Growth Hacking 101
By: Greg LenzFounder, Reverse Information LLC
What Is Growth Hacking?
"Acquiring and engaging users combining traditional marketing and analytical skills with product development skills."-Josh Elman Head of Growth at Twitter
"Growth hacking is acquiring, retaining, and monetizing users more effectively. A growth hacker is an individual who can, from end-to-end, collect data, ideate, plan, execute, and deploy the necessary tactics and strategies to hit goals."-Matt Humphrey VP of Merchandise Rearden Commerece
Growth Hacking Process...
Here's what you'll be looking at:
-Attention-Acquisition-Engagement-Retention-Referral
Think of a Door...
Attention
Attention
What channels do you have available?
-Social Media-SEO-Paid Search, Display, and Mobile-Retargeting-Inbound Marketing & Content Partnerships-Email-PR-Conferences and Teaching (Udemy & 37 Signals)
Acquisition
Acquisition
-Social Credibility-Content Marketing-Landing Pages-Ebooks, Whitepapers, Reports-Free Consultation/Analysis-Webinars-Free Trials-Drip Campaigns
Engagement
Either with your product or your users
Engagement
This is where VIRALITY happens
-Do you deliver a great experience? If not, why?-Observe power users and collect feedback-Iterate, Test, Measure, and Repeat-Identify the tipping point
Referral
You want this...
Not This
Referral
Much of this comes from the value of your product...however
-If your product is consumer facing, be DAMN sure it is sharable via social networks
-Instead of forms for ebooks, whitepapers, and webinars, enable "Pay With A Tweet" or a Facebook share
-Enterprise: Content marketing is a MUST. Make sure your happy clients can refer you by sharing an interesting blog post. (Speaking Engagements)
Retention
Awesome User Experience
What patterns do your power users have in common?
How to bring them back and guide their re-engagement:
-Email-Mobile Push-Display Retargeting (Adroll, Retargeter, PerfectAudience for Facebook)
Retention Example
A Growth Hackers Responsibilities
Test
Measure
Analyze
Growth Hacking Process
-Track: Determine what needs to be tracked-Understand: Look at data. Usage patterns.-Prioritize: Highest potential for growth-Design: Design features and flows-Build: Code and Deploy-Measure
REPEAT
Growth Hacker's Primary Goal
Steepen The Learning Curve
So turn this...
Into This...
Growth Hackers are not Growth Teams
Growth Hacker vs Growth Team
1976 NCAA Champion Indiana Hoosiers
The Difference
Growth Hacker
-Broad Skills-ASAP-Grey Areas-Guerilla Tactics
Growth Team
-Specialized Roles-Process-Focus on culture-Black and white
Growth Team
-Product Manager (Leader)-Designer-Developer-Data Scientist / Analytics Specialist-Copy Writer
Total transparency amongst the teamIdeas should come from everyone
2 Kinds of Growth Hackers
Winner
-Volatile-Runs through brick walls-Obsessed with meeting the goal
Zen
-Emotionless-Detached from outcome-Focuses on the process
What does a growth hacker do?● Run social media● A/B Testing● Design banner ads● Create a company’s branding or logo● Observe Users CONSTANTLY● Generates ideas for consumer value propositions● Builds landing pages● Design new signup flows● Generate weekly email campaigns● Add alt tags to images for a tiny SEO boost● Guest Blog Posting● Manage an Adwords Account
Growth Hacker Mindset
Ideate by intuition...BUT
● Data is everything● No sacred cows● Agnostic on method, religous on metric● ABT: Always Be Testing● Focus● Deliver user value ALWAYS
Categorize Your Users
-Super-High-Normal-Low
Put your focus on moving users into the next category
Path To Success Is 2 Steps
Know Your Goal
Find Leverage
Know Your Goal
Have one clearly stated measurable goal
-10% Increase in Conversion Rate?-10% Increase in Email Signups?-1 Whitepaper Download/Visitor?-7 Demos Scheduled/100 Visitors?-Doubling time on site?-2 Referrals/User?-20% Increase in order size?
Where are you getting that goal?
Is it an industry average?
An example: Lookcraft.com
Went from 10 to 50% conversion to email by redesigning their process
Lookcraft Homepage
Determining a Good Goal
-Spy on your competitors
-Talk to friends in the industry
-Monitor message boards (WarriorForum.com)
Find Your Points of Leverage
-Facebook (7 Friends)-Twitter (30 Followers)-AirBNB (Craigslist)-Paypal ($10)-LivingSocial (3 Friends Buy = Free)-Hotmail (PS. I Love You)-Enterprise (CRO, Content Marketing, Events, Conferences) Leads360.com
Advice to Growth Hackers
-Go from hunch to metrics-A/B Test everything-Early results are not always conclusive-Embrace failure (1/8 tests drive change)-Do a retrospective on each test-Optimize for revenue not conversions-Never stop pushing...but
Be patient
Growth Hacking Tools
Analytics:
-Google Analytics (Free)-Mixpanel-Kissmetrics-Visual Website Optimizer-Optimizely
Ad Spying
-Moat (Banners & Free)-WhatRunsWhere (Banners and Landing Pages)-Mixrank (Banners and Landing Pages)-Adbeat (Banners)-SocialAdNinja (Fbook Ads)-SEMRush (SEO & PPC)-SpyFu (SEO & PPC)-KeywordSpy (PPC)-iSpionage (PPC)
Cheap Banners, Fbook Ads, and Landing Pages
-Fiverr-Odesk-Elance-WarriorForums-99Designs
Cheap Ad Networks
-SiteScout (Banners)-ClickCertain (Banners)-BuySellAds (Banners)-BuyAds (Banners)-DirectCPV (PPV)-MediaTraffic (PPV)-TrafficVance (PPV)-Google, Yahoo, Bing, AOL (PPC)
Gathering Feedback
-Olark-UserTesting.com-EasyUsability.com-Survey Monkey-CrazyEgg
Landing Page Testing
-Unbounce-Instapage-LanderApp-Weebly (Free)-MaxInbound (Wordpress)-Premise (Wordpress)-OptimizePress (Wordpress)-Hubspot (Expensive but comprehensive)
Email Autoresponders
-Mailchimp (Free)-Aweber-GetResponse-Exact Target-iContact-VerticalResponse (Social, Email, and Survey)-Hubspot (Expensive but all inclusive)
Growth Hackers Indy Schedule
1) Display and CRO: Banners, LP's, and Copy2) Email Marketing3) Content Marketing & Social Media4) SEO: On page, Off page, & Linkbuilding6) Paid Search7) PPV & Affiliate Marketing
Actionable Advice...
Is there anything I can help you with?