What on earth is Growth Hacking?

You may or may not have heard of it, but the term ‘growth hacking’ has been trending among many startups over the past few years. But what does it mean? We sat down with some of our marketing staff to try and properly understand what all the hype is about.

Why the name growth hacking? Is this the same hacking where you steal top secret information from Russia?

The term ‘growth hacking’ originated from Steve Ellis, a growth professional for start up companies. His definition of a growth hacker is ‘someone who’s true north is growth’. He created the phrase because he was tired of traditional marketers trying to apply their knowledge to growing start-ups.

A growth hacker relies heavily on analytics, rapid experimentation of marketing campaigns and a focus on growth that doesn’t exist in contemporary marketing.

Is growth hacking just for start-up’s or can it add value to large corporations?

Recently you may have heard that KPMG Australia hired a young 18-year-old high-school student as their “growth hacker in residence”

So although growth hacking has traditionally been tied to startups, there is a strong argument for it serving a purpose among larger organisations. As long as growth hackers can battle the inertia they may feel in a large companies, the principles of testing new marketing hypothesis still make sense for all companies, irrespective of size. Don’t get us wrong, one 21-year-old University Student armed with a computer isn’t going to replace whole marketing departments, no. However, as many traditional marketing teams spend a lot of time maintaining current customer relationships we think there is room for these methodologies and a focus on growth.

If you have any questions on growth hacking, or even any thoughts, leave a comment below or send us an email at social@hampr.com.au