3 Strategies for Rapid Startup Growth

To the uninitiated, the expression “growth hacking” may appear to be a mere catch phrase or marketing slogan. But the truth is that term actually refers to a well-defined and time-tested strategy for driving startup businesses to success. The formal definition, per Wikipedia, is “a process of rapid experimentation across marketing channels and product development to identify the most efficient ways to grow a business.”

In other words, growth hacking is an attempt to convert successful startup launches into a science, rather than relying on the slow and oftentimes painful ordeal of trial and error that has plagued new companies for generations.

There are many different ways of experimenting with growth hacking — certainly more than can be contained in one brief article. However, for the purpose of inspiring our audience and piquing interest in the topic, here are a few examples of strategies that you may wish to pursue.

Social Media Campaigns.

Social media may very well be the ideal marketing channel for small companies — after all, the costs are truly minimal. Even the most budget-constrained organizations can hypothetically carry out a content marketing campaign without spending a dime, for example. And companies with the capability of spending on advertising can set rigid caps on cost all while targeting their audiences with the utmost precision and efficiency.

There are many ways of applying the concept of growth hacking to your social media marketing campaign; here are just a few quick examples:

• Testing whether serious content garners more engagement than light hearted content.
• Conducting cost/benefit analysis of creating organic content versus curating relevant content from other organizations in the industry.
• Comparing the final ROI on advertising campaigns designed with differing parameters for the target audience.

Product Engineering

Young companies oftentimes find themselves in a uniquely advantageous position from which to experiment with product variations as a method of growth hacking. After all, in the conceptual stages of development, many organizations spend significant amounts of time and resources refining multiple prototypes before settling on a final version of their products and services.

Utilizing a growth hacking model, businesses would allow market-based results to determine which versions of which products/services to keep offering and developing, and which to discontinue. It does bear pointing out that this strategy can generate an even greater feeling of uncertainty and instability during those early days of company launch — but for business owners with the fortitude (and the guidance) to weather such storms, the results can be truly inspiring.

Traditional Word-of-Mouth Marketing

No matter how influential of a voice you may manage to become in your industry, your potential customers will always trust the opinions of their families and friends more than the opinions expressed in marketing campaigns. This is why turning your existing clients into company promoters is one of the best marketing strategies in existence.

Of course, as powerful as this notion may be in theory, actually convincing people to put their names on the line and promote you can be tricky. Offering a worthwhile incentive and a worthwhile product constitute the necessary foundation for anyone hoping to turn this concept into reality — but a memorable marketing message and a user-friendly online presence are also very important.

For more info on growth hacking and successful company launches, visit Strat IQ Consulting online today!