What are the differences between growth hacking and digital marketing?
Let’s sum up the main characteristics of a growth hacker and a typical digital marketer. Then we will explain more about the differences and similarities between both marketing disciplines.
Growth Hackers are:
- Data driven
- Tech-savvy
- T-shaped: knows all channels, but has dominant skills
- Thinking outside the box (cross-channel mindset)
- Eager to learn new skills
- Constantly a/b-testing
They only take action on results based on data.
Digital Marketers are:
- Specialists in one or two channels, for instance SEO or SEA.
- Thinking within the box (within the boundaries of their own specialisation)
- Less data-driven or no data-driven mindset
- Economic or Sales background
- Planning long term/whole campaigns
Let’s dive into the differences
Where Digital Marketers primarily focus on getting more traffic, a Growth Hacker will always think about the whole sales/product funnel. They think of strategies to improve the outcome of the whole chain by looking to all facets of the customer journey.
Most Digital Marketers are digital natives (non-technical people). They have to rely on developers, designers and other specialists and find it hard to implement those things themselves. Growth Hackers, on the other hand, are tech-savvy and can execute their ideas on their own.
Digital marketing professionals can evolve into proper growth hackers, but it takes a lot of effort. They have to become more data-driven and learn more about development (front-end and back-end). Read more about this topic on the website of Growth hacking Amsterdam.
