Growth Hacking: A fancy way to say ‘trying stuff’
This week’s marketing support group is in session.
I’m still in summer juggle mode: work, baking, client call, football, write proposal, Grow a Garden (IYKYK). Amid all this chaos and the endless AI posts on LinkedIn, I’m still seeing a lot of content and posts talking about ‘Growth Hacking’. So, I thought I’d make that subject for this week’s marketing support group topic: what’s the deal with “growth hacking,” and do I have time for it?
Is it just jargon masquerading as a magic trick?
Let’s strip away the hype.
What Growth Hacking really is (and isn't)
Yes, “growth hacking” sounds like a high-speed, Silicon Valley heist: code, buzz, viral loops. It was introduced in 2010 by entrepreneur and start-up advisor Sean Ellis afterall. But in the everyday world of business? It’s really just a fancy term for: trying stuff, measuring it, keeping what works, and ditching what doesn’t.
According to Wikipedia, growth hacking is “a subfield of marketing focused on the rapid growth of a company... regularly conduct experiments, including A/B testing... replicate what works and modify or abandon what doesn’t” before investing too much time or money.
Early Silicon Valley startups like Dropbox and Airbnb did it. Dropbox famously used a referral program with bonus storage to drive growth rather than expensive ads, and LinkedIn improved invites by heavily testing the wording. Source: Wired
So yes, it's real—but it's not magic.
What makes it useful… if you use it right
It’s Affordable: Growth hacking thrives on creativity, not big budgets. Think A/B tests, simple tweaks, referral nudge—not prime-time ads.
It’s Measurable: You test, you watch, you tweak. To quote Wired on growth hacking’s core: it's about combining experiments, data, and creative thinking.
It’s Sustainable (If You Structure It Right): A recent analysis says most growth in 2025 comes not from chasing viral trends, but from consistent, small experiments and improving systems over time. One stat: 63% of marketers still plan to use growth hacking, but not as magic bullets—instead as part of a structured growth system.
Further reading: aboveA and Deviate Labs
So what’s the reality for us busy parents and business owners?
Let me put it like this: growth hacking is similar to #dadhacks content on TikTok. You test a trick (like mesh bags to wash baby socks, or how we’ve been carrying car seats completely wrong!!). Maybe it works. Maybe it fails spectacularly. You keep what helps, discard the rest. But you don’t suddenly become Super Dad. It’s about small wins stacking over time.
⚠️This seems like the perfect time to interrupt this broadcast and link to last week’s Marketing Support Group topic:
A more-than-peek-behind-the-curtains strategy
If you're wondering whether you should try growth hacking, you need more than hype. You need:
A simple experiment you can do in 10 minutes (e.g., tweak a landing page headline).
A way to track if that change actually moves the needle.
The guts to kill it quickly if it flops.
The intuition to double down when something works.
That’s where FTW comes in. We help you:
Pinpoint sensible initiatives for your business.
Measure them clearly.
Avoid the trap of “Will this make us go viral now?”—because for most businesses, this isn’t achievable. You just need to do what works for your audience.
Final thoughts (before I’m asked for yet more snacks)
Growth hacking isn’t a ticket to immediate success. It's not about dancing in 15-second loops. It is about being curious, nimble, and data-smart enough to know what works and what’s just noise.
So yes, growth hacking has value. But only when chained to strategy, not hype.
If today’s support group has sparked a thought or a story you want to get off your chest, hit reply and tell me what you’d actually test tomorrow in your business. Let's attack it together - no jargon, just human, real talk.
Stay sane amid the Summer holiday chaos. We’ve nearly made it!
Craig & the FTW Team
