The days of traditional marketing are gone. To be successful, brands must stay on top of the latest trends and tactics, swapping out books that discuss the benefits of direct mail campaigns for online marketing books that deliver innovative marketing strategies. Today's marketers would do well to stock their libraries with Ryan Holiday's 2014 book, Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising.
In this book review, we'll tell you why we think Growth Hacker Marketing is one of the best digital marketing books around, detailing how brands like Twitter and Facebook skyrocketed to the next level and paved the way for the future of marketing and PR.
Summary & Book Review of Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising
In order to understand the concepts outlined by Ryan Holiday, we must first define growth hacker marketing. The term was first coined by Sean Ellis in 2010 in his Startup Marketing blog. Ellis defined a "growth hacker" as an individual who calculates every marketing move to strategically impact brand expansion.
Forbes contributor George Deeb takes the definition a step further, describing growth hacking as a strategy where marketing and technology intersect. Brands must scrutinize and analyze their digital performance until they discover the ticket to rapid growth.
That's essentially how Holiday describes the mindset in Growth Hacker Marketing, but in addition he explains how to actually step into the future of advertising. He walks readers through each step, from product development, to viral marketing, to retaining customers, allowing his readers to immediately put the ideas into practice.
Key Takeaways from Growth Hacker Marketing
While we encourage all marketing teams to read the book in addition to our book review, Holiday provides several helpful takeaways in an interview with Forbes:
- Start with a great product: It's a point Holiday addresses in the very first paragraph of Growth Hacker Marketing: marketers must have a product that people want and need. Marketing isn't an afterthought, but a continuous process.
- Don't underestimate the importance of onboarding: Holiday notes that starting small is a normal part of growth, and showing users how to make the most of the product is the critical first step. If they don't know their way around, how can they turn the product into a habit?
- Make buyers your sellers: If there's one thing you should take away from this book review, it's that you, as a marketer, must encourage customers to share your product. There are plenty of ways to do this. Groupon used a "Refer 3 Friends, Get the Deal Free" promotion, for example, and Hotmail included a signature in every email promoting its services.
Does Your Team Have Growth Hackers?
You might very well have growth hackers on your own marketing team — they may just need a push to excel. Use Wrike for Marketers to collaborate, monitor campaign progress, and take your brand to the next level.
Sources: Amazon.com, Forbes.com, Startup-Marketing.com, Forbes.com, Fastcompany.com
