Growth hacking

Deploy fast, low-cost experiments to discover scalable acquisition and retention tactics, learning through iteration rather than big bets.

Growth hacking

Growth hacking

definition

Introduction

Growth hacking is a fast, experiment-driven approach to finding reliable ways to grow a business. Instead of committing big budgets to a single plan, you run many small, low-risk tests landing pages, referral nudges, onboarding tweaks to see what moves leads, revenue or retention. Keep the winners, drop the losers, and repeat. It is less about tricks and more about systematic experimentation.

Why it matters

Growth hacking matters because conventional marketing channels become increasingly expensive and competitive as more companies pursue them, whilst creative alternatives often remain underexploited and disproportionately effective. When LinkedIn ads targeting CFOs cost £15 per click, the company that discovers a viral growth loop or strategic integration can acquire customers at fraction of competitors' costs, gaining decisive advantage. This efficiency particularly benefits resource-constrained organisations early-stage companies, bootstrapped firms, challenger brands that cannot outspend established players but can out-innovate them. Beyond cost savings, growth hacking builds a culture of experimentation that accelerates learning velocity: teams running ten experiments monthly discover what resonates 10x faster than those pontificating endlessly about single big campaigns. Research on breakout growth companies reveals they frequently deployed creative, unconventional tactics during early scaling rather than simply executing standard playbooks better. The methodology also creates compounding advantages: each successful experiment generates insights applicable beyond that specific test, building institutional knowledge competitors cannot easily copy. However, growth hacking requires discipline the temptation is chasing clever tricks rather than sustainable systems. Organisations that succeed treat growth hacking as systematic hypothesis testing, not random tactic generation, documenting failures as rigorously as wins to prevent repeated mistakes.

How to apply it

Growth hacking for B2B agencies and consultancies

Start with simple, resource-light tests that fit client-facing workloads.

  1. Turn your most popular blog post into a one-page PDF checklist and gate it for email addresses.
  2. Send a personal Loom video follow-up to every proposal within 24 hours.
  3. Add a referral line to client invoices offering a free strategy hour for introductions.
  4. Insert a dynamic case-study block in outreach emails that swaps based on industry tag.
  5. Host a quarterly live audit webinar and invite prospects to submit their site for review.
  6. Offer a one-week paid discovery sprint at a fixed price to lower commitment friction.
  7. Add a simple exit-intent pop-up on the blog asking visitors to book a fifteen-minute call.
  8. Re-share every LinkedIn post as a carousel with key metrics highlighted for higher engagement.
  9. Automate proposal follow-ups with a three-email sequence triggered when a deal is idle for five days.
  10. Publish a public roadmap of upcoming service add-ons to spark early interest and feedback.

Growth hacking for B2B SaaS companies

Focus on product touch-points and user referrals.

  1. Shorten the free-trial sign-up form to name and email only; capture extra data after activation.
  2. Trigger an in-app tooltip highlighting one hidden feature per day for new users.
  3. Offer an annual-billing discount during the first seven days of the trial.
  4. Add a one-click Slack invite inside the app so users can bring colleagues.
  5. Launch a referral banner that rewards account credits for every invited user who activates.
  6. Send a usage milestone email (e.g. ‘You saved 100 hours’) that includes a social share link.
  7. Create a public changelog with a subscribe option to keep leads warm before they buy.
  8. Auto-generate a personalised onboarding video using the user’s name and company logo.
  9. Detect inactive accounts at day ten and trigger an automated concierge call offer.
  10. Add a pricing-page FAQ accordion answering the top five objections gathered from support tickets.

Growth hacking for B2B e-commerce and wholesale platforms

Use on-site tweaks and post-purchase loops to drive repeat orders.

  1. Display real-time stock levels to create urgency on popular SKUs.
  2. Offer volume-based discounts that unlock automatically in the basket.
  3. Add a reorder button in account dashboards showing previously purchased bundles.
  4. Trigger a cross-sell email three days after dispatch, suggesting complementary products.
  5. Include a printed insert in every parcel with a QR code linking to a feedback survey for a discount.
  6. Run a monthly ‘buyers club’ webinar previewing new inventory for registered customers.
  7. Place a sticky banner for free shipping thresholds visible during the entire checkout.
  8. Offer Net 30 terms instantly via a credit partner to reduce friction for first-time buyers.
  9. Use exit-intent pop-ups on product pages to offer a PDF spec sheet in exchange for email.
  10. Create a points-based loyalty programme that rewards both order value and review submissions.

These straightforward hacks keep risk low while uncovering what truly accelerates growth for each business model. Test, measure, adopt what works, and move on to the next idea.

Keep learning

Growth orchestration

Get a grip on what's actually working and what needs course correction. Use data and experiments to make decisions instead of opinions. See how changes in one part of the system affect everything else. Random tactics don't compound, coordinated ones do.

Explore playbooks

Tool selection

Tool selection

Select tools across your growth stack using clear evaluation criteria. Avoid common pitfalls, ensure integrations work, and build a system that scales with your business.

Customer research

Customer research

Uncover specific pain points, validate assumptions, and reveal what actually drives buying decisions. Run research that produces actionable insights, not just interesting quotes.

Quarterly strategy

Quarterly strategy

Run quarterly business reviews that assess current state, set ambitious but realistic goals, build actionable roadmaps, and define key results that keep everyone aligned.

Monthly review

Monthly review

Analyse monthly performance data across all four growth engines. Identify what is working, what is not, and make tactical adjustments using a structured decision framework.

Related books

Traction

Gino Wickman

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Traction

A practical operating system for small teams. Install a cadence, set priorities and create accountability that sticks.

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Wiki

Founder-led growth

Build distribution through your personal brand and network where your expertise and story attract customers who trust you before your company.

Email sequence

Automate multi-touch email campaigns that adapt based on recipient behaviour to nurture leads consistently without manual follow-up from reps or marketers.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Track predictable monthly subscription revenue to monitor short-term growth trends and make faster decisions than waiting for annual revenue reports.

Value proposition

Articulate the specific outcome customers get from your solution to communicate why they should choose you over doing nothing or using alternatives.

Trigger

Define events that start automation workflows so the right message reaches people at the right moment based on their actual behaviour not arbitrary timing.

Pipeline coverage

Calculate how much pipeline you need relative to quota to ensure you generate enough opportunities to hit revenue targets despite normal conversion rates.

Prioritisation

Systematically rank projects and opportunities using objective frameworks, ensuring scarce resources flow to highest-impact work.

Product-led growth

Drive acquisition and expansion through product experience where users discover value before sales conversations and upgrade based on usage.

Total Addressable Market (TAM)

Estimate the maximum revenue opportunity if you captured 100% market share to size your opportunity and prioritise which markets to enter first.

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Document your repeatable processes in clear, step-by-step instructions that ensure consistency, enable delegation, and capture institutional knowledge.

P-value

Interpret experiment results to understand the probability that observed differences occurred by chance rather than because your changes actually work.

Activity tracking

Log emails, calls, and meetings automatically to understand what drives deals forward and coach reps based on actual behaviour rather than guesswork.

Conversion tracking

Measure which marketing activities drive desired outcomes to allocate budget toward channels that actually generate revenue instead of vanity metrics.

Compound growth rate

Calculate your true growth trajectory by measuring the rate at which your business grows when gains build on previous gains over multiple periods.

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Set ambitious goals and measurable outcomes that cascade through your organisation, creating alignment and accountability for strategic priorities.

First-touch attribution

Credit the channel that introduced prospects to your brand to measure awareness efforts and understand which top-of-funnel activities start customer journeys.

Growth engine

Build self-reinforcing systems across demand generation, funnel conversion, sales pipeline, and customer value that create continuous momentum.

Growth lever

Focus resources on high-impact business mechanisms where small improvements generate disproportionate results across the entire customer journey.

Partner-led growth

Scale through partner relationships where other companies distribute your product to their customers in exchange for commissions or reciprocal value.

Minimum viable test

Design experiments that answer specific questions with minimum time and resources to maximise learning velocity without over-investing in unproven ideas.