Jim Huffman discusses the concept of growth hacking in marketing, defining it as a focus on scalable and sustainable business growth post product-market fit. He emphasizes the importance of data and analytics in optimizing conversion and retention rates, and the need for daily tracking of growth metrics. The guide outlines strategies for generating and testing growth ideas, alongside case studies to illustrate successful implementations.

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How to
Growth HACK
Your Marketing Plan
Jim Huffman
VP of Marketing
TheTake

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Acquired
for$500M

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$24B Valuation

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$10B Valuation

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What is a Growth Hacker?
Sean Ellis (Dropbox) came up with the phrase “Growth Hacker” in 2010 when he
was trying to hire his replacement. Because a the Marketing candidates weren’t
working out.
“A Growth Hacker is
a person whose true
north star is Growth.
” – Sean Ellis

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Wait, So What Does that Mean?
“After product-market fit and an
efficient conversion process, find
scalable, repeatable and sustainable
ways to grow the business.”
– Sean Ellis

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Product
Data /
Analytics
Marketing
Growth Hacking
What Goes into Growth Hacking?

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GH = Distribution Built into Product
LINKEDIN
Add Your Address Book and
Build Your Network.
GILT
Invite a Friend and
Get $25 When They Buy.

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Growth Hacking Summary
1. North Star = Growth
2. Find scalable, repeatable and sustainable ways to
grow
3. Use Product, Data & Marketing
4. Distribution Built into Product

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STOP
How do you know you’re ready to GROW?

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You Need to Answer
Three Questions

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1. Do You Have Product Market Fit?
How do you measure Product Market Fit?
1. 40% of Users would be “Very Disappointed” if your product disappeared.
2. NPS Score
How would you feel if you could no longer use
[product]?
(A) Very disappointed
(B) Somewhat disappointed
(C) Not disappointed (it isn’t really that useful)
(D) N/A – I no longer use [product] (Survey.io)
DISCLAIMER: False positives could emerge from surveys. Make sure your engagement &
retention data supports your results.

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How Do You Maintain PMF?
CASE STUDY
Talk to users and understand their problem. And do it every single day. We call our experience the
“Happiness Initiative” and we measure it daily.

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2. Are You Optimized for Growth?
CONVERSION:
Can you convert a user?
RETENTION:
Can you keep a user?

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How We Messed Up Conversion
and Then Fixed It
CASE STUDY
< 1% Sign-Ups

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We Leveraged Our ‘Magic Moment’
CASE STUDY
• Users coming through SEO (70% of traffic) are trying to Solve a Problem,
• Identify when you solve a user’s problem = “Magic Moment”
• RESOURCE: Alex Schultz, Head of Growth – See your friends
• Demonstrate why they should sign up
Over 4% Sign-Ups

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We Bring them Back with Email
CASE STUDY
• Editorial team dedicated to keeping you users engaged through high quality content.

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3. Is Growth a Priority?
Then you better track it every single day. Facebook’s #1 Metric:
How Many More Users (as a percentage) Were Added Per Day?

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Summary
1. Product Market Fit
2. Conversion & Retention
3. Everyone’s Focused on Growth

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GO
Congrats, you’re ready for growth.

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Lets Get in the Growth Mindset
1. Your Goal is to Expedite the Speed of Your
Feedback Loop.
2. A/B Testing & Analytics are the Language of
Growth.
3. Over 80% of your Growth ideas will FAIL.
(And that’s okay.)

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GROWTH HACK: Plan of Attack
STEP 1: Identify Growth Ideas to Test
STEP 2: Test for Scalable & Repeatable Ideas
STEP 3: Measure & Model Your Growth
STEP 4: Repeat

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How to Come Up with Growth Ideas?
It starts with thinking about your Customers.
1. What does the customer or the market want?
2. Who are my customers / users?
3. Where do I find my customers / users?
4. What language do my customers / users
speak?
STEP 1

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Here are 19 Traction Channels
1. Viral Marketing
2. PR
3. Unconventional PR
4. SEM
5. Social & Display Ads
6. Offline Ads
7. SEO
8. Content Marketing
9. Email Marketing
10. Engineering as Marketing
11. Targeting Blogs
12. Existing Platforms
13. Business Development
14. Affiliate Programs
15. Trade Shows
16. Community Building
17. Sales
18. Offline Events
19. Speaking Engagements
STEP 1

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Get Inspiration from Market Research
1. Study a Brand or Competitor
2. Research their Traffic Drivers
3. Analyze their channels that have traction
4. See where they’re putting their creative energy
STEP 1

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What to Consider When Testing?
• Biggest Impact
• Free vs. Paid
• Fastest Feedback Loop
• What A/B tests are you the most excited about?
• What segments are you targeting?
And most Importantly . .
Are these Ideas are Repeatable & Scalable?
STEP 2

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How to Measure Your Growth?
• Simplicity. Simplicity. Simplicity.
• Pick One Thing: Traffic, Sign-Ups, Engagement/Retention, Whatever.
• Automate Your Reporting.
STEP 3

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How to Model Your Growth?
• Model Growth Based on Your Growth Channels
• Use Your Inputs to drive growth. Do NOT use growth rates
STEP 3

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Repeat.

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Case Studies
Growth Hacking Inspiration

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Google Images + Timing = Traffic
CASE STUDY
Capturing Users Through Organic SEO
Screenshots taken in an incognito window
• Be the first website to submit images & pages for movie & TV show products
• Search = over 70% of Traffic

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Coach.Me: How They Found 70k Users
CASE STUDY
• GOOGLE KEYWORD PLANNER: How are people talking about your product?
• QUORA: Where are they talking about your product?

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Hitlist: Engineering as Marketing
CASE STUDY
Chrome extension went viral on product hunt & featured in the Chrome Web Store

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Mint: Growth through Content
• Challenge: Personal finance (not viral) and requesting personal data
• Product Wasn’t Viral but their Personal Finance Blog Was viral.
• 1.5 Million Users in 2 Years, Sold for $170 Million
CASE STUDY

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SumoMe: Just Get in the Door
CASE STUDY
• Promote Free Products (ahead of Paid)
• Frictionless Sign-Up: No Credit Card Required

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Evernote: Find a New Growth Channel
CASE STUDY
• App Store = New Distribution Channel
• “We really killed ourselves in the first couple of years to always be in all of the
app store launches on day one.”
• 19,000 New Sign-Ups / Day

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My Favorite Resources
1. How to Start a Startup: Alex Schultz, Growth at Facebook (Video)
2. Lean Startup Marketing (Book)
3. The Viral Startup (Book)
4. Traction (Book)
5. The Viral Loop (Book)
6. Growth Engines (Book)
7. Hooked (Book)
8. The Ultimate Sales Machine (Book)
9. What Great Brands Do (Book)
10.First Round Capital Review (Blog)
11.GrowthHackers.com (Forum)
12.Startup Grind (Podcast)
13.The Growth Show (Podcast)
14.Paul Graham’s Essays (Blog)
15.Neil Patel (Blog)
BONUS: jimwhuffman.com (Blog)

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Let’s Talk
Jim Huffman
VP of Marketing
Jim@thetake.com
Twitter: @jimwhuffman