Smart organizations recognize the need to divert time and funds from other, less productive pursuits into making their brand more recognizable or establishing a footprint in a new market.

Digital consumption of information by consumers is on the rise . With that comes a prolific increase in competition for organizations of all ages and sizes.

1. Blog like your brand depends on it

Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for information before ever considering talking to a human.

The more content your readers consume around your brand, the more likely they are to trust you, choose you and recommend you to their friends.

2. Conduct experiments

Now that you have a blogging strategy, it’s time to assess whether consumers are responding to your marketing initiatives.

A/B testing can be a contentious topic, so it’s important to remember that you don’t have to test every email subject line. While some marketers swear by A/B testing success stories, others will say that landing page or email open rate.

3. Be a self-promoter

Don’t be shy about asking if you can write for other blogs or publications. Also check out our article on cross promotion. If you are not sure how to post your content to the web, ask the editor or host of your guest post to put.

You can ask bloggers to post your articles on their sites, and you can request backlinks from them.

There are often online communities and forums where people can discuss topics relevant to your business. Add ideas, insights, and anecdotes that are helpful to the other people there.

4. Find the low-hanging fruit

It may be helpful to get an outside opinion, particularly if you are enjoying the success of your marketing scheme.

Don’t think that just because something isn’t effective, it’s no longer viable. There’s a high likelihood you can make adjustments and improve the performance.

Make sure you’re not making expensive mistakes with your funnel, like investing in top-of-the-funnel tactics but not having enough resources to nurture leads down the funnel.

5. Create an email stockpile

Email marketing is a key growth hacking channel that can be used to drive growth for a startup or business.

Consumers check their email at least once a day, and of those consumers, more than two-thirds will buy something as a direct result of an email they receive.

6. Poke your audience in the grey matter

Studies have shown that when readers are asked a question, they almost feel obligated to answer. Why is that? (See what we did there?)

Gamification’s main strength is the desire to be right and to win. Use this desire to enhance your marketing by including quizzes and polls in your content.

7. Be contagious (in the best way)

One user suggests your product to another; the second person suggests the first and a few more people and before you know it, your user base has exploded into exponential growth.

Offer a 30-day, no-strings-attached free trial to convince them to test your product, and then offer support at a particular level, so that you become the product of choice.

What’s a good way to encourage people to share your solution? Let them know that they can pay it forward by donating to charity every time someone else signs up!