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How to hire a growth hacker

by Jeffery Moss
9 replies
An ideal growth hacker candidate will be data-driven, creative, have strong communication skills and love your product. They should also have the ability to put themselves in the mind of your average product user, to see their perspective, to improve their experience.

When interviewing a potential growth hacker, you will want to avoid canned questions that test stock knowledge (such as anything that can be learned/memorized) as this requires no creativity. You'll want to see how your candidate reacts on his feet to hypothetical scenarios concerning your business.

What are some traits you would be looking for when hiring a growth hacker? What are some questions you would ask?
#growth #hacker #hire
  • Profile picture of the author Papaly
    Originally Posted by Jeffery Moss View Post

    An ideal growth hacker candidate will be data-driven, creative, have strong communication skills and love your product. They should also have the ability to put themselves in the mind of your average product user, to see their perspective, to improve their experience.

    When interviewing a potential growth hacker, you will want to avoid canned questions that test stock knowledge (such as anything that can be learned/memorized) as this requires no creativity. You'll want to see how your candidate reacts on his feet to hypothetical scenarios concerning your business.

    What are some traits you would be looking for when hiring a growth hacker? What are some questions you would ask?
    First, figure out how many established channels he has and the types of products he has worked on at home. Look around the projects he was hired on for because those tend to be broad. Figure out what type of niches he has worked on. Also, how he was able to market something unique compared to the standard promotional techniques. Message me if you need any pointers on hiring a growth hacker.
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  • Profile picture of the author AaronBurton
    I don't think growth hacking is a legit position yet. I guess they are marketers who actually know how to market? haha. The job of a marketer is to bring customers through advertising or "Growth Hacking". There was a video on YouTube saying the business owner should be the one growth hacking because no one cares about your business as much as you do.

    All you really have to do is be very loud in your promotion and get people to share your content.

    Building free buzz is a great growth hacking trick. A restaurant owner in Boston raised his price on his Philly Cheese Steak sandwich to $100. This had people tweeting, face booking, and telling their friends about this new restaurant. It went really viral and each day the restaurant is packed.

    If you insist on hiring a growth hacker get someone who has gotten results obviously but not only that. They would have to be great at PR and know how to get people talking.

    I'm ranting at this point but thats what I think a good growth hacker should know is great PR and above average marketing understanding. They have to love the product. Which is why you should be doing GH yourself. Will save you a lot of money.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jasonmills
      Banned
      Originally Posted by AaronBurton View Post

      I don't think growth hacking is a legit position yet. I guess they are marketers who actually know how to market? haha. The job of a marketer is to bring customers through advertising or "Growth Hacking". There was a video on YouTube saying the business owner should be the one growth hacking because no one cares about your business as much as you do.

      All you really have to do is be very loud in your promotion and get people to share your content.

      Building free buzz is a great growth hacking trick. A restaurant owner in Boston raised his price on his Philly Cheese Steak sandwich to $100. This had people tweeting, face booking, and telling their friends about this new restaurant. It went really viral and each day the restaurant is packed.

      If you insist on hiring a growth hacker get someone who has gotten results obviously but not only that. They would have to be great at PR and know how to get people talking.

      I'm ranting at this point but thats what I think a good growth hacker should know is great PR and above average marketing understanding. They have to love the product. Which is why you should be doing GH yourself. Will save you a lot of money.
      Great Content!
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  • Profile picture of the author edlavalette
    What about a Growth service like Growthority » Growth Hacking Services Could be a good alternative to a straight hire or as a stop-gap while you are prepping for a hire.
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  • Profile picture of the author nurz
    Originally Posted by Jeffery Moss View Post

    An ideal growth hacker candidate will be data-driven, creative, have strong communication skills and love your product. They should also have the ability to put themselves in the mind of your average product user, to see their perspective, to improve their experience.

    When interviewing a potential growth hacker, you will want to avoid canned questions that test stock knowledge (such as anything that can be learned/memorized) as this requires no creativity. You'll want to see how your candidate reacts on his feet to hypothetical scenarios concerning your business.

    What are some traits you would be looking for when hiring a growth hacker? What are some questions you would ask?
    All of what you've mentioned are basically the things I want to ask if I'm hiring a growth hacker. I would include asking for recommendation or feedback from previous client in order to know that the growth hacker can really do his job. Of course, his track record would help to determine if his credibility too.
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  • Profile picture of the author BlancWar
    I once saw a video from Noah Kagan (#3 at Mint, #30 at Facebook and all around cool marketer) where he said when he's hiring a marketer he's looking out for them to ask about metrics. E.g. when he says that their goal is to grow the company he's looking for the potential candidate who would ask "By how much and in what time? What channels have you been using?"

    Basically someone who knows how to think numerically about growth hacking would be more serious and have "chops" than someone who replies with vague answers.
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  • Profile picture of the author AzzamS
    Conviction. Not only do they need to love your product, but believe in it.
    Growth Hacking in this regard can not be likened to traditional marketing whereby you just go out and use some clever marketing to promote a product, even if you do not like it.
    You got to feel the product or at least its potential .
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  • Profile picture of the author webdesignnomad
    I think one of the most important things is that they should be able to demonstrate some examples of growth hacking they have done. For instance having a large facebook group or page will be a big plus in my books. It means that the person was able to create a good following.
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  • Profile picture of the author kstep
    Jeffery, I'd suggest you getting one of those books: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...cker-marketing - you won't regret spending a few dollars and several hours of your time reading this piece.

    Ryan explains what is growth hacking very clearly.
    If you want to dig deeper, he has a course which is available at RyanHoliday.net | Meditations on strategy and life

    It is extremely practical and enhances the right thinking about marketing.

    To hire a right growth hacker you should at least have a basic understanding what growth hacking is.
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