{"id":668,"date":"2015-10-01T09:53:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T16:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canirank.com\/blog\/?p=668"},"modified":"2020-11-25T10:50:30","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T18:50:30","slug":"growth-hackers-stop-spamming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.canirank.com\/blog\/growth-hackers-stop-spamming\/","title":{"rendered":"Growth Hackers. Stop Spamming!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Growth

Sending tons of cold emails to influencers isn’t growth hacking, it’s spamming.<\/p><\/div>\n

Lately I\u2019ve been getting more and more cold, salesy emails cluttering up my inbox each day. These are mostly coming from hard working founding teams who are trying to get traction\u00a0for their early stage apps. Obviously, there\u2019s nothing wrong with attempting something new, in fact innovation is supposed to be baked right into the original idea of Growth Hacking<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0But I think that because of the ubiquity of apps out there and the reality of people\u2019s limit for signing up for services, some folks are crossing the line into spammy\u00a0practices that will only serve to damage their reputation rather than building positive relationships with influencers<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>
...good growth hacking might bend the rules, but it really doesn\u2019t break them. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n

In this article, I want to go over the definition of growth hacking, explain what it\u2019s not, and finally show you how to practice some good growth hacking tactics to boost your online presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Growth Hacking?<\/h2>\n

\"What
\nGrowth hacking is a means of using technology and innovation to reach your business goals more quickly.<\/strong> Growth hackers are known for first coming up with a \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great if\u2026\u201d idea that, if fulfilled, would help their business grow. Then, they employ technological means to turn that dream into a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most famous examples of growth hacking is from AirBnB. That company\u2019s business model allows people to advertise properties that they own so that others can rent them for a few days, weeks, or even longer. AirBnB employed several growth hacks to get the word out about its business, but the best one is the company\u2019s <\/span>use of Craigslist<\/span><\/a> to advertise rooms for rent.<\/span><\/p>\n

AirBnB, as most companies in the startup phase, was interested in reaching a broad audience when it first launched. The company wanted to allow property owners to automatically post their listings to Craigslist when they created a listing on the company\u2019s platform. To that end, AirBnB engineers created software that would handle the process of creating and publishing the post without requiring the user to lift a finger. When that software was finished, the new feature helped propel AirBnB to \u201chousehold name\u201d status.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pay particular attention to what the AirBnB growth hackers did there. They said: \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great if we could reach the Craigslist audience?\u201d Then, they used technology to post messages that people on Craigslist would see. It\u2019s a classic example of growth hacking.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Growth Hacking is Not<\/h2>\n

\"What
\nThe well-known story of growth hacking that\u2019s brought to us from AirBnB is not without some level of controversy. After all, the company used a bot to post to Craigslist without the permission of Craigslist. However, even though it was automated there was nothing dishonest about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some self-described growth hackers, on the other hand, are known to cross the line from clever ingenuity into unethical practices.<\/strong> Instead of being \u201cwise as serpents and harmless as doves,\u201d they opt for easy shortcuts that could end up hurting their business model.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n