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29 reviews for:
Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success
Sean Ellis, Morgan Brown
3.93 AVERAGE
29 reviews for:
Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success
Sean Ellis, Morgan Brown
3.93 AVERAGE
read this book for research for a schoolproject and it really helped me get some insight into marketing and growth in companies
Excellent overview of growth hacking methods and their practical implementation.
informative
slow-paced
What Hacking Growth promises, it delivers.
A great book full of strategies to power growth for companies of every size. Fear not about its relevance as it was published in 2017, which is pretty recent. 100 customers or 1,000,000 customers, this book details several possible moves a company can make to get that 1 more customer — and it doesn’t stop there. A whole playbook details other important stages of the growth cycle: activation, retention and monetization.
An interesting and easy read for marketers especially since the authors use lots of relevant case studies of popular sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Airbnb.
4.5/5
A great book full of strategies to power growth for companies of every size. Fear not about its relevance as it was published in 2017, which is pretty recent. 100 customers or 1,000,000 customers, this book details several possible moves a company can make to get that 1 more customer — and it doesn’t stop there. A whole playbook details other important stages of the growth cycle: activation, retention and monetization.
An interesting and easy read for marketers especially since the authors use lots of relevant case studies of popular sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Airbnb.
4.5/5
This book was a useful read, one that I would recommend particularly for people who are working in product management or product analytics.
At its core, growth hacking is about establishing a culture of continuous customer-centric and data-backed experimentation to drive growth at a company. The first half of the book makes a case for why companies should implement the practice and describes the necessary components of a cross-functional growth hacking team, while the second half dives into growth hacking tactics in action. The book walks through the questions you should be asking yourself and metrics you should consider when targeting various parts of the customer/user journey to find different ideas to test. I found the numerous case studies from companies like Pinterest and Qualaroo that Ellis and Brown use as examples particularly helpful in grounding the framework.
While my more pessimistic side found it hard to wrap my head around the feasibility of implementing such rapid-paced testing at all companies, the book does make a compelling case for investing the resources to do so. One of the biggest hurdles is to shift your and your company’s thinking away from traditional wisdom and towards experimentation, away from intuition and towards data. The point that resonated the most with me is that success is a "numbers game", less about the discovery of one groundbreaking genius idea and more about “a series of small wins, compounded over time.”
The one element that did somewhat turn me off was the unequivocal commendation of Facebook as a company that dedicated itself to the growth hacking practices to incredible success. While I don’t disagree with that point, I think in the past few years, there has been a more nuanced examination of the consequences the “move fast and break things” motto has inflicted on the world. While the book does warn against the more intrusive ways companies can use customer data (e.g., the Target ads that knew a teenage girl was pregnant before her father did), it does so more from a PR and customer retention perspective than anything else. In fact, at one point in the monetization chapter, the authors even list selling customer data to third parties as an option for mobile apps to make money. It’s these little details that somewhat date the book. (It was published in 2017, which is around the time data breaches/abuse and the details around Facebook’s role in the 2016 election were really making their way into the public eye.)
None of these critiques invalidate the merits of growth hacking or the book itself, so I still recommend it, with just that asterisk.
At its core, growth hacking is about establishing a culture of continuous customer-centric and data-backed experimentation to drive growth at a company. The first half of the book makes a case for why companies should implement the practice and describes the necessary components of a cross-functional growth hacking team, while the second half dives into growth hacking tactics in action. The book walks through the questions you should be asking yourself and metrics you should consider when targeting various parts of the customer/user journey to find different ideas to test. I found the numerous case studies from companies like Pinterest and Qualaroo that Ellis and Brown use as examples particularly helpful in grounding the framework.
While my more pessimistic side found it hard to wrap my head around the feasibility of implementing such rapid-paced testing at all companies, the book does make a compelling case for investing the resources to do so. One of the biggest hurdles is to shift your and your company’s thinking away from traditional wisdom and towards experimentation, away from intuition and towards data. The point that resonated the most with me is that success is a "numbers game", less about the discovery of one groundbreaking genius idea and more about “a series of small wins, compounded over time.”
The one element that did somewhat turn me off was the unequivocal commendation of Facebook as a company that dedicated itself to the growth hacking practices to incredible success. While I don’t disagree with that point, I think in the past few years, there has been a more nuanced examination of the consequences the “move fast and break things” motto has inflicted on the world. While the book does warn against the more intrusive ways companies can use customer data (e.g., the Target ads that knew a teenage girl was pregnant before her father did), it does so more from a PR and customer retention perspective than anything else. In fact, at one point in the monetization chapter, the authors even list selling customer data to third parties as an option for mobile apps to make money. It’s these little details that somewhat date the book. (It was published in 2017, which is around the time data breaches/abuse and the details around Facebook’s role in the 2016 election were really making their way into the public eye.)
None of these critiques invalidate the merits of growth hacking or the book itself, so I still recommend it, with just that asterisk.
My notes from the book =>
Don’t just let Your customers leave You - go and ask them the reason. On one example the users just did not believe the service was indeed free to use, so after many tests they ended up with a solution to put a “paid version” button next to signing up free. * Growth Hacking solutions are only fit for service/product that is liked in the first place - when the survey of “how disappointed would You be if the service will close” will get 40% > to answer “very disappointed”. If the answers will be below 40% then money won’t help You spreading the solution. If You let users invite their friends, there must be a win-win for both parties, not just the one inviting - so offer something for the both of them. * Facebook growth hack was to let users translate the service into their language to speed up opening it in new countries. * Growth Hacking is possible when You collect the right data, when You connect the right dots. And the best team is a cross-functional one, very data driven. There are mountains of data, to mine for gold - specific relevant info. * Your goal should not be only one (new users), but several in chain (user activation, user revenue etc). * It’s good to ask for a review after the first offer of value to the user, reciprocity. Think at what moment the user is happiest with Your service, then ask for review at that step. * Growth hacker is not a single magic wizard, but the greatest results come from a cross-functional team. Combine programming, UI/U, data analytics, marketing experience… Few persons are strong in all of these. The team member also have to be humble not to set their own dimensions as the top ones to push for. The team must already be part of creating new products, not just in growing old ones. In every step - user subscribing, activation, monetization. * Example: Bittorrent mobile app users: one reason for not buying a paid version… THEY DID NOT KNOW! 92% answered this questions - and when they put a “big fat” button with paid version, it boosted 10x results. So You think You know the reasons - but no, You have to ask the users for everything. Another example: the paid version had battery saver function, and free version had ads about it. * It is essential to have a data analyst in the team, otherwise Your group will end up with just looking at Google Analytics and not getting through the surface. Good analysts can combine it all: company data, sales etc. * Example at Facebook: employee #32 wanted to present a monetization idea at a meeting, and Zuckerberg stopped him, writing GROWTH with big letters - that only this idea should be entertained, growing the number of users of Facebook. * What ever messages You sent out, You should be using different versions and then track open rate on all of them. Always Be Testing. * When starting with a Growth Team in Your company, praise every success out lout to get them more accepted and trusted (since breaking things happens anyway). They should not be outsourced, since this way they do not have the authority to perform all experiments. * The product/service must be very good, otherwise the Growth budget will be spent too soon. Facebook example of BranchOut got pushed to 25 million users, but most of them leaving quickly, since the product wasn’t great. Love creates growth, not the other way around. "AHA" moment must be there. And driving towards it often leads to “Feature Creep” - but too often we should remove, not add. * Measure where Your users feel good value - for LinkedIN it was having 30 friends in the feed - and then push towards it. Slack informed that 2000 messages in a group will make it feel “like home”. * Ask Your users what they would use as alternatives, and then there investigate, what additional cool features/ideas You can grab. * When valuating the opinion of users, it is best to know what type of user it is - does this group think Your service is a MUST have or just nice to have? * Think, what metrics is important for Your company - if new users, then don’t spend resources in activating the users You already have. You should always have a “True North Star” Metrics, the most important for Your company. Example: AirBNB has “nights booked” not “new users”, since staying overnight is the “AHA” moment for their users. For Slack it can be “messages sent”. * When You choose not to test something, because You think people are bothered by it - then first ask before setting it aside. Don’t presume. * When choosing Growth Hacks, You can estimate them on 3 dimensions, the ICE score: (How big) Impact, Confidence (how sure You are of it), Ease (of implementing) - and calculate the average score. * Random example in worlds: “Store Your photos” VS “Share Your photos” (last was a lot more activated). “Find a date” VS “Help Your friend find a date”. “Give me advice” VS “Give me expert advice” * Never presume why the users act specific way, always base things on hard data. * Your “North Star” metric should be calculated via a pipeline leading up to that number, e.g. “download count”, “sign up count”, “activation count”, “first photo” etc - so You can have an impact in every part separated, raising the total number. Example: the more files a DropBox user has, the more likely he is to collaborate other people, inviting them. With every new invite the user is benefited: now he has more friends to easily share files to! So he must GAIN something by inviting. * When invited, don’t just let visitor create an account, but first teach him what the application is about. Good invite in AirBNB: “Your friend Morgan just gave You a 25.- discount on first trip, be sure to say thanks!”. And when thanked actually, Morgan is more likely to ask other people too! * In every process there are some people lost - so the people that actually do continue are the best to answer: “Hey, what was the one thing that almost made You quit in the last phase? * Ask for little steps to be made here and there - this is investment on their part and then they are mentally committed to do the next bigger step. Like asking 3-4 multiple choice questions to raise his commitment. * “Learn Flow” is to guide the user into filling needed information like a game, so while learning he is also completing his profile, the “AHA!” * “Gamification” - give rewards, badges. But they must be logical, not too absurd. Test, they might like them! * If You are not using mobile triggers (notifications) to not bother clients - remember, Your competition will, and take Your users away. * The more data user has somewhere entered (or pictures etc), the more likely he is to keep on using it in the long run. “Live or Die” is the first weeks, that’s why many applications put extra pressure to keep You coming back this time. * While “Feature Creep” is bad, then so is the reversal - offering nothing new to old users. You must keep it interesting and add new stuff! The Growth Team can always ask, what more to offer or refresh. * Example on crowd mentality - replacing a few testimonials in store with “We have a 6000+ following on FB” brought the security for new visitors to buy from there (since “others do too”). * When by experimenting You achieve great success with a change, then don’t stop there - fine-tune it some more.
Don’t just let Your customers leave You - go and ask them the reason. On one example the users just did not believe the service was indeed free to use, so after many tests they ended up with a solution to put a “paid version” button next to signing up free. * Growth Hacking solutions are only fit for service/product that is liked in the first place - when the survey of “how disappointed would You be if the service will close” will get 40% > to answer “very disappointed”. If the answers will be below 40% then money won’t help You spreading the solution. If You let users invite their friends, there must be a win-win for both parties, not just the one inviting - so offer something for the both of them. * Facebook growth hack was to let users translate the service into their language to speed up opening it in new countries. * Growth Hacking is possible when You collect the right data, when You connect the right dots. And the best team is a cross-functional one, very data driven. There are mountains of data, to mine for gold - specific relevant info. * Your goal should not be only one (new users), but several in chain (user activation, user revenue etc). * It’s good to ask for a review after the first offer of value to the user, reciprocity. Think at what moment the user is happiest with Your service, then ask for review at that step. * Growth hacker is not a single magic wizard, but the greatest results come from a cross-functional team. Combine programming, UI/U, data analytics, marketing experience… Few persons are strong in all of these. The team member also have to be humble not to set their own dimensions as the top ones to push for. The team must already be part of creating new products, not just in growing old ones. In every step - user subscribing, activation, monetization. * Example: Bittorrent mobile app users: one reason for not buying a paid version… THEY DID NOT KNOW! 92% answered this questions - and when they put a “big fat” button with paid version, it boosted 10x results. So You think You know the reasons - but no, You have to ask the users for everything. Another example: the paid version had battery saver function, and free version had ads about it. * It is essential to have a data analyst in the team, otherwise Your group will end up with just looking at Google Analytics and not getting through the surface. Good analysts can combine it all: company data, sales etc. * Example at Facebook: employee #32 wanted to present a monetization idea at a meeting, and Zuckerberg stopped him, writing GROWTH with big letters - that only this idea should be entertained, growing the number of users of Facebook. * What ever messages You sent out, You should be using different versions and then track open rate on all of them. Always Be Testing. * When starting with a Growth Team in Your company, praise every success out lout to get them more accepted and trusted (since breaking things happens anyway). They should not be outsourced, since this way they do not have the authority to perform all experiments. * The product/service must be very good, otherwise the Growth budget will be spent too soon. Facebook example of BranchOut got pushed to 25 million users, but most of them leaving quickly, since the product wasn’t great. Love creates growth, not the other way around. "AHA" moment must be there. And driving towards it often leads to “Feature Creep” - but too often we should remove, not add. * Measure where Your users feel good value - for LinkedIN it was having 30 friends in the feed - and then push towards it. Slack informed that 2000 messages in a group will make it feel “like home”. * Ask Your users what they would use as alternatives, and then there investigate, what additional cool features/ideas You can grab. * When valuating the opinion of users, it is best to know what type of user it is - does this group think Your service is a MUST have or just nice to have? * Think, what metrics is important for Your company - if new users, then don’t spend resources in activating the users You already have. You should always have a “True North Star” Metrics, the most important for Your company. Example: AirBNB has “nights booked” not “new users”, since staying overnight is the “AHA” moment for their users. For Slack it can be “messages sent”. * When You choose not to test something, because You think people are bothered by it - then first ask before setting it aside. Don’t presume. * When choosing Growth Hacks, You can estimate them on 3 dimensions, the ICE score: (How big) Impact, Confidence (how sure You are of it), Ease (of implementing) - and calculate the average score. * Random example in worlds: “Store Your photos” VS “Share Your photos” (last was a lot more activated). “Find a date” VS “Help Your friend find a date”. “Give me advice” VS “Give me expert advice” * Never presume why the users act specific way, always base things on hard data. * Your “North Star” metric should be calculated via a pipeline leading up to that number, e.g. “download count”, “sign up count”, “activation count”, “first photo” etc - so You can have an impact in every part separated, raising the total number. Example: the more files a DropBox user has, the more likely he is to collaborate other people, inviting them. With every new invite the user is benefited: now he has more friends to easily share files to! So he must GAIN something by inviting. * When invited, don’t just let visitor create an account, but first teach him what the application is about. Good invite in AirBNB: “Your friend Morgan just gave You a 25.- discount on first trip, be sure to say thanks!”. And when thanked actually, Morgan is more likely to ask other people too! * In every process there are some people lost - so the people that actually do continue are the best to answer: “Hey, what was the one thing that almost made You quit in the last phase? * Ask for little steps to be made here and there - this is investment on their part and then they are mentally committed to do the next bigger step. Like asking 3-4 multiple choice questions to raise his commitment. * “Learn Flow” is to guide the user into filling needed information like a game, so while learning he is also completing his profile, the “AHA!” * “Gamification” - give rewards, badges. But they must be logical, not too absurd. Test, they might like them! * If You are not using mobile triggers (notifications) to not bother clients - remember, Your competition will, and take Your users away. * The more data user has somewhere entered (or pictures etc), the more likely he is to keep on using it in the long run. “Live or Die” is the first weeks, that’s why many applications put extra pressure to keep You coming back this time. * While “Feature Creep” is bad, then so is the reversal - offering nothing new to old users. You must keep it interesting and add new stuff! The Growth Team can always ask, what more to offer or refresh. * Example on crowd mentality - replacing a few testimonials in store with “We have a 6000+ following on FB” brought the security for new visitors to buy from there (since “others do too”). * When by experimenting You achieve great success with a change, then don’t stop there - fine-tune it some more.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
First, I must say that I was almost a newbie to the subject, having that said, I really liked this book. It is one of the ones that makes you wish "Why haven't I read this before".
It is a crash course on Growth Hacking and presents a good deal of information about digital marketing, practically a must read for anyone planning to open a business.
It also combines a great guideline with good concepts and real life examples.
It is a crash course on Growth Hacking and presents a good deal of information about digital marketing, practically a must read for anyone planning to open a business.
It also combines a great guideline with good concepts and real life examples.
This book was a great and useful read. To be more specific:
1. Hacking Growth had a clear, logical structure and covered a comprehensive list of topics.
2. It started at the beginning: building a growth team. Why do you need one in the first place? Who should be in it? Who should lead it? etc.
3. While covering the Growth Hacking method and then each part of AARR, the author provided real cases. There was also a fictional growth team working on a fictional product to illustrate the approaches and modes of thinking to employ.
4. Reading this book sparked a lot of ideas for research and testing in my own workplace - which is the best thing of all. The book is close to what I'm working on, so it was very applicable.
Bottom line: it's a comprehensive overview if you're new to the topic, well written and to the point.
1. Hacking Growth had a clear, logical structure and covered a comprehensive list of topics.
2. It started at the beginning: building a growth team. Why do you need one in the first place? Who should be in it? Who should lead it? etc.
3. While covering the Growth Hacking method and then each part of AARR, the author provided real cases. There was also a fictional growth team working on a fictional product to illustrate the approaches and modes of thinking to employ.
4. Reading this book sparked a lot of ideas for research and testing in my own workplace - which is the best thing of all. The book is close to what I'm working on, so it was very applicable.
Bottom line: it's a comprehensive overview if you're new to the topic, well written and to the point.