I worked on driving growth for a product multiple times in my career.  Growing a product in a specific vertical or growing sideways in subsequent domains has its own challenges. But there is a rule book that evolved in my PM tool kit that I would like to share with you all today!

Here’s how I finally figured it out:

• Shorten the Funnel: There should be no barrier to entry when the user is entering the funnel. The onboarding process should not have more than 3 steps. It’s a bonus if you add automatic log-in to give users a more personal touch from the get-go.

• Understand the funnel and drop off in each stage: Don’t just stop at the big picture; drill down to every 1% drop-off. Track everything on a dashboard and put your tech team to work fixing any problems causing users to bail.

• Build the agile EngProd support: Speed is the name of the game when it comes to growth hacking. Build an agile experimentation system, so you could roll out changes as fast as possible.

• Partner with other product teams: Team up with partners that have growth and product plans in sync with yours. But just don’t bundle stuff together; fine-tune the user experience for a seamless integration. It should seem natural and intuitive to users.

• Partner with Marketing: Track every marketing campaign with the defined growth goal. Also tap into the marketing budget that your internal or external partners have. You will be surprised when you simply ask.

• Expand Your Horizons: When your efforts hit a wall on one platform, switch gears and invest in the adjacent ecosystem, which may be a game-changer. (Assuming that your product makes senses in that ecosystem)

• Build Viral Loops: Add some secret sauce to make your product go viral. Some ideas I found useful were automatic use of the product, getting social and using promotions.

With this strategy, keep the whole team and your partners accountable for monthly growth goals. Hold weekly check-ins, and if things slip, there should be someone to explain why. But hey, also make sure to throw a party for every win! 🎉