Many marketers see these two approaches as opposing sides and focus on one or the other in their marketing activities.
Simin Latifi, a marketing expert (LinkedIn) believes these approaches are actually complementary. Looking ahead to digital marketing in 2025, only businesses that can balance both smartly will succeed.
Growth Hacking: Rapid Growth Focused on Data and Creativity
Growth hacking is a term first introduced by Sean Ellis in 2010. It is a marketing and product development approach focused on fast, sustainable growth. Usually, it uses creative and low-cost strategies to find quick, data-driven ways to grow a business. It’s often seen in startups or companies aiming for rapid scale.
Main features of growth hacking:
- Focus on rapid user acquisition:Growth hacking aims to attract the maximum number of users with minimal resources.
- Constant testing and optimization:Running A/B tests, analyzing conversion rates, and adjusting campaigns based on real-time results.
- Strategic creativity:Using low-cost but impactful techniques, such as referral marketing, viral marketing, and leveraging existing platforms (for example, Airbnb used user-listed ads on Craigslist, a popular classified site, to quickly attract free users to its platform).
Simin Latifi comments on this:
“Growth hacking offers significant benefits, including the ability to achieve rapid growth in a short time and at low cost. However, it also has disadvantages; such as over-reliance on short-term tactics, potential decline in user experience quality, and neglect of brand building importance. Based on my experience with international advertising campaigns, I believe that combining growth hacking with targeted brand activities and awareness campaigns is a safer, more sustainable path for long-term success.”
Brand Building: Sustainable Trust and Loyalty
Brand Building orCreating a BrandUnlike growth hacking, brand building is a gradual and deep process. This approach focuses on shaping brand perception, building trust, and standing out in the market.
Key elements of branding:
- Brand Identity:Includes the name, logo, colors, tone of voice, and the core philosophy of the brand.
- Storytelling:Sharing a unique story that makes the brand human and memorable.
- Customer Experience:Interactions with the brand should be consistent, pleasant, and memorable across all touchpoints.
Why is branding essential?
Brands that focus only on quick acquisition tactics often face loyalty issues in the long run. On the other hand, brands with clear stories, excellent experiences, and added value stay memorable and trusted in customers’ minds and hearts.
Competition or Complementarity?
At first glance, these two approaches seem to oppose each other. But in reality, achieving sustainable success requires viewing them ascomplementaryparts of a whole.
Direct Comparison:
| Factor | Growth Hacking | Brand Building |
| Impact Duration | Short-term | Long-term |
| Priority | Rapid growth | Loyalty and Trust |
| Tools | Data, testing, automation | Content, design, customer experience |
| Metrics | Conversion rate, CAC, audience growth |
Brand value, NPS, LTV |
Practical Hybrid Model
Simin LatifiThe following hybrid model is recommended for brand success in 2025.
- Two-phase funnel:The first phase uses growth hacking techniques to attract users, but immediately afterward, brand building activities focus on retaining and converting them into loyal customers.
- Testing and storytelling:The marketing team decides, based on data, which content has the most engagement, then develops it into a brand story.
- Brand awareness through growth:Sometimes a successful growth hacking campaign can increase overall brand awareness. For example, Clubhouse’s invite campaign or Gmail’s invite codes.
Future Path: Why 2025 Will Be Different
Simin LatifiIn this regard, she adds: “Given the fierce competition in international markets, rapid technological growth like AI, and the flood of advertising targeting users, standing out and grabbing attention is more challenging than ever. Based on my experience with past campaigns, by 2025, relying solely on traditional methods will no longer deliver acceptable conversion rates; instead, a smarter, combined approach focusing on quick growth and building a lasting brand is necessary to ensure short- and long-term success.”
Conclusion
There will be no successful brands in 2025 that follow only one of these paths. Companies that focus only on rapid growth may struggle with branding; those that only think about image-building may lag behind in competition. Balancing growth hacking tactics with branding philosophy is the key to future digital marketing success.
