How to become a growth hacker: the guide

What is a Growth Hacker?

Let's start with what it isn't: the growth hacker is not a hacker in the IT sense of the word. Their aim is not to find vulnerabilities in a network or in computer software.

A growth hacker is first and foremost a marketer, i.e. an individual capable of boosting the growth of the company he or she works for. How do they do this? By using all marketing channels and techniques to generate :

• Traffic
• Leads
• Customers
• Growth

His objective is to find qualified customers who can be passed on to the sales pipeline. Put more simply, he seeks to bring customers interested in the company's services or products to a salesperson.

So, why the term Growth Hacking? Because he does all this with digital tools, seeking out customers on social networks, forums, search engines and so on.

A good growth hacker finds customers wherever they are online, makes contact with them and converts them.

What qualifications does a growth hacker need?

None at all. The growth hacker is not a graduate of a prestigious university. That's where he comes into line with the basic concept of hacking: he's a tinkerer. Put like that, it's immediately less glamorous than the English version "hacker".

He looks for what works to generate leads. Anything that works. The growth hacker may or may not be ethical. It all depends on the client's wishes. If it's necessary to use techniques that are borderline legal, or even totally obscure, the growth hacker can do the job.

What are the missions of a growth hacker?

This is where the main problem arises for those who aspire to this profession: the growth hacker must literally know how to do everything. When you say "hacker" or "tinkerer", you also mean "jack-of-all-trades".

To boost a company's growth exponentially (which is what growth hacking promises), you need to have an overview of its online presence.

The growth hacker must have a deep understanding of how search engine algorithms, social networking platforms, advertising campaigns, etc. work, while knowing how to code in at least the front-end programming languages (HTML, CSS, Javascript).

Here's an overview of his missions, to help you understand what he needs to master.

Growth hacking and SEO

A growth hacker's primary goal is not to solve the SEO problems of the company's website. However, if he can kill two birds with one stone by bringing customers to the landing page of a site with high SEO potential, all the better.

As a result, the growth hacker must be able toanalyze his client's site, find the problems to be corrected, and then take the necessary steps to apply the fixes. All this, of course, without making the site crash.

Because the growth hacker's job is to make his client money fast, not lose it. Hence the need to master programming languages, as well as the CMS on which these sites are generally based (Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, eZ Publish, SPIP, etc.).

Growth hacking and data collection

Every marketing campaign begins with data collection. Whether it's an e-mail list, a list of social network accounts, or a trend on which to base an advertising campaign, the growth hacker understands the world of data mining.

To do this, the growth hacker needs to be able toautomate numerous marketing tasks, in order to gather as much information as possible. Why? Because what may be useless in one advertising campaign may be decisive in another.

Traffic analysis

To run profitable marketing campaigns, the growth hacker needs to know how to use traffic analysis tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, or Google Data Studio.

This understanding of where traffic comes from means he can eliminate ineffective marketing strategies and, conversely, develop those that really work.

Growth hacking and marketing channels

The growth hacker must know how to use marketing channels:

• Emailing
• Online advertising (also known as Display)
• Canvassing social network users
• Sponsoring
• etc.

With the notable exception of content marketing. Again, the growth hacker isn't there to build a brand, by creating sustainable, quality content. His aim is to find leads quickly.

So don't confuse growth hacking with growth marketing, which aims to develop a long-term brand image.

Online advertising

Once the growth hacker has gathered sufficient information, he or she is in a position to carry out targeted advertising campaigns, via Facebook Ads, Google Ads or LinkedIn ads.

This is where traffic analysis can be used, for example, to run retargeting campaigns to try and convert users who didn't take the bait the first time they saw an ad.

What are the skills of a growth hacker?

Having seen the missions of the growth hacker, it is easy to see that his skills fall into a non-exhaustive list, which includes :

• Computer programming
• SEO
• Data mining
• Digital marketing
• Mastering social networks
• Management
• Etc.

The management point is important, because the growth hacker can't do everything alone. Planning an advertising campaign is important, but finding content for it is even more so. While he can sometimes rely on his client's employees, the growth hacker can also be left to his own devices. They need to know how to surround themselves with freelancers, or with a team they set up within their own start-up.

How much does a growth marketer earn?

• Beginner: €35,000 gross per year
• Senior: €40,000 to €50,000 gross per annum
• Expert: €65,000 gross per annum

Growth marketing can also be done on a freelance basis. For this category of individual workers, the income is not known.

What are the career prospects for a growth marketer?

A growth hacker can easily become :

• Marketing department manager
• Acquisition manager
• Customer Relations Manager
• etc.

He or she is capable of progressing through all the positions in the marketing chain.