In today's highly competitive market environment, how can enterprises achieve rapid, sustained and low-cost business growth? Traditional marketing methods are no longer sufficient to meet the needs and expectations of users, and growth hackers (Growth Hacking) is an emerging business methodology that acquires and retains users at very low or even zero cost through fast-paced testing and iteration.

What is growth hacking thinking?

Growth hacking thinking is a kind of innovative thinking that is user value-oriented, data-guided, rapid testing as a means, and growth indicators as a measure. It requires enterprises to deeply understand the pain points, needs and behaviors of users from the perspective of users, design attractive and valuable products or services, and spread them to target users through various channels and ways, and constantly optimize the functions, experiences and effects of products or services, so as to realize the growth of user number, activity, income and so on.

What are the growth hacking methods?

The growth hacking method is not a static routine or technique, but a flexible strategy and practice according to different stages, scenarios and goals. Generally speaking, it can be divided into the following steps:

Clarify the Polaris indicator (North Star Metric). The North Star indicator is a single indicator that reflects the core value of a product or service and is closely related to business objectives. For example,FacebookThe Polaris metric is the number of active users per month (Monthly Active Users），AirbnbThe Polaris indicator is the number of bookings per night (Nights Booked），NetflixThe Polaris indicator is the monthly viewing time (Hours Watched), etc. Once the Polaris indicator has been determined, specific growth targets can be developed based on it and broken down into executable sub-targets.

Find the growth lever (Growth Levers). Growth Leverage is a factor that can influence changes in the Polaris indicator and can be controlled or optimized. For example,FacebookAn important growth lever is to invite friends to join the network (Invites Sent），AirbnbAn important growth lever is to improve the quality of housing and the beauty of pictures (Quality Score），NetflixAn important growth lever is to improve the accuracy of content recommend (Recommendation Accuracy), etc. Once effective growth levers are found, specific test scenarios can be designed based on them and corresponding assumptions and expected results can be developed.

Rapid test (Rapid Experimentation). Rapid testing is a small-scale, low-cost, short-cycle test of different programs or variables to compare their effects, and based on data analysis to draw conclusions and revelations. For example, inFacebookTest the impact of different types, copywriting, locations, colors, and other invitation buttons on the invitation rate onAirbnbThe impact of different styles, angles, filters, and other housing images on the booking rate is tested onNetflixtest different algorithms, parameters, interfaces and other content recommend on the viewing time. When conducting rapid tests, scientific methods should be followed to ensure the validity and reliability of the tests, and the process and results of the tests should be recorded and shared in a timely manner.

4. optimization and iteration (Optimization and Iteration). Optimization and iteration are based on the results of rapid testing, selecting the optimal solution and continuous improvement, or abandoning ineffective solutions and looking for new ideas. For example, if you find that a certain invitation button can significantly increase the invitation rate, you can extend it to the entire network and continue to explore other factors that may increase the invitation rate; if you find that a certain housing picture does not achieve the expected effect, you can try other types or styles of pictures and re-test; if you find that a certain content recommend algorithm can significantly increase the viewing time, you can apply it to more user groups, and continue to optimize the performance and accuracy of the algorithm. Optimization and iteration is a never-ending process that requires companies to remain agile and innovative, constantly adapting to changes in the market and users.

Growth hacker thinking and methods of the use of cases

Growth hacking thinking and methods have been used by many successful enterprises, and achieved remarkable results. Here are some typical cases:

Dropbox：DropboxIt is a cloud storage service product that acquires users by designing a simple and interesting two-way incentive mechanism. Specifically, when a user invites others to registerDropboxYou can win more free space for yourself (every time500MB), can also provide additional space for invitees (each250MB). As a result, users have a strong incentive to invite more people to useDropboxAnd the invitees will also feel the value of the product and are willing to spread it to more people. In this way,DropboxThe number of registered users in 15 Within months from 10 million growth 400 Ten thousand.

Airbnb：Airbnbis an online short rental platform products, it through the useCraigslistThis existing traffic platform to get users. Specifically, when the landlordAirbnbWhen publishing housing information on, you can chooseCraigslistPost the same information onAirbnbThe link. In this way, you canCraigslistPotential users on the drainAirbnband improveAirbnbbrand awareness and trust. In this way,AirbnbThe number of listings and bookings have grown rapidly.

Netflix：NetflixIt is an online video streaming product that retains users by continuously optimizing content recommend algorithms. Specifically,NetflixAccording to the user's viewing history, rating, search, collection and other behavior data, machine learning and artificial intelligence technology are used to provide users with personalized content recommend, which are displayed on the home page, details page, playback page and other locations. As a result, it is possible to increase the probability and convenience of the user to find the content of interest, and to improve the viewing time and satisfaction of the user. In this way,NetflixThe number of monthly active users has exceeded 2 Billion.

Summary

Growth hacking thinking and method is a new business methodology that adapts to today's market environment and user needs. It requires companies to be user value-oriented, data-guided, rapid testing as a means, and growth indicators as a measure to continuously innovate and optimize products or services, and spread to target users through various channels and methods. Growth hacking thinking and methods have been used by many successful enterprises, and achieved remarkable results. I hope this article can inspire and help you.