If seeing is believing, then there’s no denying the power of growth marketing.
This boot-strapped marketing strategy has been the boon of success for thousands of companies around the world — many of them now hugely popular household names.
From LinkedIn and Airbnb to Netflix and Yelp, growth marketing has helped take brands from small startups to massive, billion-dollar successes.
Are you considering growth marketing for your company? Here are just a few of the big-name players you’d be joining to developing a successful marketing strategy:
1. Dropbox
Dropbox is essentially the poster child for growth marketing (its former head of marketing now has his own growth-hacking firm). The little data storage company was one of the first to gamify its sign-up process. Users would complete a task — link their Facebook account, refer a friend to Dropbox, or post about Dropbox on Twitter — and with each checkmark, they got more and more in additional data storage space. Throw in the smart partnerships they built with other brands, and Dropbox became a household necessity in no time at all.
2. LinkedIn
LinkedIn turned job hunting and networking on its head with a series of growth marketing efforts that have grown the site to more than 575 million users since 2002. Its first ingenious approach was to let existing users mass-invite their email contacts — an instant way to increase the site’s user base exponentially. They also monetized their more in-demand features, offering an exclusive premium account that allowed for easier messaging, more advanced searching, and more. Finally, the company integrated job applications, allowing its members to apply for new positions with just a single click of a button.
3. Airbnb
There are few growth marketing stories as innovative as Airbnb’s. Just think, 10 years ago, where did people look for rentals and short-term housing? For the most part, it was Craigslist — and when Airbnb hit the scene, it leveraged that common knowledge to its fullest. The site actually allowed home and apartment owners to list their properties both on Airbnb and Craigslist at the same time. The only catch? It was Airbnb who got a cut of the cash if the place was rented. It was an ingenious way to both reach an already qualified audience and piggyback on a competitor’s success — without committing any legal faux pas in the process.
4. Netflix
Netflix is another solid example of savvy growth marketing. The company started as a simple DVD rental service, but when consumer demand shifted, so did Netflix’s strategy. Unlike their rival Blockbuster, the company pivoted, rolling out streaming services and gradually phasing out DVD rentals entirely. They also started snapping up in-demand shows and catalogs of content to up their membership base, and eventually, even started creating content to ensure they had exclusive shows no one else could offer. In a sense, they made themselves indisposable.
5. Gmail
Finally, there’s long-time favorite Gmail. Back in 2004, the email platform used the oldest growth marketing trick in the book to launch its services: the scarcity hack. For months, only people who were invited to the platform could sign up and claim an account. Soon enough, invites were in high demand — and some were even sold or auctioned off on eBay.
Today, virtually everyone has a Gmail address, as it’s a requirement for countless Google services and offerings. It can even be used to streamline sign-ups on thousands of other sites and services across the web. Like Netflix, Gmail staked its claim and never looked back.
Could Growth Marketing Help Your Business?
Want to achieve the same level of success as these major brands? Growth marketing may be able to help. Reach out to Tobe Agency today to learn more about turning that dream into a reality with growth marketing.
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