“Most people think “going viral” is an accident, and if you’ve shot a YouTube video that has generated buzz, it probably is. If you’re a growth hacker, however, you don’t view going viral or achieving “virality” as something that happens after the fact.
You know that successful products are inherently worth sharing and you facilitate and encourage that sharing every way you possibly can. You know that products and services have to advertise themselves, and you know the value of “behavioral residue.” Social currency is free, but it is also invaluable to the point of being priceless.
Virality isn’t an accident. It should be hardwired into your product or service. You don’t just want a new customer, you want a lifelong user who will happily turn right around and market your product for you like a religious witness.
Investing in strategies that improve sales and marketing is no longer the goal. Creating fanatically happy users is the be all and end all of the growth hacker’s day.
Investing in refining and improving the product or the service to retain and optimize customer loyalty is everything — even if it’s a 2 second faster load time on a website! Ridiculous, you say[…]”