquiries reach you, then writes down the three things worth fixing first. You keep the document either way.