For some years now, the term “Growth” has been thrown around on LinkedIn and in the corporate world. But what does it really mean? And why is it so relevant?
Some time ago, I was told that “it’s a posh way of saying Marketing.” At that time, I didn’t have enough knowledge to refute that statement and clearly explain the difference between Growth and Marketing.
But if you are reading this, it’s because I finally got it and can explain it in my own words, just as I would have liked to have it explained to me in the beginning.
What is Growth?
Let’s unravel this term and understand what Growth really means. First, let’s explore what it’s NOT:
Growth isn’t an exact science or a department like Marketing can be. In my opinion, there are many nuances, but we could define Growth as a structured methodology, closely linked to the constant growth mentality within companies.
The term first appeared in the United States in 2010. It was coined by Sean Ellis, who drove growth in companies such as Dropbox, Eventbrite and LogMeIn. In fact, as of today, some of these companies, pioneers in the implementation of this mindset (such as Airbnb, Dropbox or HubSpot) have reported sustained monthly growth of 10-20%.
However, this doesn’t mean that the concept did not exist before in the corporate world. In fact, it has always been present in both large and small companies. It just wasn’t called “Growth”—and yes, it does sound a bit posh.
Actually, what we call Growth today is nothing but the conscious and strategic application of the classic and infallible principle of “trial and error.” A basic concept that you’ll find in any book on entrepreneurship or business management.
What is Growth Hacking?
To be true to history, Sean Ellis coined the term “Growth Hacker” in a post titled “Find a Growth Hacker for Your Startup”. Ellis was looking for a person with a different mindset than the traditional marketer: someone obsessed with scalable growth, using creativity, data and rapid experimentation.
Lately I see a lot of job openings for Growth Hacker roles and, although the name sounds quite appealing, it’s clear to me from reading the descriptions that many companies are still not entirely clear on what Growth really entails.
I wouldn’t know how to accurately translate the word “Hack” into English, but it might come close to something like “looking for the trick” or “cheating the system” to achieve a goal. Growth Hacking is based on just that: targeted, disruptive and creative actions that play with limits and seek to generate a peak in traffic, sales, virality or notoriety in a short time.
A mountain could be a visual representation of a Growth Hacking action: a peak over a period of time.
To understand it better, let’s look at the case of Patagonia, a clothing brand like The North Face, specializing in products for adventurers, outdoor activities and nature lovers.
On Black Friday, Patagonia decided to go off the beaten path with their message: “Don’t buy this jacket.” Instead of joining the consumer frenzy, they launched a campaign that appealed directly to their audience: people conscious of the environment and the impact of their purchasing decisions. With this message, Patagonia not only broke the mold, but also reaffirmed its commitment to sustainability and responsible purchasing.
The result? They increased their sales and brand reputation.
This is exactly what Growth Hacking is about. This is a one-off, as there’s only one Black Friday a year and it’s difficult to replicate. Abusing this strategy would cause you to lose some of the brand equity and reputation you’ve earned.
In other words, Growth Hacking takes the Growth mentality and methodology to an extreme: thinking outside the box (yes, another “posh term”, but useful) to find creative and effective ways to maximize the growth of your company and your products.
According to benchmarks by SaaS companies with teams dedicated to Growth strategies, they have managed to reduce CAC by 30-50% in 6-12 months.
How Are Growth and Traditional Marketing Different?
When we think of Marketing, many of us think of the traditional Pirate Funnel or AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire & Action). However, Growth is about understanding the product holistically, analyzing your entire conversion funnel to find areas for improvement.
This makes Growth cross-sectional: it can include many different disciplines and business areas, from Marketing, Product Design and User Experience (UX/UI) to CRO and Analytics.
Can SEO be considered Growth? The answer isn’t that simple. It could if it becomes one of the key channels to drive business growth and experimentation techniques are applied beyond the traditional SEO that’s implemented generically for all clients. In that case, we’d be talking about Growth.
It’s about going a step further, applying what Eric Ries states in the second chapter of his famous book The Lean Startup: Build > Measure > Learn.
Is CRO Growth?
In this case, the answer is most probably yes.
In the end, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is one of the greatest reflections of Growth because of the way it works: experimentation, A/B testing, learning and iteration.
As startups like Airbnb, Facebook, LinkedIn or Uber grew, they formed Growth teams dedicated to optimizing key metrics like activation, retention, monetization and virality.
The approach became an interdisciplinary methodology, where product, marketing and data work together, but always with a common goal: to identify the levers of business growth and move them to maximize results, either by hitting the nail on the head and iterating or by getting it wrong and learning.
The “Growth Mindset“, although it comes from the field of psychology (Carol Dweck, 2006), was integrated into the cultural mindset of these companies.
Growth Mentality
What sets Growth apart from Marketing is the mindset. Traditional marketing tends to be more static: you create an annual plan, execute it, measure results and adjust as needed. The Growth mentality, on the other hand, is dynamic. There’s also a plan, of course, but the interesting thing is that we don’t know for sure what will work in each phase. So, you test, measure, learn… and adjust as you go.
Let’s look at another major factor that will help us understand the difference: how the product is conceived. In traditional marketing, a product or service is designed first, and then an external team begins to build a message around it. This often leads to a mismatch: the message and the product are not always in sync.
In Growth, we make the product grow by itself, relying on these famous levers that I am mentioning so much, but that are key in this holistic vision.
In short, Growth is a way of thinking about the Product, of conceiving it and making it grow with a series of personalized techniques designed based on the needs and improvements required to scale and take off like a rocket without any kind of brake.
In a world where attention is the scarcest commodity, thinking about growth is not optional: it’s essential. And it takes more than good ideas: it takes an adaptive mindset, customized strategies and execution that combines the best of technology with human intuition.
At Globant, we connect brands with audiences like never before. From activation to loyalty, we design full-funnel plans designed to scale.
At our Full Funnel Media Studio, part of the Globant GUT Network ecosystem, we combine creativity, media and technology to drive real growth for your brand.
