From developing a growth hacking funnel to implementing a way to get visitors with your growth hacking tactics, the entire idea of growth hacking is pretty fun.
In fact, some might argue that growth hacking is simply a cheaper, more creative way of what some would have called marketing a few decades ago.
Growth hacking isn't reserved for one particular type of business, and it can work very well for eCommerce businesses. There are plenty of eCommerce stores looking for unique ways to get the word out about their products.
Take a look at Airbnb. This is one of the best examples of growth hacking you can find since it involves a currently large company earlier in its life, along with some cool tactics that didn’t cost much money.
Airbnb was tasked with trying to get more people to list their apartments on the site. However, they couldn’t convince many users because, at the time, the site reputation was pretty low. They were stuck in a tough spot because they needed more users to get more users. It turns out, some of the marketers went straight to Craigslist. Initially, they started posting ads to get more people who wanted to list their housing or stay in an apartment. After that, they famously integrated with Craigslist to make this happen almost automatically.
This is just one example of why online stores and markets should embrace the idea of growth hacking. The evidence is there that a site with potential like Airbnb can find great methods for gaining users through creative means.
Growth hacking can teach you how to find customers and engage with them
Looking at the Airbnb example, we talked about above, it’s clear that potential customers frequent certain websites. The tough part is figuring out where exactly they are. For example, if you run an online shoe store for young men, going to a forum focused on women’s shoes is obviously not your spot. The key to locating the right spot for customers is figuring out whether or not these people are primed to buy from you. If they are, what’s the best way to go about finding them, getting noticed and then convincing them to buy?
Airbnb tapped into the current Craigslist infrastructure without changing anything about how real estate items are listed on the site. They used a competitor’s platform, automated it and brought over customers who would generally use Craigslist for these types of listings. However, the best part of this setup is the fact that they were able to realise that Craigslist was a goldmine for people who would want to signup with Airbnb. What’s cool is that they probably didn’t have to spend much money to test and figure this out.
Growth hacking provides a strong opportunity for free marketing
The Airbnb example obviously required them to post listings at a cost, but in general, your growth hacking efforts are going to work to your advantage because of free or super cheap exposure. For example, the Appsumo Welcome Mat is a free and easy to implement solution for collecting email addresses and boosting your user counts.
The App Sumo brand has used the exact same tools it sells to prove that the growth hacking strategies work. In fact, the company claims to have accumulated 500,000 customers with the help of the welcome mat and various other tools and hacking methods.
Growth hacking sets the tone for your company, pushing it towards a creative mindset
Growth hacking, by definition, means taking data and analytical information to creatively bring in more users for your business. Some other interpretations are scattered throughout the internet, but in general, that’s what it means. The cool thing is that growth hacking works best for smaller companies, so you’re bound to set a tone for what’s to come in the future.
Generating a more creative path is a much better way to get started with your company than one that focuses on constantly cutting costs and holding back creative ideas.
Growth hacking helps to define goals clearly
Clear goals are hard to come by in a young organisation, especially one that resides online. Many small and large ideas will be floating around, but a growth hacking strategy helps align the company in pursuit of a single goal for at least a brief period of time.
Going back to the Airbnb example, imagine how hectic the offices must have been in the early years of Airbnb. However, realigning and telling everyone that the main goal was to focus on Craiglist helped to strengthen and clarify what the goal was at that very moment. Although you’re not always going to find something this clear, growth hacking can bring sanity to a crazy office, at least for a few moments.
Online stores must use data and statistics to succeed
Your gut feeling is no longer good enough to succeed in online business. Don’t even think about trying to compete with big online companies without having access to a wealth of data.
This ties in directly to growth hacking because most creative decisions are made based on stats and analytics. Since you should already be putting a focus on these areas, the transition should be fine. However, if you lack analytics, growth hacking can help to put you back on the right track.
In Conclusion
The world of eCommerce is ripe for growth hacking, so make sure you embrace the idea and look to your coworkers to find creative solutions to your biggest problems. Accumulating more users or customers is generally your biggest goal, so start getting your hands dirty with a little growth hacking.
