6 growth hacking tips for startup companies

Growth hacking has been the go-to process for a lot of companies when getting by their first few years. 

We all know how crucial the first five years of a business are. For many companies, not just startups, these five years are where policies, bylines, best practices, and norms are molded. 

What is growth hacking?

To put it simply, growth hacking is a branch of marketing that solely focuses on the company’s development. It is focused on resource-efficient means to market and grow a business — hence the “hacking” — which is especially beneficial for small companies and startups. 

Growth hackers are composed of marketers, A/B testers, product managers, and decision-markers. These people are the ones that kickstart marketing campaigns in hopes of going viral.

This strategy proves to be more effective when paired with search engine optimization (SEO) and the most recent digital marketing trends. 

6 growth hacking tips for startups

Startups are among the businesses that greatly benefit from growth hacking. As they strive for growth, they need the most innovative and cost-efficient ways to pierce through the market.

These growth hacking tips can help businesses, whether startups or not, be competitive in their respective fields.

Utilizing social media

Short social media copies can pull conversion rates up if they become viral. Most viral ad campaigns that are organic only get traction if many people relate to the content. Otherwise, people will most likely scroll past the ad.

By utilizing social media, companies can hack their growth and change how their target market perceives their brand.

Giving away freebies

Seasoned marketers back up this tip as a good way for companies to further connect with their target audience and the general public.

By giving away freebies, customers will be more inclined to transact again in the future, as they would expect another freebie with a new purchase.

Stepping up digital marketing efforts

Digital marketing has a big role to play in growth hacking, especially if businesses want their engagement to come from organic views.

The practice has a lot of branches to choose from, namely:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Search engine marketing (SEM)
• Paid social media ads
• Pay-per-click marketing
• Mobile marketing
• Content marketing

Making connections within industries

Taking shortcuts isn’t just all about rapidly growing within record time. Connecting with other organizations is a key ingredient when it comes to cultivating a business. For many, this should be the first step when kickstarting a startup company.

Hiring the right people

By hiring the right people to work with, businesses already have a good chance to survive their first few years and thrive beyond that. A great team is founded on trust, good communication, and positive reinforcement. 

Using the right tech

Investing in technology that will kickstart a company’s development will pay off in the long run. Small business technology is a rising subset of software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms, where they mostly cater to smaller businesses and enterprises.

The importance of cultivating growth in a startup

In a startup, ideas and concepts often get challenged. This allows the founders and the pioneering employees to set the atmosphere and kickstart the company’s development.

Internal growth vs. external growth

Internal growth focuses on employee-centric policies and practices that cultivate development for those who work in the company. These practices can range from team-buildings to continuous learning and development.

Meanwhile, external growth is more about connecting with the industry and expanding the company’s network of clients, prospects, and customers. 

How startup companies are remodeling industries

With a robust marketing strategy, different types of startups are able to reform industries by introducing new and innovative ways of doing things.

Businesses that have small followings garner enough profit and revenue to scale up and become major players in their field.

Tech

This industry is littered with tech startups that are waiting to be the next Google or Facebook. Silicon Valley, in particular, is home to thousands of tech and IT startup companies that continuously work on different apps, software, goods, and services.

With how fast tech companies grow (and dissipate, unfortunately), growth hacking is sorely needed for their guaranteed success.

Non-profit

Non-profit organizations (NPO), despite their cause, need seed money in order to set out with their campaigns. Growth hacking is one way to get more people familiar with their platform, with the hope of turning them into investors.

Education

The rise of online learning, module courses, distance education, and other ways to integrate technology into everyday learning paved the way for startup edtech organizations.

While most of these companies are doing quite well for themselves (see: Edukasyon.ph and Instructure), they can still benefit from growth hackers.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing agencies, especially digital marketing firms, need a network composed of clients, prospects, leads, and consumers. Growth hackers can lend a hand to these agencies to achieve success.