Top 10 Growth Hacking Books to Read in 2022

Do you want to know more about Growth Hacking or want to become a Growth Hacker?
There are a few different ways to do this, such as reading growth hacking blogs.

No matter how tech-focused the industry is, we must not forget about growth hacking books, even if they are on the more consistent side of things.

In this list, we’ve included our top growth hacking reads — some absolute classics, plus some of the latest publications on the subject.

1. Hacking Growth

How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success

Authors: Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown | Published: 2017 | Pages: 345

If you know anything about growth hacking, you’ve probably heard of Sean Ellis. Sean is responsible for the term ‘growth hacking’ as he coined it a decade ago. If you know nothing about growth hacking, fine – this book is for you! “The Godfather of Growth Hacking” co-authored the book with Morgan Brown. Among other things, Morgan is a development and product executive. Currently, he is the Product Director of Facebook. Together they wrote one of the growth hacking books.

The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, you will learn what is growth hacking, what are the methods used by growth hacking and its process. The second part is basically a playbook. This is where you’ll find out how to apply the methods and processes of the first part to your business – regardless of your industry – and get the most out of the 4 stages of growth (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Monetization).

2. The Growth Handbook

Brought to you by Intercom

Authors: Des Traynor, Karen Peacock, & Andrew Chen | Published: 2018| Pages: 79

Andrew Chen is one of the first thought leaders in the growth hacking scene. In 2012, he explained why ‘Growth Hacker is the new VP Marketing’. He led Uber’s rider growth product team. Today, he is a general partner of a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Together with the team at Intercom and some of the industry veterans who have grown businesses like AtlassianAlesion, Slack, and Pinterest, they provide tested frameworks, valuable tips, and invaluable overview through this book.

Authors and contributors share their thoughts on why retention is more important than acquisition. Spoiler alert: This has to do with the current subscription-based economy. Additionally, you’ll learn how to conduct legitimate development experiments and what common mistakes to avoid.

3. Traction

How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth

Authors: Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares | Published: 2015 | Pages: 240

Traction is written by two very successful entrepreneurs, Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mars. The first is the CEO and founder of DuckDuckGo, one of the most popular alternative search engines. The latter is the founder of several successful startups.

Traction is written with every startup in mind. Why do some startups fail while others succeed? According to the book, most startups don’t fail because they can’t make a product. Rather, they fail because they cannot get traction. In other words, new customers and users. As the authors put it, “traction tramples everything”.

4. Product-Led Growth

How to Build a Product That Sells Itself

Author: Wes Bush | Published: 2019 | Pages: 276

Wes may just be relatively new to the growth marketing landscape but has already established a strong presence. He is the co-host of the ‘Product Led Podcast’, the creator of the ‘Product Led 6-Week Course’ and the author of Product-Based Development: How to Build a Product That Sells Yourself.

That’s dandy and all, but what on earth is ‘product-based’, I can hear you asking. The term ‘product-based development’ was coined a few years ago by a Boston-based VC firm, OpenView Partners. According to the firm, “Product Leadership Development (PLG) is an end user-centered development model that relies on the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion and expansion.” In other words, product-led development puts the product at the center of the customer’s journey. Thus the product itself, rather than sales or marketing, becomes the mechanism through which the company will acquire, activate and maintain

 

5. Growth Hacking

Silicon Valley’s Best Kept Secret

Authors: Raymond Fong & Chad Riddersen | Published: 2016 | Pages: 204

Growth Hacking – Silicon Valley’s Best Kept Secret is another great option for anyone who wants to get familiar with growth hacking. It is written by Raymond Fong and Chad Riderson. Raymond is a former engineer who discovered his passion for marketing later in his life and became a growth marketer and a consultant. Chad began his career in investment banking but went on to become a growth consultant for companies such as Boeing and Dollar Shave Club.

Unlike traditional growth marketers, Chad and Raymond don’t think in the growth funnel. Rather, he created his own framework and called it Automated Sales Process (ASP). then what is it? Basically, ASP analyzes and analyzes the elements of a sales and price delivery cycle. You can get an idea of ​​what it is from the book cover on the left.

6. Startup Evolution Curve

From Idea to Profitable and Scalable Business

Author: Donatas Jonikas | Published: 2017 | Pages: 338

The Startup Evolution Curve – From Idea to Profitable and Scalable Business is branded as the ‘IKEA Guide to Building Your Next Startup’. It is written by Dr. Donatas Jonicas, a scientist, a marketer, and a reserve lieutenant. To write his book, Donatas surveyed 1,447 startup founders and startup marketing agencies from around the world. But he did not stop here. Additionally, he conducted a few hundred interviews with founders who managed to see their startups skyrocket, and even with some who didn’t; Failures can teach us valuable lessons just like successes.

The content of the book puts a heavy weight on the business aspect of startups. As such, it begins with an analysis of the value proposition, business environment and competitive analysis. It then moves on to how to build a minimum viable product and how to evaluate profit and growth potential.

7. Hooked

How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Author: Nir Eyal | Published: 2014 | Pages: 336

In growth marketing, retention has become the most important stage of the funnel. And one of the first thinkers to be in the limelight so successfully was Neer Iyal. Neer specializes in behavioral engineering, which is a blend of psychology and technology. He is also a tech startup founder and investor and professor at Stanford University.

Introduced the hooked model in his book, Hooked, Near. As the name suggests, the model describes how it attracts users so they use the product over and over again without thinking too much about it. As the authors point out, the hooked model consists of 4 steps. The first stage is the trigger, which is whatever sets the behavior in motion. The second step, the action, is what is being done in anticipation of the next step, the reward.

8. The Paper Plane Plan

Growth hacking techniques especially for the B2B service industry

Author: Ross Davies | Published: 2017 | Pages: 184

Paper Plane Plan is one of these books you should read with a pen and a notepad by your side (or -you know- whatever works for you) for keeping notes. This leaves the reader with several takeaways. The strategies and tactics outlined in the book are well written, well presented, and quite practical, thus giving you a chance to implement them as soon as you put the book down.

While many growth hacking books focus on SaaS and the product itself, Paper Plain Plan B2B offers a blueprint for the services industry. This is a great step-by-step guide that offers great value to B2B professionals who want to grow their business. Be it an accountant, solicitor, recruiter or photographer, there is something for every professional working in the B2B service industry.

9. Contagious

 

Why Things Catch On

Author: Johan Berger | Published: 2016 | Pages: 256

Growth hacking is known for its low (or no) budget capability. Startups and Small Businesses Aren’t the Big 5 Tech; They are not even close in terms of money, connections or operations. Yet companies like Dropbox, Airbnb, Dollar Shave Club managed to grow without spending millions in promotion and advertising. His little secret? Word of mouth marketing, which is a major component of growth marketing.

John Berger, the author of the book, delves into the world of human psychology and ideas. He destroys virginity and investigates what makes things popular. According to John, there are 6 basic principles that define the science behind virginity and word-of-mouth. Whether you are a content writer, a copywriter, most types of ‘writers’, or you are working for any media including social, or looking for ways to capture your product or idea, Contagious is the most Popular place.

10. Top 101 Growth Hacks

The best growth hacking ideas that you can put into practice right away

Author: Aladdin Happy | Published: 2015 | Pages: 132

For five months straight, the book’s author Aladdin was collecting Happy Growth Hacks. Every day for 2 to 5 hours, he used to collect growth hacks from all over the internet. Then, he will execute them for his startup. After some time, Aladdin decided to share these hacks through a subscription service. As a result, 1700 customers were reading his content after only 3 weeks (with $0 in marketing budget). Seeing that there is an audience for him, he then put all these hacks in a book and published it.

In Top 101 Growth Hacks you will read exactly what the title suggests: 101 Growth Hacks Suitable for Referrals and Revenue from Product/Market.