The 4 Stages of Growth Hacking: A Data-Driven Approach to Scaling Your Business
Introduction:
As a growth hacker with over 10 years of experience, I’ve navigated through various companies, ranging from e-commerce and web3 to AIGC, consistently delivering outstanding results. Throughout my growth journey, I’ve come to understand that the 4 stages of growth hacking are crucial for achieving success. In this article, I’ll share my insights into these stages and provide practical advice on how they can help you scale your business effectively.
By understanding and effectively navigating these 4 stages, you can unlock your true growth potential and achieve sustained success in a competitive market.
Mastering Growth Hacking: Bridging the Gap Between User Acquisition and Business Enterprise Sales
Before diving into the 4 stages of growth hacking, it’s essential to understand that each stage requires a different set of skills and expertise. In my journey, I’ve identified two primary types of growth hacking roles: one focused on user acquisition and the other on business enterprise sales. In China, these roles are commonly referred to as “TO C” (C stands for Consumer) and “TO B” (B stands for Business Client). At first glance, the job descriptions for these roles might suggest that the skills required are vastly different. However, the underlying logic and strategic approach for both positions are remarkably similar.
The TO C role emphasizes understanding consumer behaviour, creating compelling value propositions, and driving engagement through various channels such as social media, content marketing, and email campaigns. Success in this role hinges on the ability to attract, convert, and retain individual users through personalized experiences and data-driven marketing strategies.
On the other hand, the TO B role focuses on building relationships with business clients, understanding their unique needs, and offering tailored solutions that address specific pain points. This involves a deep understanding of the industry, crafting persuasive sales pitches, and leveraging data to demonstrate value and ROI. Effective communication and negotiation skills are paramount in this role, as is the ability to manage long sales cycles and complex decision-making processes.
Despite the apparent differences, both roles require a keen analytical mindset, a thorough understanding of the market, and the ability to iterate quickly based on feedback and performance metrics. Whether acquiring individual users or securing business clients, the goal is to drive growth through innovative strategies and relentless optimization.
The Shift from Industry Experience to Data-Driven Decision-Making
Over the past 20 years, HR and business leaders have traditionally believed that industry-specific experience is crucial for success. However, the rise of data-driven decision-making has transformed this perspective. Today, success hinges not on tenure within an industry, but on the ability to rapidly understand the business landscape and make informed, data-driven decisions.
The 4 Stages of Growth Hacking
When joining a company as a growth hacker, I typically break down the growth process into 4 stages to ensure a comprehensive approach. Each phase focuses on a different aspect of growth, from initial user acquisition to long-term retention and optimization. Mastering these stages can significantly enhance your ability to drive sustainable growth and achieve business goals. While opinions may vary, I believe these 4 stages are highly effective. In this article, we will delve into each stage, providing valuable insights and strategies to help you excel in your role as a growth hacker. These stages are:
- Confirming the company’s data accuracy
- Understanding the existing business logic and confirming a core metric
- Deconstructing the core metric into specific to-do lists
- Reviewing and refining the to-do lists to drive growth
Case Study: From Data to Renewals for Customer Success and Sales Growth
Now, let’s dive into a practical example. In December 2022, I joined an AIGC company as a Customer Success Manager. My role involved selling Avatar live-streaming services to Retail Brands. The goal was to manage these avatars live-streaming for our clients in hopes of securing renewals in the subsequent year.
In essence, this role encompassed avatar product optimization, customer success, and required sales skills and data analytic knowledge to ensure clients renewed their contracts annually.
Upon joining the company, I began by organizing and ensuring the accuracy of relevant company data. Our data sources were straightforward, with part coming from live streaming platforms via API and part generated by the Avatar themselves.
For a sales-driven company, the core objective is to increase sales revenue. With sales revenue identified as the core metric, we deconstructed it into sales revenue = new customer purchases + existing customer subsequent. Although these are two distinct purchase actions, from the customer’s perspective, the reasons for purchasing or renewing are fundamentally driven by whether the use of Avatar positively impacted their sales data. Once we understood this, we could develop specific to-do lists for various experiments.
For example, the to-do list I devised included:
New Customers:
- Recreate the go-to-market (GTM) strategy to highlight the impact of Avatar live-streaming on the brand’s sales figures.
Existing Customers:
- Enhance live streaming data by negotiating with the platform to open more API endpoints, thereby increasing engagement and increasing GMV (gross merchandise value) during the period by consuming coupons.
After implementing these actions for a week, we conducted reviews and made necessary adjustments. This iterative process allowed me to secure multi-million RMB orders for the company in less than a month.
Conclusion:
While the 4 stages of growth hacking may vary based on the individual, the ultimate goal is always the same: to drive growth and scale your business. By understanding the importance of data-driven decision-making and the 4 stages of growth hacking, you’ll be well on your way to achieving success in your business ventures.
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