Growth hacking strategies for startups
Growth hacking is a modern marketing approach that involves a variety of unorthodox tactics designed to achieve rapid growth in the shortest time possible.
The term “growth hacking” is synonymous with startups that exponentially grew from nothing to billions in valuation, including Uber, Slack, and Airbnb.
Uber applied a variety of growth hacks to get to where it’s at today. For example, it offered free rides to first-time users to encourage them to download the app and try it out risk-free. And since its services were far superior to other taxi services, most first-time users would end up becoming repeat customers.
Unlike the tradition marketing strategies, growth hacking has no boundaries. It has no formal guidelines and often involves experimenting different tactics to find one that’s most efficient and scalable.
Airbnb famously reverse-engineered the Craigslist website to enable it republish its property listings on the platform and gain access to millions of users. Craigslist at the time had no policies that prevented third-party apps from linking to its platform, therefore Airbnb was just exploiting a loophole. This article will go over 5 effective growth hacking strategies to help you rapidly scale your startup and boost your sales.
Related: Growth Hacking Tools: How to get a free website, domain, hosting, and emails
5 Growth hacks to scale your startup and achieve rapid growth
1. FOMO marketing
FOMO is an abbreviation for “fear of missing out”. In a marketing sense, it refers to a set of tactics that are designed to induce in consumers that fear, forcing them to make impulsive decisions.
Let’s say you’ve been contemplating upgrading your old smartphone with the latest iPhone. Just as you’re researching prices online, you suddenly see an ad saying that iPhones are available at a discounted price, however only for the next 24 hours. What do you think you’re going to do?
Most people will immediately click the ad and then proceed to order so they don’t miss out on the deal. FOMO marketing works because we are risk-averse creatures and would not want to risk losing out on great opportunities that might not come around again. Its underlying principle is simple: create an exclusive deal that expires in a short duration, and then aggressively market it to your target audience.
For example, if you’re selling tickets to an event, you can offer a free cocktail or an early bird discount only to the first X number of people to buy tickets within the next 48 hours. If you have a restaurant and you’re looking to increase your app downloads, you can offer a free dessert to people to place an order via the app – and then advertise the deal to your social media followers. That will get them to download the app so they don’t miss out on the deal. Here’s an article that covers the topic in greater detail.
2. Build an online omnipresence
Having an online omnipresence means being present and active on every platform where your target consumers are most likely to go search for you.
A strong online presence gives people confidence that you’re a legit business. It also helps you get in front of consumers right at that moment when they’re looking to buy.
Make sure that you have a website that’s been optimized to rank well on search engines for every keyword and phrase related to your products or services. You should also have pages on the major social media platforms, business listings on niche directories and marketplaces, etc. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about where they would go if they needed your products – and then have a presence there.
A lot of our decisions are influenced by ratings and reviews. Make sure that your business has an abundance of positive ratings and reviews – there’s no better way to display social proof. You can get reviews by simply asking for them from your customers. If you have a physical storefront or an office then it would be advisable to get a Google My Business page. Every time people visit your establishment, Google will ask them to submit a rating and review.
3. Give out freebies
Giving out free things is a fantastic way to lure people to try out your products or services. Uber still relies on this strategy by offering free rides to first-time users.
If you have confidence in the quality of your products or services then you shouldn’t be too concerned about the cost of the freebies, as it will get recouped later down the line. In Uber’s case, since its app is so much better than the traditional taxi services, almost everyone that tries it out once is likely to keep using it.
Some freebies you can offer your target customers include free trials or samples of your products, gift vouchers, discount coupons, t-shirts, mugs, etc.
4. Social media competitions
Doing social media competitions is one of the most powerful ways to get people to talk about your startup online. You can host competitions where people get a chance to win various rewards by simply sharing your photos or using your hashtags.
This strategy works great even if you have a relatively small social media following. For example, if you can get only 20 people with around 1,000 followers each to share your photo, it could be seen by up to 20,000 people from their networks. The value of publicity and social proof you’ll get from that will be worth much more than the cost of the prizes that you offer.
The secret to getting many people to participate in your competitions is simply offering attractive prizes. For example, if you have a restaurant, you can offer an entire 3-course meal as a reward instead of just a dessert. Don’t be cheap with the rewards. It will be worth it.
5. Get featured on popular publications
Getting featured in well-known publications is one of the most effective ways of building credibility and social proof for your startup.
Imagine if someone were to Google your name and the first thing they saw was an article about you on Forbes or Business Insider. Wouldn’t that have such a huge impact on their impression?
There are many ways you can find opportunities of getting featured in authority publications. The most straightforward is perhaps through sponsored articles, although it can be quite expensive. Some publications charge thousands of dollars just for a single post.
If you’re working with a tight budget then your next best option would be signing up to be a contributor on niche blogs and magazines. Contributors usually get a byline where they can briefly mention their business and link to its website and socials.
Another great way to find opportunities of being featured on authority sites is by responding to interview queries on HARO. HARO is a platform that’s used by journalists globally to find quotes and interviews for their stories. Whenever your quotes get published, the journalists usually show gratitude by mentioning your business and linking to its website.
