4 Growth Hacks to Make 2019 Your Best Year Yet A viral loop, more influencers, a video and a chatbot should all be on your New Year's resolution list.
By Syed Balkhi Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Want to grow your business to new heights next year without spending a ton of money? If the answer is yes -- and it should be -- then you need to take advantage of growth hacking. "Growth hacking" refers to the process of experimenting with marketing, product development, sales segments and other areas to determine the best way to grow a business -- quickly.
Related: 10 Growth Hacking Strategies to Triple Your Sales
Here are a number of low-cost and easy-to-implement growth hacks to take your business to the next level which I can share so that you can explode your business growth ASAP:
Create a viral loop.
To grow your business quickly next year, you need to create a viral loop. A viral loop is essentially how you induce your current users or customers to invite the next set of users or customers. Pretty much any type of business in any industry can create some form of viral loop to boost sales and grow the company. All that's needed is some type of reward or benefit to users who recommend the business to their friends and family.
Dropbox, an online storage service, is a great example of a well-executed viral loop. Users have a certain amount of storage space when they sign up for the service, but Dropbox offers current users more space each time they recommend the service to a friend. This incentivizes recommendingthe service often, and thus creating a viral loop -- a never-ending stream of new users if you will.
Consider offering your own customers a reward, such as a small discount, for referring friends, and your customer base will grow rapidly.
Partner with influencers.
Today, the younger generation is more influenced by internet "celebrities" on Youtube and Instagram than traditional celebrities like actors and musicians. Internet celebrities are more relatable, and because of that, a product recommendation seems to your audience more like a recommendation from a friend. This is why influencer marketing is a great way to broaden your reach and get your product in front of a more targeted audience.
FabFitFun, a subscription box service, sends its product to popular Youtubers so they can film "unboxings" for their subscribers. The company also typically provides influencers with a discount code to offer to their fans to encourage more sales. Here are some samples of those unboxings:
Image credit: Fab Fit Fun on YouTube
Related: 4 Growth Hacking Strategies That Work Like Magic
Huge companies tend to work with giant influencers who have millions of followers, which is expensive. But don't worry about blowing your budget; your business can work with micro-influencers with 1000 to 10,000 followers for a fraction of the price and still get a captivated audience and the high engagement you want.
Add video to your content-marketing strategy.
We all know that content is king when it comes to growing our traffic online; but aside from creating useful written content like blog posts, in 2019 you'll need to add more video to your content-marketing strategy.
Short, entertaining videos are easy and enjoyable to consume especially wheneveryone today is checking in online from their smartphones and tablets while they're on the go. Adding videos to the mix will help you capture the attention of users who don't have time to read.
Buzzfeed's Tasty is one of the best examples of how video on social media can skyrocket your brand online. According to Social Media Today,Tasty's video recipes on Facebook averaged a whopping 22.8 million views in their first 30 days alone.
Image credit: Buzzfeed Tasty video example
You don't have to have expensive cameras or a studio to make high-quality videos for your business, either. You can use a tool like Biteable. Biteable is a free online software that makes awesome Instagram videos in minutes combining its pre-made video templates with your own images.
Add a chatbot to your site.
Adding a chatbot to your website is an awesome way to convert visitors into customers -- even while you're asleep. If a user visits your site and has questions about your product, a chatbot is there to provide an answer.
For instance, the travel deals website Hipmunk offers a chatbot to its users that integrates with Facebook, Slack and Skype. The chatbot can help users book flights, rental cars and hotels.
Image credit: Hipmunk Chatbot
Chatbots can also help customers through the onboarding process, recommend products, qualify leads and more. That means your chatbot can make sales for you even when you're not around.
Related: 5 Growth Hacks for Your SaaS Businesses
Over to you
Get ready to rapidly grow your business in the new year. With these growth hacks, which any business large or small can take advantage of, you can become an industry leader, with little time and money spent on your part.
