{"id":6369,"date":"2016-11-18T01:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T01:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/?p=6369"},"modified":"2017-02-09T19:07:25","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T19:07:25","slug":"growth-hacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/?p=6369","title":{"rendered":"8 simple growth hacks you can copy and use in your business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Been noticing a lot of super-smart growth strategies lately. <\/span><\/p>\n

We even started a Slack group in our VF team channel to share as we come across new ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, instead of doing an in-depth breakdown post, I\u2019m going to share 8\u00a0of my favorite ones from the last month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your homework: Take one of the strategies in this post and install it in your biz.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/span><\/p>\n

Growth Hack #1: <\/b>Troll Trump<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"

What is it? <\/b>Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign folks set up this simple little website that tracked every time Donald Trump tweeted and let you send a small donation every time.<\/p>\n

Freaking genius!<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently not quite genius enough. Because ya know… Trump won. But still.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can you use it?<\/b><\/p>\n

Depending on what market you are in, it could take a bit of innovation to figure out how to adapt this for you. It also requires you to take a stand against something (which can be surprisingly difficult for a lot of folks). <\/span><\/p>\n

But here are a few questions to get you thinking:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Is there a competitor that you\u2019re willing to throw down the gauntlet on?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Is there a general stance or viewpoint in your industry that you can draw a line in the sand against?<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Is there a particular behavior or habit that you want to reform?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    On #3, let\u2019s say you are in the health and fitness space.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Could you set up something so that any time someone tweets a picture of food that doesn\u2019t line up with their diet, they get charged?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Brainstorm and see what you come up with.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ..<\/p>\n

    Growth Hack #2: <\/b>Early Impressions Email<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"\"

    What is it? <\/b>Got this cool email\u00a0 after signing up for a membership on this site. It\u2019s a super-simple email.<\/span><\/p>\n

    It made me feel wanted, cared for and appreciated. Funny thing is, I didn\u2019t even fill it out, and it made me feel better about them.<\/span><\/p>\n

    How can you use it? <\/b>Duh, do the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

    7 days after someone signs up, send them an email like the one above.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ..<\/p>\n

    Growth Hack #3: <\/b>Easy Referral<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"\"

    What is it? <\/b>Dude wanted people to share his article, so he just straight-up asked them. AND he made it super-simple for people to share by giving them a pre-populated email.<\/span><\/p>\n

    #smart<\/span><\/p>\n

    How can you use it? <\/b>Start your next email with a Pre-S and ask people to share it. If you\u2019re not into the Pre-S thing, do it at the end.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But make it simple and ask. Don\u2019t be a lame-o who\u2019s scared to ask.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ..<\/p>\n

    Growth Hack #4: <\/b>Smart Biz Dev<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"\"

    What is it? <\/b>Ahrefs is a tool that marketers use. CrazyEgg is a tool that marketers use. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Both of them wanted more customers. So they teamed up and did a promo together.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The email above is one that Ahrefs sent to their email list promoting a 90-day trail of CrazyEgg.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    How can you use it?<\/b> Find someone who has the customers you want. Tell them you\u2019ll tell your peeps about them if they\u2019ll do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

    It works. And it\u2019s smart.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ..<\/p>\n

    Growth Hack #5: <\/b>Read a Sample<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"\"

    What is it?<\/b> At the bottom of their pop-up they gave peeps a link to \u201cread a sample\u201d so people could see if they liked their content before opting in.<\/span><\/p>\n

    I don\u2019t have access to this guy’s analytics, but my guess is the overall site opt-in rate has increased as a result. Just like with the car dealers that let people “try it before you buy it,” people respond well when they can get a taste of how something works before they give you their money.
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    This guys is playing the long game. You need to as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Test it. See what happens.<\/span><\/p>\n

    How can you use it? <\/b>Go to the bottom of your pop-up and scroll box models and put a \u201cread a sample\u201d link that takes people to a sample of your best content. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Or, better yet, to a landing page with the content and an overt in-line call to action on that page.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ..<\/p>\n

    Growth Hack #6<\/b>:<\/b> Hey! Where\u2019d you go?<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"\"

    What is it?<\/b> After signing up for the Flow app, I didn\u2019t really use it. <\/span><\/p>\n

    They were smart, paid attention and sent me this email that made me smile and reminded me they existed.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Remember: If people forget you exist, they won\u2019t spend money with you. So remind them!<\/span><\/p>\n

    How can you use it? <\/b>Any basic email service can do this stuff. Set up a simple campaign that monitors opens\/clicks of your emails (and\/or usage of your app), and when you notice a new customer or subscriber is inactive, reach out and see what\u2019s up.<\/span><\/p>\n

    They\u2019ll love you. And people who love you are more likely to pay you dollar bills.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ..<\/p>\n

    Growth Hack #7<\/b>: <\/b>CliffsNotes Version<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"\"

    What is it?<\/b> My friend Stu launched a course. Like every other course person, he had a 3-part video series before the course opened. MOST people don\u2019t watch the vids.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So Stu did something cool. The next day, if you didn\u2019t watch the vids, he sent you a CliffsNotes type of doc, time-stamped, of what was in the video.<\/span><\/p>\n

    It got me to watch the vid. And I hate watching that stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Dang. <\/span><\/p>\n

    How can you use it?<\/b> Do that.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ..<\/p>\n

    Growth Hack #8<\/b>:<\/b> Why You Leaving, Bro?<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"\"

    \"\"

    What is it?<\/b> Josh Pigford tweeted these screenshots the other day. It showed how they were handling people who left their app. (This could be used when people unsubscribe from your list, too.)<\/span><\/p>\n

    Instead of just saying \u201cPEACE,\u201d he incentivized people to jump on a phone call and chat it out with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

    With his findings he makes the product better and, in theory, reduces churn.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Yay!<\/span><\/p>\n

    How can you use it?<\/b> Set up a post-unsubscribe or post-account-deletion survey that gives people a reward for chatting with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ask them why they left and see what you can do about fixing that. <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

    PS: Have you seen something lately that grabbed your attention? Let me know in the comments. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Been noticing a lot of super-smart growth strategies lately. We even started a Slack group in our VF team channel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.growthtools.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}