The phrase “growth hacking” was coined by Sean Ellis in 2010. It refers to creative ways to spur business growth within a short period using minimal resources. The term was inspired by how Silicon Valley startups like Uber and Airbnb used limited resources to grow fast.
Your small business could be in dire need of growth, but your budget and time may be limited. What do you do? Try these five growth hacking tips for small businesses.
1. Create Social Proof Through Reviews and Ratings
Customers’ reviews and ratings greatly influence prospective customers. To prove it, a certain Youtuber did a bizarre experiment.
He created a Google business page for a non-existent 5-star restaurant and gathered hundreds of reviews and ratings from strangers on the street. Within 24 hours, his “restaurant” was ranked first on Google. But the most surprising thing is people showed up at the location of the fake restaurant thinking it was real.
Getting favorable reviews and ratings could push your growth fast. And the good news is that 70% of people are happy to write reviews when requested.
2. Use Gifts to Encourage Referral Marketing
People feel safe buying products and services referred by friends, family, and even strangers. In fact, research shows that referral marketing has three to fivefold conversion rates, retains the loyalty of 18% of customers, and results in 4 times more referrals. Creating a customer referral program could be a challenge for a small business, but you can do it like Uber—use gifts to encourage referral marketing.
3. Automate Repetitive Tasks
Your most valuable asset as a small business owner is time. Once you hack how to spend it for maximum gain, your business growth will be inevitable. One great way to free up valuable time is to automate repetitive tasks.
Acquire and utilize tools to handle processes that need less of your involvement. For instance, Hootsuite can schedule and post on social media, and Mailchimp can help with email marketing. Loan Center, a popular online lender, uses automation tools to pre-qualify auto loan applicants and determine which people should get loans. Follow suit and automate your processes.
4. Improve Your Content Marketing Efforts
Having your business online is one thing and beating the competition to gain customers is a different sport altogether. The secret to success lies in your content marketing efforts. Content marketing involves creating helpful and relevant content on your online platforms, educating your customers and informing them.
Great content establishes your authority and draws potential buyers to your brand. What’s more, content marketing is 62% cheaper than traditional marketing and has a threefold return on investment.
5. Be Transparent About Your Offerings
Transparency is sometimes undervalued, especially by online marketers. Imagine walking into a supermarket with no price tags, and you have to ask the manager for the price of each product. The experience will be exhausting. That’s how customers feel when they see products with missing prices or other vital details on your website or social media.
Save your potential customers the trouble and present every helpful detail as transparently as possible. Once a prospect has complete information, they can decide whether to buy from you or not.
Take Your Business to New Heights
Growth hacking focuses on being creative to grow your business with limited resources and time. Implement the above tips to make your small business grow. When done right, growth hacking can push your business to new heights fast.