[threeseed]

Read the book Growth Hacking which is quite clear about what the definition is. The idea is to have a cross functional team focus on a specific metric eg. user engagement or churn. And then rapidly prototype and experiment with different techniques to drive the metric in the right direction.

It is just a new name for a combination of existing practices. But then again so is Agile and it changed the way software companies worked.

[gk1]

Even by that definition, this list doesn't make sense. There was no "cross-functional team focus[ing] on a specific metric" for the ice-bucket challenge. Cash incentives (PayPal example) have been around for decades—that's not a growth hack.

This is a list of marketing strategies and tactics that happened to work for these particular companies/individuals.

[TeMPOraL]

"Growth hacking" was always, since the very inception of a term, just rebranding of "marketing" in a way that makes it sound cooler. It's just a purified buzzword. In the tech space, having yourself called "growth hacker" was seen as more cool than "marketer".

[Hoasi]

In other words, this is marketing applied to itself.

[ekianjo]

meta-marketing.

[philipodonnell]

I think it was intended to very very high return marketing that was inherent to the use of the product itself, as distinct from traditional marketing where the product was the thing being marketed (selling auto parts) and not the thing doing the marketing (advertising in your free email signatures).

[threeseed]

I know dozens of growth hackers and their skills are simply different to traditional digital marketers. It is far more experimental, technical and cross functional. And it will continue to evolve into its own space in the future.

People who think growth hacking = marketing are just as clueless as those who think influencer marketing = Instagram. It's far more involved than that.

[ekianjo]

any concrete example on what they differ?

[danieltillett]

They are generally less physically attractive. I was shocked the first time I visited a traditional advertising/marketing company's office.

Edit. Growth hackers are the less physically attractive :) I was shock how beautiful the advertising/marketing people were - there wasn't one average looking person (male or female) in the place apart from me.

[jtbayly]

Honestly cannot figure out who “they” are in your comment. Who looks better in your opinion, traditional marketers or growth hackers? Were you shocked by how good they looked or how bad they looked?

Every time I start to assume you meant one of them, I get nervous wondering if your shock was pointed the other way. Lol.

[dang]

Ok, we've put marketing tactics in the title above.

[philipodonnell]

I don't think this is a widely agreed definition, I think its just the definition the author provided in the context of that book because it fits the framework the author wants to consult with companies to implement. :-)