⚡️ Growth Hacking: Gamification, Scraping, Scarcity

Welcome to the 383 new entrepreneurs who joined last week. Let's talk about Growth Hacking. Hey there, Welcome to the 383 new entrepreneurs who joined last week. ⚡️ Let's talk about Growth Hacking. Thanks to [Krish](, [Paul Martin](, [Stewart Townsend](, [Uwe Dreissigacker](, [Vishal Srivastava](, [Maciej Cupial](, [Ron Immink](, [Jwalant Patel](, [Yarty Kim](, [Theo Ohene](, [Anke Corbin]( and Ken. We had a great time jamming on this report. ✏️ [Devin]( researched and wrote this report. [Dru]( researched and edited this report. If you now anyone who likes to earn as they learn, we are looking for more Trends.vc Analysts. [Click here to share the role](.  What you’ll learn: - How to find cost-effective ways to grow? - How to build a low-cost referral program? - How to increase your odds of virality? - How to reduce switching costs? - How to build backlinks? - How to lower customer acquisition costs? - How to get existing users to invite new users? This report is brought to you by [Mailman]( Do you wake up and see 30+ unread emails in your inbox? Gosh, that daunting feeling! You just hit [inbox zero]( before going to bed. And now, there are more emails waiting for you. This feeling overwhelms you for the entire day. You have important work to do. But… In the back of your head, you know your inbox is piling up. You secretly wish you could turn your inbox off for a few hours. Now you can, with [Mailman](. [Mailman]( is THE SUPERHERO you need. It’s a Gmail plugin that sits in front of your inbox and lets you control when and what kinds of emails should land in your inbox. For Example: Tell it that you’d like to handle emails only at 11am and 4.30pm. From now on, that’s when you’ll see all your emails. [Mailman]( will collect and show your emails to you in batches. That’s not all… There are [more things]( that Mailman can help you do… Make your inbox, truly yours. 👉 [Install Mailman here]( and save 30% when you choose to upgrade. Growth Hacking]( “The standard pace is for chumps.” – Kimo 💎 Why It Matters Marketing channels become competitive over time. 🔍 Problem Traditional marketing channels are expensive. [Google Ads]( cost per click range from $0.20 to $1,000.00+ [depending on the keyword choice](. 💡 Solution Find cost-effective ways to get attention and convert customers. 🏁 Players Growth Hacking Examples - [Intercom]( • Adds “We run on intercom” to chat windows. - [Robinhood]( • Offered higher spots on waitlist to users [for more referrals](. - [CD Baby]( • Sent offbeat [confirmation emails]( to customers. - [Dropbox]( • [Grew 3,900% by offering free storage]( for each converted referral. - [Hotmail]( • [Signed every email with “P.S. I Love You”](. - [Barclay Prime]( • Sold $100 cheesesteak. [Attracting press around the country](. - [Paypal]( • [Gave a referral bonus]( to users and merchants. - [Uber]( • Gave early adopters [free rides](. Growth Hackers - [Sean Ellis]( • Co-author of [Hacking Growth]( - [Nir Eyal]( • Author of [Hooked]( - [Ryan Holiday]( • Author of [Growth Hacker Marketing]( - [Tiffany Desilva]( • Founder of [Flowjo]( - [Wes Bush]( • CEO of [ProductLed]( - [Jonah Berger]( • Author of [Contagious]( - [Dan Benoni]( • Co-Founder of [Growth.Design]( Growth Hacking Tools - [Hotjar]( • Understand user behavior - [Zapier]( • Automate workflows - [Ghostery]( • Find out which tools websites are using - [Wistia]( • Host videos and optimize user engagement - [Ahrefs]( • Get traffic value and ranking of competitors - [CrazyEgg]( • Survey, split test and understand user behavior - [Unbounce]( • Hone your landing page through A/B testing 🔮 Predictions - More apps will use collaboration-focused features to spur growth. - [Uber](’s fare split feature converts new users through [requiring app sign-up to pay](. - [Docusign]( hooks new users through continuous collaboration on document signing. - [Growth tools]( will become a popular way to reach prospective customers and gain mindshare. - [Ahrefs]( invested $60,000,000 in their [creator friendly search engine]( [Yep](. - [AppSumo]( generated $30,000 after building [TidyCal]( as a side project in 20 days. - Top brands will partner on [rare drops](. - [Balenciaga]( worked with [Adidas]( on a [spring collection](. - [Apple]( collaborated with [Hermès]( on a [limited edition Apple watch](. - [Puma]( worked with [Nipsey Hussle](’s team on their [TMC collection](. - [Spotify]( partnered with [Starbucks]( to [offer free premium memberships](. - [Spatial Labs]( partnered with [Pantone]( to [design their LNQ Wearables and more](. - Brands will increasingly use pricing to trigger word-of-mouth marketing. - [Barclay Prime](’s $100 cheesesteak became a [national story](. - [Nipsey Hussle]( sold 1,000 copies of Crenshaw for [$100 a piece]( in 1 night. ☁️ Opportunities - Offer free credits to users for referrals. - [Homage]( gives [$20 credit to you and each friend]( you refer. - [Plant Therapy]( offers [$10 off to you and each friend]( you refer. - [Uber]( began sponsoring events and offering participants [free rides](. - [Airbnb]( offered up to [$35 in travel credit]( for each successful referral. - [Dropbox]( grew 3900% by [offering free storage]( for each converted referral. - [Skillshare]( offered 2 free months to students [who signed up via referral links](. - [Fiverr]( gave members 10% in platform credit for [each completed referral order](. - Tag your products to trigger virality. This works well with freemium plans. Turning free users into promoters. - [Mint]( gave [VIP access to their app]( in exchange for placement of their badge on a website. - [Product Hunt]( lets makers embed their badges to share milestones. Ex: [Trends.vc]( - [Hotmail]( added [a signature to every email]( and gained 1 million users in 6 months. - [React Native](’s documentation embeds [Expo]( code widgets for real-time learning. - [Calendly]( gives you a way to [embed a calendar for visitors to request meetings](. - [Headway]( adds a “Powered By” tag at the bottom of changelogs. - [Testimonial]( adds a badge at the bottom of embedded sections. - [Facebook]( offers profile badges to embed on personal websites. - [Carrd]( displays “Made with Carrd” pages that you create. - Use the invite-only playbook to create scarcity and drive word-of-mouth. - [Clubhouse]( released as an [invite-only app](. - [Hey]( offered [two invite codes]( for each new member to share. - [Facebook](only gave access to [Harvard students]( upon launch[.]( - [Gmail]( started with a [1,000 user limit]( and required an invite to join. - [Dispo]( started with a [10,000 user cap]( and required an invite to test. - [The Gathering Spot]( is a private, member-only restaurant and networking space for entrepreneurs and celebrities. - Book guest spots on podcasts to spread the word about what you're building and get backlinks. You can piggyback on existing audiences. - [Iddris Sandu]( spoke with [Coindesk TV]( about [LNQ](. - [Luis von Ahn]( spoke with [CNBC Make It]( about [DuoLingo](’s growth. - [Courtland Allen]( shared the [Indie Hackers]( story on [Will Kwan’s show](. - [NPR’s How I Built This]( hosted [Stewart Butterfield]( to discuss [Slack](’s journey. - [Scott Hanselman]( hosted [Brandon Tory]( for the [journey behind]( [Little Hackers](. - [Dru Riley]( explained the success behind [Trends.vc]( in 15 minutes on [Indie Bites](. - Pay users directly. Customer acquisition costs may be lower by paying users. Instead of intermediaries. - [Bluehost]( pays $65 per [qualified referral](. - [Slide]( gave $20 off for [each new sign-up](. - [Tornado]( offers $10-$1,000 as a [sign-up bonus](. - [Acorns]( pays [$5 to you and each friend]( you refer. - [1729]( teaches concepts and offers crypto for [completed tasks](. - [PayPal]( paid $60,000,000+ in [referral incentives]( to gain new members. - [Robinhood]( offers a [free stock]( to you and each new member you refer. 🏔️ Risks - Too Many Channels • Limit the number of experiments that you run at once. Chasing too many channels at the same time leads to context switching and can lower your chance of success. - Working in Silos • Open the floor for every team member while brainstorming growth hacks. Winning ideas can come from outside of marketing. An engineer at [Pinterest]( optimized [subject lines]( by 10% through automated tests. 🔑 Key Lessons - Most prospects see through gimmicks. Put your customers first. - Building a product is half of the battle. Figuring out who needs your product and how to reach them is the other half. 🔥 Hot Takes - Companies will spend more time and resources on organic strategies like [growth tools](. - More companies will manipulate demand by limiting access. [Raya](, the private celebrity dating app [requires an application and a referral](. 😠Haters “These companies make growth hacking seem easy. How do these examples translate to other companies?” You’ll need to decide what makes sense for you. These are models. Try them and keep doing what works. “Scraping seems illegal. Isn’t this an unethical growth tactic?” If the data is public it’s yours, according to the [US Supreme Court](. You may decide to avoid web scraping. Competitors may decide that this is not off limits. “Growth is great. But what if you’re pouring water into a leaky bucket? What about retention?” Growth hacking should include experiments around retention. If you’re losing more users than you’re gaining. You’re not growing.  🔗 Links - [Who should we talk to about growth hacking?]( • The tweet behind this report. - [3 Stages of Growth Hacking]( • A talk by [Sean Ellis](. - [Growth Hacker Marketing Review]( • A review of [Ryan Holiday](’s book. 📁 Related Reports - [Growth Tools]( • Build utilities to attract prospective customers. - [Drop Culture]( • You can tweak supply to spur demand. - [Referral Programs]( • Incentivize others to help you grow. - [Lead Generation]( • Get qualified leads. - [Build in Public]( • Share your journey and gain advocates. 📈 What else? [Become a Trends Pro Member]( and join 1,500 other freedom-loving founders - 🧠[Founder Masterminds]( • To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday. - 📈 [Trends Pro Reports]( • To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports. Including the Pro Version of this report. - 🧍 [Daily Standups]( • Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks. - 💬 [1:1 Chats]( • Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new freedom-loving founders each week. 1-on-1 chats give you a chance to discuss unique shared interests. [ Trends PRO #0090 — Growth Hacking]( has more insights.  What you’ll get: - 30 Growth Hacking Examples (275% More) - 30 Growth Hackers (328% More) - 20 Growth Hacking Tools (185% More) - 8 Predictions (100% More) - 17 Opportunities (240% More) - 4 Risks (100% More) - 5 Key Lessons (150% More) - 11 Links (266% More) With Trends Pro you'll learn: - (📈 Pro) How to find your North Star Metric? - (📈 Pro) How to increase user engagement? - (📈 Pro) How to use web scraping to prospect and acquire customers? - (📈 Pro) How to launch successful contests and challenges? - (📈 Pro) How to use urgency to drive sales? - (📈 Pro) How to get the most of out freemium options? - (📈 Pro) How to use physical items to spur word-of-mouth marketing? - (📈 Pro) How are founders “hacking” the fundraising process? - (📈 Pro) How to leverage user-generated content to acquire customers? [Become A Trends Pro Member]( Last but not least... 🎉 Congrats to [coingist]( for becoming a Lifetime Trends Pro Member by collecting the MetaTrends #0089 NFT. 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