Most employees these days no longer have just one position at their companies. An office manager may, in addition to making sure that supplies are stocked and meetings are scheduled, update a company’s social media page and send out their email newsletter. A bookkeeper might write a weekly blog, and an attorney could also make videos.
Growth hackers, who can be classified as marketers, salespeople, analysts, and promoters, are no exception. This position, which has only started popping up on job boards over the past few years, is in demand at small and mid-sized businesses.
Entrepreneur Sean Ellis, founder of Qualaroo, coined the term “growth hacker” in a blog post in 2010. He asserted that many of the skills that are requirements for marketing managers and other traditional jobs don’t apply for startups. That’s why young companies are often better off finding someone focused on connecting with their core audience.
“Larger corporations have giant marketing budgets,” says Will Bater, director of marketing at MakersKit and a self-described growth hacker. “Startups and mid-level companies hire growth hackers because they don’t yet have a big brand name. The goal, for them, is to do things as cheaply as possible.”
We spoke to Bater and a few other growth hackers about their careers, and how aspiring growth hackers can get hired. Here is their advice.
Test what works
While you can go to business school or major in marketing, growth hackers recommend that you actually try your hand at it in order to master the job.
“Growth hacking is trying to find creative ways to leverage platforms that already exist,” says Bater, who has been a growth hacker for four years. “You’re going to make mistakes, but you’ll be able to learn why they happened. You can’t ever know what’s right or wrong if you’re not actively trying to test it.”
Art Yeranosyan, a growth hacker and the founder of Geoklix, has similar advice.
“Start your own business, or help a startup,” he says. “Even if you have a budget to run a solid multi-channel marketing campaign, don’t take the easy path. Instead, explore and find platforms that will help you reach your business goals for free or low cost.
Organically grow the business. Moreover, learn from others in the industry, learn about their failures and wins, [and] learn what to avoid.”
Research new methods of growth hacking
Since growth hacking relies heavily on new technology and platforms, it’s crucial to stay up to date on techniques you can use to increase your company’s reach.
“A lot of it is about knowing how to get things done, and branching out into other areas of marketing and advertising,” says Marc Lefton, a freelance growth hacker based in New York City. “You need to keep your eye on things out there. You can never say you’re an expert because it means you’ve stopped learning. There is always something new to learn.”
Don’t be afraid to make some calls
If you like getting on the phone and schmoozing with people, growth hacking may be a great job for you.
“My days always start with follow up calls, because it can seven to 10 attempts to get through to some people,” says Dave Sherman, a growth hacker and community manager at Appointment-Plus. “To do this job properly, you really need to have great skills in sales and marketing.”
Growth hackers also have to have thick skin, and not hesitate to do a task more than once to get it right.
“If you want to be in a role where you’re not measured by your output, you don’t want to be on the phone a lot, or you can’t handle rejection, then this job would not be for you,” says Sherman. “There’s a lot of work involved in this. It’s not easy. You need to find a special individual who has that love for the marketing game but can also get in and role up his or her sleeves and sell like a machine.”
Need more information on growth hacking? Check out Growth Hackers is a community of those in the industry who post about all things relating to marketing, customer acquisition, and growth hacking in general. You can vote on the posts you like and post your own content on there as well to gain exposure.