6 Common Myths About Growth Hacking

It Is a Cheat Sheet with Secrets on Growth

Truth: It is not a tool that growth hackers use, but rather their mindset and skillset.

It is often believed that growth hackers possess a cheat sheet or book of secrets to growth. Though this sounds plausible, it is completely false.

Growth hackers rely on their skills and mindset when advising companies. They analyze every possible angle there exists to a company and correct any errors. Hackers take a methodical approach to every action they take.

Growth Hackers Provide a Quick Fix for Company Problems

Truth: Growth hacking is a procedural operation that requires an abundant amount of time.

Growth is an iterative process. There will exist plenty of failed attempts before one is successful. Hackers work deep into a product as well as their superficial optimizations. Channels are researched. Analytics are carefully measured. Preparations and testing need doing. A hacker’s arduous task is the only possible way for them to fix any company’s problem, though tedious and timely. Similarly, patience is a quality that is desired.

Growth Hacking Is a New Thing

Truth: It really isn’t.

Sites like Facebook, Bebo, and LinkedIn prioritized growth and engagement with its user base before the term growth hacking came about.

It wasn’t until recently the term came about. However, many businesses and sites used the same principles as growth hacking. Harnessing the power of viral marketing promoted the growth of such businesses.

Growth Hacking Is Marketing

Truth: It shares some of the same goals, but growth hacking is more focused and done differently.

Well-executed, data-driven product strategies are what leads to growth, not marketing strategy. Marketers and hackers work in close cooperation to optimize their product to push metrics in different ways. Growth hackers further develop growth through product utilization and their various iterations.

“Some people think growth hacking is the same as marketing optimization; they are quite different. If I’m given 1,000 visitors and I’m trying to convert as many as possible to customers, that’s lead gen optimization. If I’m tuning the product to turn 1,000 visitors into 10,000 customers, that’s growth. Growth hacking is a new name for the latter camp; the first camp is inbound marketing. Growth usually does not come from bounces off a landing page but in product engagement and virality.”- Nabeel Hyatt.

Growth Hackers Know How to Code

Truth: Though some growth hackers are coders, the majority are not.

When people hear the term “growth hacker,” they are inclined to believe they are actual hackers. Consequently, these same individuals assume they are coders as well. Sean Ellis coined the phrase under a different pretense.

“I used the word ‘hacker’ to be an attitude of scrappiness rather than being a coder. In other words, a growth hacker ‘hacks’ a way to move metrics.” – Sean Ellis

These hackers find all sorts of unforeseen advantages to succeed. Growth hackers find these advantages by rapidly analyzing data from testing, hustling, and overall completing tasks.

Though not all coders, it isn’t uncommon to see engineers within this role. Precision is required to be an effective growth hacker, so it’s no coincidence.

“The use of the word ‘hacking’ relates to the question ‘how can we solve the problem differently?’ Hacking is a creative disruption. Growth hackers do tend to be engineers as it gives them the ability to apply rigor to marketing, but it is not necessary.” – Danielle Morrill

A Growth Hacker Is One Person

Truth: A growth hacker is part of a greater team.

Growth hackers are most useful in a team. Growth is highly complex, and a team of highly skilled individuals allows growth to happen. Many times growth is left in the hands of the hacking team to avoid future conflicts from other teams’ goals.
Growth hackers have significantly changed the fundamentals of marketing. Growth has become prioritized in many modern day industries. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible to become relevant fast enough.