Growth hacking, a term widely embraced by startups over the last few years, has fired up the imagination of many conventional marketers as they saw some of the startups achieving mind-numbing growth in a ridiculously short time period.
Growth hackers care little about the time-tested playbook of marketing, and go after whatever techniques and tactics it takes to achieve rapid growth. Growth hackers indulge in daring business experiments, focus on speed, and deploy unorthodox methods of marketing to increase their customer base.
Questionable Values
Arguably, however, growth hackers are often adventuring with someone else’s money, are less focused on long-term business sustainability and return on investment, sell their products and services below cost, and run up rapid losses. Their single-minded goal is – you guessed it – growth and market share.
Innovation, out-of-the-box ideas, and market disruption are quintessential to creating new businesses, improving quality of life, and adding new value to the world. But growth hacking does not distract itself with these core principles that have led the world from the stone age to the information age. It just fancies itself on growth.
“I find this terminology off-putting when describing a marketing professional,” says Dayna Stewart, head of digital recruitment Sydney at Big Wave Digital. “As a marketer, of course, it is important to focus on overall growth and ROI. But “growth hacker”, in my opinion, doesn’t describe what a true marketer should be?”
“Do I want someone who is going to attack my prospects by cutting harshly or ruthlessly? Is that how I want my brand to be perceived? What about business values, marketing ethics, customer loyalty, and nurturing and retention of accounts? Is a growth hacker concerned about long-term value creation and sustainability? It’s questionable,” opines Stewart.
Be Judicious When Hiring Growth Hackers
Hiring a ‘growth hacker’ just because everyone else is doing it may not work even for startups, and much less for established businesses that are focused on brand building. The dividing line between ‘hackers’ and ‘growth hackers’ is extremely thin, and it may not be so simple to make a discerning selection.
The risks still remain even if you manage to spot the ‘right growth hacker.’ For one, they may not be suitable team players, which could do more harm than good for your business. Secondly, a growth hacker, by definition, is likely to have scant regard for your carefully-built business values and ethics.
Different products and services need different marketing strategies. If your product is innovation-driven, you need technical wizards who are committed to innovation and not growth hackers who are committed to growth.
If a self-confessed growth hacker is able to present a few random marketing tricks, do not get quickly enamored by them. Any growth strategy that has not yet been tested does not qualify for a valid ‘hack’. Make this your guiding principle while hiring.
Be crystal clear about your corporate vision and mission. You should know what you want your company to stand for and what your marketing ethics and values are before you get on to the bandwagon of hiring growth hackers.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic and if you see value (or not) in having a “Growth Hacker” as your star marketer.
About the Consultant – Dayna Stewart
With over 17 years at the bleeding edge of digital and data recruitment, Dayna is on every astute manager’s speed dial.
Dayna is highly regarded as an ethical consultant who builds strong partnerships to deliver outstanding, timely services to clients and candidates.
She has extensive experience in both industrial and commercial sectors, and works with professional clientele to provide the most up-to-date recruitment information available in today’s competitive digital market.
Dayna’s key areas of specialisation are
- Digital Media,
- Digital Recruitment Sydney,
- Search, Data & Analytics,
- Digital Advertising, and Sales.
