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Everyone is talking about growth hacking, but few have a true understanding of what it really means to be a growth hacker. Growth hackers separate themselves from other marketers by working the full funnel. The goal of a digital marketer is to build awareness of a product and convert users. Growth hackers don’t stop at conversion. They are concerned with the entire customer journey: retention, repurchasing and of course, revenue. Growth hacking requires experimenting with various tools and getting creative with channels. This week on SaaS Insider, host Shira Abel spoke with Ferdinand Goetzen about what being a growth hacker really means and how to implement experimentation and other innovative marketing techniques to grow your company.
Ferdinand Goetzen is the head of growth at Recruitee, one of the Netherlands fastest rising startups, which provides customers with an all-in-one tool that allows companies to manage and streamline their entire recruitment process. He has been engaging in different forms of marketing for almost a decade. Ferdinand specializes in full-funnel marketing and growth experimentation. His experience with growth across channels makes him the ideal candidate to share his knowledge and tips on what growth hacking is all about.
According to Ferdinand, experimentation is a must for growth hacking. This means testing various approaches in novel channels. It may seem counterintuitive to spend time experimenting in unknown channels when there are channels you know are efficient. However, tunnel-vision marketing usually leads to missed opportunities for even higher levels of growth. Ferdinand explains that growth cannot be achieved without the perfect balance of performance marketing (what you know works) and experimentation. His theory is that any company trying to grow should be dedicating 60% of their time to performance marketing and 30-40% of their time to experimentation. With patience and scalability in mind, experimentation can be the tool that pushes your company over the edge.
Customer satisfaction is also a key factor for growth. It may sound obvious, but solid products lead to happy customers, which leads to high-level buyers and promoters. This land and expand customer strategy will help your company achieve the virality it needs to succeed. Ferdinand also discusses the importance of internal satisfaction within a company. Goals must be aligned across departments and everyone’s voice must carry equal weight. It is impossible to grow without a motivated team, so creating an environment where team members feel excited and inspired is also essential.
To sum it up, growth hacking involves out-of-the-box marketing, customer consideration, and a strong team. No matter your industry, this talk will not only inspire you to grow but also provide you with the tools you need to do it. Tune in here.