I was growth hacking before it had a name.

Having worked with both high-profile companies and fledgling startups, one thing is repeatedly clear;

Growth Marketing or Growth Hacking are overused and underappreciated terms. Even in the tech space.

Whenever I work with seasoned marketers explaining what a growth marketer does poses a significant challenge.

My thesis?

Traditional marketers require two or three paradigm shifts before they're able to accurately conceptualise what 'growth marketing' is.

Most don't have the time, desire or patience to learn.

But you still have to work with them from time to time.

Alas, the next time you're put on the spot to defend what growth is, let me save you from future pain:

These are 3 conversational routes I’ve found to have the shortest and most productive effect:

1/ The Philosophical Approach

Marketing is a byproduct of the advertising industry. Whereas Growth is a byproduct of the startup industry.

Therefore, Growth Marketing isn’t Marketing in the mainstream sense.

Growth Marketing is deeply rooted in startup culture and thus its philosophy and North Star are fundamentally different to the objectives of traditional marketing.

Growth is first and foremost core to its ethos.

Sure, traditional marketing, too, cares about growth, just as Growth marketers also care about brand.

The difference is that Growth Marketers see everything through the lens of whether or not a strategy, campaign idea or tactic will directly move an explicitly defined core metric.

Implementation of any new idea must be designed and structured in the form of an experiment.

2/ The Scientific Approach

Coming from the startup scene, Growth Marketing, hinges on Lean methodology.

Lean Methodology itself was inspired by the original scientific method:

You form a hypothesis
You structure and execute an experiment (build)
You collect data (measure)
You validate or disprove the hypothesis based on your now updated assumptions. (learn)
You update your assumptions and form a new hypothesis.

Rinse and repeat.

Traditional marketers, on the other hand, don’t engage in their efforts with the same scientific-like precision.

They may collect a few case studies and try to emulate them, resort to ‘what the creative director's gut call’ or bluntly outspend their competition for a chance to capture attention.

If Growth Marketers are the ones pioneering the experiments, traditional marketers are the ones trying to replicate the results in the lab.

3/ The Creative Approach

Growth Marketing is full of impressive stories of ingenious tactics and marketing strategies.

Sure, ‘creativity’ exists in traditional marketing in the form of beautiful design, PR stunts and iterative improvements to best practices.

‘Creativity’ for a growth marketer, on the other hand, comes from exploiting new and underserved channels.

Sometimes they'll outright invent them - "Growth hacks".

Eventually, these growth hacks become the new best practice that traditional marketers fight and pay top dollar to gain access to.

By then, the growth marketer has moved on to pioneering new growth ideas.

The next time you're asked to articulate or defend what a Growth Marketer does, consider taking the Philosophical, Scientific or Creative approach to building your case.

Growth ≠ Marketing - 3 Ways to Explain Growth to Boomer Ad Folks.

Ever tried to explain growth marketing or growth hacking to someone? Try these angles.

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