Welcome to the third lesson of our Growth Hacking Academy, which covers how to become a growth hacker.
In the first lesson we explained what growth hacking means, and in the second we looked at who growth hackers are.
As you’ll have gathered, it isn’t easy work — it takes patience, and the people who do it are highly motivated. The secret of growth hacking is that results always come, because constant testing shows the practitioner which road to take.
A growth hacker’s job suits people who are genuinely passionate, who never give up and who always want to put themselves on the line and learn.
Want to become a growth hacker?
Let’s find out how. Here we go!
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What is growth hacking?
First, a short explanation of what growth hacking is, in case you missed the first lesson. If you know already, a quick refresher never hurt anyone. 🙂
Growth hacking is a job, an approach, a way of growing.
Sean Ellis, the American marketer and entrepreneur, coined growth hacking in 2010 and established it as a profession.
But what is growth hacking, in essence? It’s the integration and interplay of programming, analysis, marketing and design. Growth hacking is a profession that finds the right tools and methods for growing a business.
The fundamental element is the test — always testing every possibility.
Becoming a growth hacker: first, who are they?
Before working out how to become a growth hacker, let’s see exactly who this person is. If you want more depth, our previous lesson on growth hackers is there for you.
The growth hacker is the professional sometimes called the pirate of marketing, or of growth. Why? Because the growth hacker knows how to manage resources — how to squeeze the most from them and deliver results for the client.
The growth hacker’s strengths are these: they capture users’ attention and interest, steer them into the funnel to obtain their contact details, get them to take action, and keep them there by giving them what they want.
How do you become a growth hacker?
As you’ll have gathered, the growth hacker develops strategies and runs constant, fast experiments in order to identify as quickly as possible the best strategy to adopt in reaching the goals.
But is it hard to become one?
Let’s see.
Becoming a growth hacker isn’t simple: in Italy there are still very few growth hacking gurus, also known as unicorns. Skills across many fields are required, and they aren’t easy to find. As we said in the last lesson, I’m always sceptical of anyone calling themselves a growth hacker too young — there simply hasn’t been time. Being a growth hacker takes a great deal of study, a great deal of experience and an enormous amount of testing. It takes time before you can call yourself one.
So how do you become a growth hacker? Here’s some practical guidance.
Need a list of growth hacking tools?
Need tools to grow your business?
Want to use growth hacking for your clients and work out which tools are available?
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To start with: to become a growth hacker you have to be open-minded, highly creative, good at solving problems, analysing and experimenting, with broad knowledge of digital marketing and marketing generally, some programming, and comfort with data.
So, how do you become one?
- you have to know the web really well, along with the channels you can use in web marketing;
- know how to analyse data and know Excel well;
- have plenty of creativity and use lateral thinking;
- know how to code;
- understand funnel marketing;
- have a grounding in consumer behaviour;
- know the technical tools you’ll be using;
- know how to plan a growth project.
Now you know what it takes to become a growth hacker — and therefore what to prepare for.
Training properly across several fronts matters enormously, because this person really does know many disciplines and many tools, and can apply their ideas practically, creatively and effectively.
Courses and books exist for this trade, there are master’s programmes, you can decide to be trained by a growth hacker like me, or follow the lessons of our Growth Hacking Academy. In the lessons ahead we’ll go deeper into many aspects of growth hacking.
Conclusion
If you’ve followed this lesson, the world of growth hacking has you fascinated — and who could blame you.
Here we’ve given you a short recap of what growth hacking is, who the growth hacker is, and what it takes to make a profession of it.
Stay tuned to your favourite Growth Hacking Academy. In the lessons ahead you’ll learn, among other things, how to do growth hacking, which growth hacking books to read, and plenty more…
Want advice on growing your business? Get in touch! With growth hacking we’ll work out and implement the best strategy for reaching your goal.
Want to become a growth hacker? Get in touch! We’ll find the right course for you.
Want to ask us something or just talk to us? Get in touch! That’s what we’re here for.