[ZanderEarth32]

"The other distinction is implementation. A Growth Hacker needs to be able to code, or it’s a dilution of the term — a Growth Hacker who can’t code at least a little is a Growth Strategist, still a highly valuable team member, but a different animal."

Is your issue that you're assuming if you can't code, you can't execute? While a good portion of what an SEO would handle is a bit on the technical side and might require some coding, a lot of the execution can be accomplished with zero coding ability.

Maybe the trouble is in the use of of "hacker" which is usually associated with "code".

[allforJesse]

With regard to Coding, I'm not referring to absolutely ALL Growth Hacker skills -- certainly PPC, Media, and Intermediate analytics can be done with no coding skill, but at least half of the GH skillset requires at least minimal coding skill to execute:

CRO, UX, Advanced Analytics Implementations, Advanced Social Implementations, Doing anything innovated with an API -- these are off the table for a GH unless they can code at least a little, and who want's a Growth Hacker who can only do the bare minimum?

SEOs can absolutely get by with minimal coding knowledge, I give you no argument there, but that's part of what makes the who disciplines different.