Growth Hacking During COVID-19: How to Manage
Michael Witte
Growth Scientist
“For growth hackers, in particular, it is important to know how to adapt their work appropriately as the world market shifts in direction. Read on to see how COVID-19 is affecting growth hacking and what growth hackers can do to adjust to the new world environment…“
The Economy is Changing
The reality of the situation is that governments are still causing many businesses to halt or slow their operations in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Businesses such as restaurants, concert halls, and exercise facilities have still not yet opened. And for many companies that are up and running, COVID-19 has caused a decrease in overall intake of customers. These organizations may be able to survive, but one fact lingers over their heads: growth is now more important than ever before! In tough times like these, continual growth provides security among chaos and allows for survival. This is when growth hacking really comes into play. The whole point of a growth hacker is to take a business and point it towards growth in a logical, analytical fashion. So what should growth hackers do in a time like this?
Adapt: Don't Panic
Although traffic is down for most businesses, the opportunity for growth isn’t out of the picture completely. Now is the perfect time for adaptation and to search for new growth avenues. Where one opportunity might have originally receded, another has the potential to manifest itself somewhere else. The effects of the coronavirus may cause a lot of economic uncertainty, but they certainly won’t last forever.
Trust in Data
To a growth hacker, data is everything. It is the lighthouse beacon that leads us toward the optimal growth path. And in dark times like these, it can be especially useful. Analyze data extensively to determine what methods towards growth you should employ. Run a multitude of experiments to help increase both the amount of data available and the accuracy of your decision making. But make sure to act quickly. Stressful situations require a rapid implementation of new solutions, so contain the length of your experiments to a few days or weeks.
Take Advantage of the Competition Change
When the markets are down like they are now, new customer bases open up. This is a great chance to gain more traffic for your company. Seize this opportunity before your competitors to stimulate growth and get an advantage over the rest. And if your company is able to, you can even buy out failing businesses to get direct results. Now is when “survival of the fittest” mentality really comes in handy.
Innovate!
If your current growth plan isn’t working like it used to, then it probably is a good idea to change course. Try developing a new product that can keep your user base engaged and support the company for the time being. It might even generate new traffic and referrals. Also, try offering new discounts on products. This can help maintain traffic flow in a similar way and keep your company going. The smartest and most creative minds tend to thrive under high pressure moments like we’re currently experiencing.
The future may be uncertain in a lot of ways, but for growth hackers, now is the time to fully utilize learned skills and help stimulate growth. Savvy, analytical thinking can lead to success even within the strange world we are currently living in.