How To Growth Hack Your Freelance Business

Freelance businesses are becoming increasingly popular as more and more people choose to take control of their own careers. But with the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing, how can freelancers ensure their business grows and thrives? The answer lies in growth hacking. 

Growth hacking is a method used by digital marketers to rapidly increase brand recognition and generate leads, whilst also improving conversions. So how do successful freelance business owners use those various growth hacking strategies to fast-track their success? Ready to learn how you can start growth hacking your freelance business? Let’s get started!

What Is a Growth Hack?

A growth hack is a marketing technique that is designed to help a business grow rapidly. Typically, growth hacking involves using creative and innovative marketing strategies to reach new customers and grow the business quickly.

Freelancers typically don’t have big-budgeted resources such as corporate sponsorships, so the popular growth hack method is to identify opportunities for free or low-cost marketing. Then they use data analysis to pinpoint areas of improvement before taking necessary actions accordingly.

In short, a growth hack is a creative marketing strategy for maximizing business growth.

How Can You Use Growth Hacking to Expand Your Freelance Business?

When you think about using creative and outside-the-box thinking to come up with new and innovative ways to grow your business. This could involve anything from using social media in unique ways to finding creative ways to reach your target market.

Although the possibilities may be endless, global competition is ferocious. You may not see the impact so soon, but to get you started, here are a few ideas:

• Use social networks like TikTok, Quora, Telegram, etc. to connect with potential clients and promote your services.
• Write guest blog posts on popular websites in your industry to reach a wider audience and show off your expertise.
• Create an ebook related to your freelance business and offer it for free in exchange for people's email addresses (which you can then use for marketing purposes).
• Hold a contest or giveaway related to your freelance business on your website. This is a great way to get people talking about you and generate some buzz around your brand.
• Get involved in online communities related to your industry and engage with the members to build relationships and offer your services.

Things To Consider Before Growth Hacking Your Freelance Business

Is your business ready for growth? 

Do you have the infrastructure in place to support more customers? If not, you may want to hold off on growth hacking until you do. In other words, do you have an ultimate epic post in your website or YouTube channel to impress?

What are you hoping to accomplish?

Instagram asks, for example; What do you want to achieve by using the paid ad? More sales, more engagement, or more ‘likes’? That’s the basics of growth hacking to start with. When you’re clear on your goals, it will become easier to measure whether or not your growth hacking efforts are successful.

What resources do you have available for growth hacking?

Plan your budget - cash available to use in had right now, as well as monthly budget and work out how you can allocate it. Make sure you have enough money set aside to invest in marketing and advertising initiatives that will help drive growth.

Be prepared to put in the work. Growth hacking can be time-consuming and require good effort. If you're not willing to commit the time and energy needed, it's unlikely that you'll see the results you're hoping for.

The Basic Growth Hacking Techniques

Although the techniques that work for one business may not work for another, there are some common growth hacking techniques that can be used to grow a freelance business.

Identify Your Key Metric

For example, if your goal is to increase revenue, then your key metric could be total revenue generated. Some businesses have multiple goals they are hoping to achieve simultaneously. In this case, you will need to identify a primary goal and a secondary goal and select a key metric for each. 

For example, if your primary goal is to increase brand awareness and your secondary goal is to increase website traffic, then your key metrics could be brand awareness (measured by impressions) and website traffic (measured by unique visitors).

Identify Your User Acquisition Channels

Here are some common user acquisition channels:

• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
• Paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.)
• Content marketing (blogging, infographics, whitepapers, etc.)
• PR and media outreach
• Referral programs

Create a Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is the one thing that sets your business apart from all the others in your industry. It's what makes you special and it's what will make customers choose you over all the other options. 

We also often call it “value proposition” - creating strong value that taps into buyer’s psychology is what makes a difference.

What do you offer that nobody else does? Is there anything that you do better than anyone else? Pinpoint what makes you different. Turn it into a clear and concise statement that prospects can easily understand and remember.

Your USP should be more than just a selling point; it should be the very foundation of your entire marketing strategy. Everything from the way you position yourself in the market to the way you craft your sales message should be based on your USP. 

So take some time to really think about what makes your business special and then use that to create a powerful USP that will help you grow your business like never before.

Build an Email List

Here are a few of the top ways to growth hack your email list:

1) Use pop-ups or exit-intent forms on your website

Make sure that your forms are attention-grabbing and easy to fill out. Offer something valuable in exchange for an email address, such as a free report.

2) Leverage social media

Use social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to promote your opt-in forms and drive traffic to your website. Make it easy for people to sign up by including a link to your form in your bio.

3) Run a contest

Running a contest is another way to get people to sign up. The only downside is that it will attract a lot of freebie takers who are not interested in your business. Just be sure to promote the contest in a way that attracts relevant audiences. 

You can also offer incentives - give people a reason to do business with you by offering discounts.

4) Collaborate with other businesses

Reach out to other businesses (including influencers) in your industry and offer to collaborate on a project, such as an ebook or webinar series. This is a great way to get exposure for your brand while also growing your email list.

5) Include a call to action in your content

Whether you’re writing blog posts, creating videos, or podcasting, make sure to include a call-to-action at the end of each piece of content inviting people to sign up for your email list.

Give Away Something for Free

If you're looking to increase brand awareness, then giving away branded items is a great way to go. You can give away t-shirts, pens, coffee mugs etc. with your logo on them.

On the other hand, if you're looking to generate leads, then offering a free trial or sample of your product is a better strategy. This way, people can try out your product and see if it's a good fit for them before they make a purchase.

Create Compelling Content

It’s easier said than done. If you could do this so easily, you wouldn’t have to even think about growth hacking. Creating compelling content means writing blog posts or publishing YouTube/TikTok videos that are so interesting and informative that people can't help but share them with their friends and followers.

• Start by checking out some of the most popular blogs and YouTube channels in your niche for inspiration.
• Take notice of their topics.
• Emulate the style and format that they use.
• See if you can create your own - share similar content on your platform but your own point of view in your own words.

This is only the start because everyone is using the same way, and keeps copying other materials until they find their own style that sells. You can only keep trying until you find yours.

Streamline Your Process

As a freelancer, one of your main goals is to find ways to streamline your processes so you can maximize your output within a limited time. And you probably know that leveraging various web tools is the way to go.

There are a number of different tools and software programs out there that can help you with various aspects of your freelancing business, from accounting and invoicing to project management and marketing. By taking advantage of these tools, you can free up more time to focus on billable tasks and grow your business.

Check this post to find out what kind of tools you think will be useful but have yet to try out: 20 Web Tools To Streamline Your Work for Maximum Productivity

Increasing Website Traffic

This is the most difficult one, yet, every marketer thrives to drive traffic using all sorts of ways day in and day out. Simply creating compelling content will not draw users to your site. Utilizing social media will do very little to promote your site and its content. 

One way is to use search engine optimization techniques to improve your site's visibility in search results. At least this method is free, but it can take months before your site is recognized with SEO alone. If you want to increase traffic quicker, you must use paid target ads and track your progress so that you can gauge the effectiveness of your efforts.

Optimize Your Conversion Rates

Optimizing conversion rates means that you make your platform (website) easier for your visitors to “convert”, i.e. buy your products, sign up with your newsletter, or become your fans and regularly like and comment on your posts. Here are some of the top methods:

Use social proof

People are more likely to convert if they see that others have already done so. Use testimonials, customer reviews, and social media posts to show potential customers that others have had success with your product.

Offer a free trial or money-back guarantee

This removes the risk from the equation for potential customers, and can often be the deciding factor in whether they convert or not.

Use urgency and scarcity tactics

Creating a sense of urgency can prompt people to take action before they lose out on a deal. For example, you might offer a limited-time discount or free shipping for orders placed within a certain time frame.

Keep your forms short and simple

The fewer fields there are to fill out, the more likely people will be to complete them. So streamline your forms as much as possible without sacrificing too much information - you can always ask for additional details later on down the line.

Use persuasive copywriting techniques

The words you use on your website can make a huge difference in how many people convert. Use persuasive copywriting to convince visitors that your product is the best option for them.

Optimize for SEO

Ranking higher in search engine results can boost your conversion rate, so make sure you're taking the necessary steps to optimize your content for SEO.

Analyze and Track Your Progress

If you want to see real results from your growth hacking efforts, you need to track and analyze your progress along the way. Doing so will help you identify what’s working and what isn’t, so you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

Regularly analyze and test different elements of your website to see what works and what doesn't. This will help you identify any issues that could be affecting your conversion rate.

Here are some of the metrics that you can focus on:

• Website traffic – How many visitors are coming to your site? Where are they coming from?
• Engagement – What percentage of visitors are taking the desired action on your site (signing up for a newsletter, downloading a white paper, etc.)?
• Conversions – How many visitors are completing your desired goal (making a purchase, signing up for a trial, etc.)?
• Customer acquisition costs – How much are you spending to acquire each new customer?
• Churn rate – What percentage of customers are leaving within the first X months?

By tracking these metrics over time, you’ll get a clear picture of your progress and be able to make informed decisions about where to invest your time and resources.

How To Growth Hack Your Freelance Business: Conclusion

Growth Hacking your freelance business can be a daunting task, but with the right approach and mindset, it can pay off in spades. 

So to summarize;

• Building relationships with clients through content marketing
• Leveraging technology to streamline processes
• Experimenting with various techniques for audience reach
• Engagement and conversion; and using data-driven insights to track progress

By applying the tactics outlined here, you’ll have an edge over other freelancers when it comes to getting more work done faster and cultivating long-term success. 

Start today by taking action on one or two of these strategies - you might just find yourself at the top of that next project list!