This article provides a good reminder that SPEED is the most important feature to growth hacking.

Not just website or app performance, but speed of signup/login.

By end of this article, you’ll know:

1. What a viral loop needs in order to actually work

2. How to use social proof to get more customers

3. What a high-growth home page looks like

4. The main challenges from product integrations

Here are the six growth hacks Lars Lofgren presents in this article:

1. A fast-loading high-growth home page keeps high conversion rates. Speed it up.

2. "Your site should OOZE social proof." Testimonials, logos, customer stats...

3. On-ramp programs such as New User Experience (NUX), product tours, and "email drip campaigns".

4. Bare bones home page with maybe a video and a single call to action such as a signup form.

5. Integrations with other platforms such as Facebook.

6. "Viral loops. For virality to work best, it needs to be a fundamental part of your product... Skype, Ebay, Craigslist, Dropbox (shared folders), Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Paypal, Youtube, and Groupon all have virality built into their products... Once you’ve started to use the product, you’ll encourage friends and family to join..." [Really?! I think that the author Lars believes that anything share-able is viral...]

See also the 7 growth hacks that made Groupon huge:

1. Sharing is in Groupon’s DNA. Your motive is to spread the word, not just about the deal, but also about Groupon.

2. Tell Your Friends After You Bought a Groupon. After the user makes a purchase for a Groupon, they can share it on social media.

3. Groupon’s for Multiple People. Add package deals.

4. Daily emails. Test your email campaign frequency and determine which rate works best for your business.

5. Share with a Friend, Get $10 in Groupon Bucks. Groupon turns their customers into marketers by encouraging them to refer friends.

6. Buy for a Friend.In yet another way Groupon turns customers into marketers, they allow subscribers to buy for a friend.

7. Great Copy. It’s not about adding a bunch of different components to your website and attaching the Like and Tweet button to it. If you have something valuable that you think people will want to share, whether it’s a product page, funny video you made, or great copy.

Maybe page load times really don't matter that much.

I believe that Jack Dorsey Roadrunner is referring to new, new, NEW Twitter.

Also he prefers the word EVAR to the word YET.

Great article, Adam. Thanks for posting, I might have missed it.

One question on "social proof." I like the characterization of "oozing social proof" instead of the bland statement I've heard before that you should include logos and quotes. After a bit of an internal discussion, I tend to think that the social proof differs greatly depending on the type of product -- personal Saas vs. Enterprise, for example.

A hat tip AND props!

b

You are quite correct, Barbara! It depends, but employ people where it makes sense.