Looking for fresh, effective ways to boost your startup or small business? Going slow and steady won’t do you much good in today’s digitalized and fast-paced world, so you’ll need to think smart and come up with different growth hack strategies that will produce results fast and by using minimum expenditure.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of 8 proven strategies that will fast-track the success of your startup or business and gain you substantial profits.

1.  Focus on Content Marketing

If you’re looking to increase the number of leads for your business, content marketing is the way to go. According to some surveys, content marketing can boost your business by reducing costs by over 60%.

So, if you’ve already created a website for your business, the next step is to add a blog through which customers will get engaged with your products or services.

By implementing proper SEO strategies on your blog, you’ll also be able to improve your rankings in search engines and increase your website’s visibility. This will result in increased traffic and, eventually, boost engagement even further.

2.  Do Guest Posting

Guest blogging is a great growth hack that bloggers use for the purpose of improving their website’s visibility, driving organic traffic, and reaching out to a broader audience by improving their SERP rankings.

Consider using guest posting services to build connections faster and get high-quality organic leads by providing links to your site, which will ultimately help you boost your rankings.

3.  Use Social Media to Build a Community

Social media is a crucial part of the marketing strategy for any business. Take advantage of social media communities to receive feedback, interact with influencers, and promote yourself.

One of the best social media growth hacking strategies is creating a Facebook group where your audience will be able to engage with your brand. Make sure to create valuable content for the group members and you can be sure that even those who aren’t aware of your brand will get to know about it very soon.

4.  Collect Feedbacks From Customers

The best and most efficient way to determine if there are any weak spots in your customer service or whether your products need improvement is through customer feedback.

Collecting feedback from your customers is a great way to make your services more user-centric. Feedback also helps customers to engage with your support team and offer solutions which, in turn, increases their loyalty to your company.

5.  Leverage Referral Marketing

Did you know that referrals from family members, friends, and influencers convert leads much faster than other means? In addition, the CPA (cost per action) of referral customers is lower, which allows you to cut down your costs as well. Referral customers also have better retention rates that result in over 15% higher customer lifetime value (CLV). Additionally, sales experts with referral programs also earn four to six times higher.

For instance, Uber used referral marketing to increase their user reach and brand awareness. The idea was pretty simple: users get $5 credit every time someone uses their referral code. Uber’s referral marketing model was insanely successful and has been replicated by almost all other ride-sharing apps.

6.  Follow Your Competitors

Many businesses fail to get valuable insights due to following their main competitors without a solid action plan. Your plan should focus on discovering all the conversations around the competitor’s brand. This means being present at the same channels (forums, social media networks) where the competitors (and its audience) spend time.

In addition, your plan should include the regular and thorough analysis of the competitors’ blogs and the keywords used in their blog posts, so that you can tailor your own content for maximum impact.

Finally, you should track the competitors’ backlinks, so that you get a general idea of how they’re marketing their services or products.

7.  Hire Remote Workers

In order to accomplish your goals faster, you need a team of dedicated, hard-working individuals whose goals match your own.

However, finding reliable people who are willing to help you get your startup off the ground isn’t easy. Most startups aren’t in a position to offer attractive salaries. They also carry a certain level of risk that people aren’t comfortable with.

One great alternative is to hire remote workers, i.e. contractors and freelancers. Who oftentimes offer the same skills but at much lower prices. If you’re concerned about not being able to get the most of remote workers, don’t be – According to one study. Remote employees work 1.4 more days a month than their office-based counterparts, resulting in more than 3 additional weeks of work a year! Plus, you can always use digital tools and hacks to boost remote employees’ productivity.

8.  Rely on Data Analytics

Starting a business offers a number of exciting possibilities but it can also be overwhelming. With so many things to think about, data analytics often gets overlooked. Many business owners tend to put data analytics on the back burner until their business is well established, but this is a mistake.

Data analytics for startups sounds more intimidating than it actually is. It provides powerful and accurate information that will give you clear answers concerning your consumers, marketing, products, customer service, productivity, etc., helping you get your business to the next stage.

Incorporating these 8 growth hacks into your startup from the early stages will help you obtain growth in a fast, efficient, and cost-effective way.