“Growth hacking is experiment-driven marketing – – It’s really about science. It’s about process” (Wilson 2015, cited 05.05.2016). Sean Ellis distinguishes growth hacking from marketing by pointing out that growth hacking involves science, data and process. Whereas traditional marketing promotes the products using main stream media channels in a belief that exposure brings more customers, growth hacking involves trying out different kind of tactics to expand the user base and finding out which channels and which methods outside of traditional marketing route works the best for which product and services that the startup is offering. One of the main factor that differentiates growth hacking from the marketing is their objective. “Growth hacking is a means for accelerated growth, but not the means for continuous growth and improvement (Growth Devil 2015, cited 13.05.2016). If the conventional marketing puts the focus on the general marketing strategy for the whole company, growth hacking puts the focus on the growth. Putting out the product to the right people, obtaining the user base and finding the right channels to communicate to the people is the key for growth. The reason why growth hacking is not straightforward to many audiences is that it does not have one set guideline that works universally for all types of startups. Growth hacking must be done using creative minds in a scientific process that is scalable, measurable and repeatable. The “hack” is to look for creative tricks that the startup can uniquely employ. Therefore, the methods for growth hacking differs depending on the target audience and the product of the startup.

A person who conducts growth hacking is called growth hacker and as Sean Ellis defines it “A growth hacker is a person whose true north is growth” because all the decisions that growth hacker makes must be approved by growth.

One single goal that every growth hacker has in mind is to obtain growth in the company and one of the valuable skill is the ability to execute it without permission or assistance. The decision-making is assisted by the results found in the experiments. Each experiment is the one of the growth hacking tactics employed by the growth hacker in a certain span of time for example a week or month and by the end of the experiment, the data collected and logically analysed is the result that provide scientifically valuable information that growth hacker uses to make “true north is growth” decisions.

Growth hacking must not be confused with marketing as growth hacking uses the creative and innovative ways to gain an accelerated growth. This fits the nature of startup on the basis that startup creates a product or service under a condition of uncertainty. The condition of uncertainty means the market-fit is unknown as the product or service has never been tested with the target audience. The uncertain conditions make growth hacking a valuable tool to test out the market-fit against the target audience and only through a series of experiments, conclusions can be drawn to make informed decisions for the startup’s growth. This scientific and data-driven approach distinguishes growth hacking from the traditional marketing method.

Traditional marketing employs a tested and proven marketing channels such as ads through TV, radio or newspapers to promote the products or services with a big size of budget and resources.

Paid acquisition is a great tool to use for growing the users or the sales of products when the user typically has to pay for the product or services at the scene of exchange. The tools for this method are Google Adwords, Facebook ads, or any other digital ads where the ads are paid in order to be put into the online space. Therefore, this method requires putting in a certain sum of money to start with. However, this is not a recommended method if the purpose of the growth is getting more signups or visitors to the website. It is important to keep in mind how much it costs to get one user and how much that one user brings to the company. If the cost is higher than the profit or any monetary benefits the acquired user brings, even though it is growing the user base, the company is losing money so in the end it is not a sensible choice for the company.

A/B testing is a type of website experiment where one control group is compared to one of more test group with one changed variable. This way A/B testing becomes a great tool to compare the data when one variable is changed. For example, when one button shape or colour is changed, can it bring more click through rates, or any type of metrics that user may behave to increase. The core of this testing is to see the different user behaviour and optimise the website according to the preferred user experience. The landing page where the user lands on is the testing place where the user decides to leave or take an action to get engaged.

If the user leaves right after landing on a page, then it is the time to put A/B testing to increase their engagement to lead the user to take certain actions such as a signup or buy products on the website.

The sole reason why startups stand out from the any business is that they are operating in an environment of extreme uncertainty. The products and services the startups provide differ from the traditional business models on the basis that they are working in an extreme uncertainty market meaning that the products and services that startups provide is not market proven to foresee how the market will react to the products or services.

Startups usually grow extremely fast as compared to established companies. Some startups may even end up doubling or tripling their numbers every few months like Dropbox. Growth hackers are usually prepared to handle this sort of growth and target it as well. 

On the other hand, marketers may not be able to see the results of traditional marketing instantly. This may also lead to a slower growth rate as compared to growth hacking.

Most startups follow the process of developing the prototype, and further developing to the product stage by validating the demands from the target market. This process of validating the demands from the target market requires interacting with the target audience in the market. Often it is hard to interact with the target audience with the limited funds and resources for the young startups. This is where Growth Hacking can be a handy tool to give the young startups the channels to communicate to the target audience without spending a massive amount of expenses.

Growth hacking is a continual process with the dedication and commitment on constant experimentation, not a one-off trick or solution to get a boost on growth. Not all experiments will work as expected and that is the learning process; at least the company learns what does not work and does not waste time nor money on the same route again in the future. When one experiment has worked out of many, that idea becomes a part of the product or process.

The answer is No. Every growth hacker is a digital marketer and digital marketing is just one of the stacks employed. On the other hand, not every digital marketer is a growth hacker.

The main goal of a growth hacker is  to spread the word about the products and the brand to generate sales.Consistent efforts are  put into creating a product that consumers will like and using free and affordable alternatives minimizing expenses.