30 Must-Read Growth Hacking Resources

Growth hacking…  Is this a new buzzword or a must-have skill for a digital marketer? Like many things, the most effective solutions are often born from scarcity. That’s probably one of the reasons why growth hacking is a trend associated with start-ups. While it’s not quite hit the mainstream yet, I believe it’s just around the corner for larger organizations. The concept is based on two profound observations of modern business:

1. Having a great product doesn’t always guarantee sales in a highly competitive market.

2. Traditional marketing methods are no longer effective.

Simply put, growth hacking is a powerful tool for mining opportunities, and interest is growing accordingly. Google Trends indicates that the term began to gain traction in 2013, and is quickly gaining some serious traction in search.

Whether you choose to apply growth hacking in real life or would rather stick with more conservative and mainstream marketing tactics, here are 30 great resources to help you explore the idea:

1. Startup Marketing

This is a first-hand blog on startup growth and growth-hacking from the person who coined the term, Sean Ellis, the marketer behind DropBox and the CEO of Qualaroo (an awesome tool to collect insights we’ve just started using). I wish we started using Qualaroo earlier!

2. Andrew Chen

Andrew Chen’s blog features posts on topics related to start-ups, growth hacking, and innovation. You will definitely find some mind-blowing ideas, news about apps and insights on trends that are just about to crush mainstream business thought.

3. Startup Lessons Learned

Eric Ries is the leading advocate for the lean approach in product development and marketing. Lean is a metrics-driven mindset that guarantees transparency and an objective approach to the everyday decisions you make as a marketer and a growth hacker.

4. QuickSprout

This very definitive guide to growth hacking is maintained by Neil Patel of QuickSprout. Neil is usually the first to tackle emerging trends, so while everybody else is just thinking about growth hacking, Neil’s already putting out a definitive guide.

5. 9 Ultimate Growth Hacking Strategies + Examples

Semrush Team developed an awesome set of 9 growth hacking tactics that aren’t just actionable – they’re fun, practical and an enjoyable read.

6. Growth Hackers

This is a vibrant community for agile, growth-obsessed marketers and developers to connect, share and get inspired. You’ll find some really battle-tested practical tips here.

7. Growth Hacker TV

This is an awesome collection of videos (currently 100+) for you to learn growth hacking techniques from those who have already applied it! It’s no rocket science, but you’ll need to learn many of these techniques to get the results you need.

8. Top 10 A/B Tested Consumer Internet Growth Hacks

Quora’s community of resident braniacs compiled this renowned list of hacks that you know will work in the field. Many of us learn best from real-life examples, and this list is one of the best resources.

9. Kissmetric’s Lessons from Growth Hackers

This is a great collection of growth hacking lessons, which was co-created by experts and produced by Kissmetrics. There’s double value, since it contains even more links to websites for you to master growth hacking.

10. How Dropbox Hacked Growth

Yep, this is how Dropbox hacked their growth. One of the best ways to learn is by example, and this is an opportunity to learn from a true leader.

11. Six Steps to Growth: What I Learned as 500 Startup’s Growth Hacker in Residence

There’s no question that Mike Greenwald, LinkedIn’s former analytics lead, is a pretty sharp guy. His recollection of his journey into a formal growth-hacking position is well worth the read, regardless of whether you’re an expert in the subject or just beginning to explore it.

12. Appcues Blog

This collaborative blog is penned primarily by marketers at “the world’s fastest growing companies.” In addition to a steady stream of content on emerging trends, you’ll find case studies and eCourses on analytics, mobile marketing, and user onboarding.

13. Casey Winter’s blog

Casey Winter’s writing strikes a good balance between operational tactics and high-level strategy, making his blog a practical resource for people actively developing. Casey is very active in the Pinterest and Grubhub community.

14. Growth Hacking is Bull

Is this resource worth your time? Absolutely. It’s among the best examinations of what growth hacking isn’t – for one, it’s not using SEO or SEM. The article also includes some high-profile examples of truly successful marketing that lead to explosive growth.

15. Growth Hacking: Lean Marketing for Startups

This Slideshare includes tips for effective marketing on a shoestring budget that have been shown to work for new companies time and time again. While some of the tactics may be familiar, others are quite fresh.

16. Growth-Hackers.net

Growth Hackers is a well-known agency that helps with fast, lasting, and big growth. They do more than just give advice or training: they work as your partner in growth and carry out plans that lead to success.

17. 6 Examples of B2B Marketing Growth Hacks

The Marketing Blender takes a long, hard and research-based look at whether this tactic can actually work for everyone, and what you may need to adapt to your company’s unique service offerings.

18. Your Job in Marketing or PR is Dead in the Water

Warning: your outlook on the future of effective outreach is probably going to be drastically different after you read this viral hit article.

19. Don Draper is Dead

BetaBeat took an honest, refreshing, and inspiring look at just why ad agencies are a thing of the past, and how professionals should position themselves for the future.

20. BuzzFeed’s Brazen, Nutty, Growth Plan

How exactly did Buzzfeed come out of nowhere to become one of the most-popular sites online? The Wall Street journal has the inside scoop.

21. Devin Schumacher

This amazing blog has something for companies at every stage of the startup lifecycle, from ground zero to mergers and acquisitions.

22. Hacker Bundle

Expandi is the top choice for B2B marketers who use LinkedIn a lot. It lets you automate your LinkedIn marketing. You can automatically look at profiles, send invites, or messages to people who fit your ideal customer’s description.

But be careful: no one likes spam, so make sure your message is meaningful if you’re reaching out to someone. Other options instead of Expandi are the Chrome extensions Phantombuster or Dux-Soup.

23. Growth Hacker Manifesto

Leading SaaS marketing expert Lincoln Murphy’s been breaking the mold when it comes to startup growth for years. His thoughts on the topic are well worth the read.

24. 20 Great Sites About Growth Hacking

Grow the Devil shares their thoughts on must-need resources – all of which definitely belong in your bookmarks or Evernote account.

25. Growth Hacking 101: Read This to Become a Magician

Startup expert Yoav Vilner shares a comprehensive history of the topic, as well as a simple, step-by-step guide to implement best practices at organizations of any size.

26. ChatGPT

ChatGPT, which became really popular in early 2023, is something you might have heard of. Although it’s not exactly a tool for growth hacking, it is very handy for growth marketers to make different types of work easier.

27. CrystalKnows

CrystalKnows helps you get to know others better. It looks at someone’s social profile and gives you a report on their personality and advice on the best ways to talk to them. Do they like numbers or feelings more? Do they want a professional style or a friendlier tone in emails? It’s a really helpful tool and mostly free!

28. Ryan Holiday

This guy literally wrote several of the leading books on growth hacking – and his commentary is unfailingly sharp and cutting-edge.

29. Zapier

Zapier is essential for every growth marketer. It’s a tool that links over 1,000 marketing tools to make strong automations. For instance, you can automatically add all your Typeform responses to your Mailchimp account, or, like them, put all your favorite Pocket articles on your WordPress site through Airtable. Being good at Marketing Automation is one of the key skills for growth hackers and makes you much more efficient. That’s why they included Zapier in their list of tools for growth hackers.

30. Upgrow

Upgrow is the main place for many Growth Teams because it’s their tool for managing experiments. It’s perfect for watching over all your growth tests, lessons, and tasks.

As a marketer, will you be the early adopter or will just hang in there until the trend becomes a mainstream?