Businesses, especially startups, need quick and early wins to sustain, invest and grow. A significant focus is placed on low hanging opportunities for such needs – these opportunities are typically characterized by high value, low acquisition / conversion cost and a shorter closure duration. For these very reasons, this is one of the favorite play fields in Growth Hacking.

When we try hunting for these low hanging opportunities, it is easy to lose track and take at all the wrong turns with the amount of information we are churning – often leading to nothing but frustrations and futile results. To beat that, here are 3 golden rules that we’ve learnt over the years that works wonders in identifying such valuable opportunities.

Identifying the right market space for quick wins

• For every product or solution, the market scope is pretty vast – even if it is a niche solution. Also, gain insights on clients’ buying behavior, buying cycles and conversion triggers. A market research might provide a wealth of information on the market landscape and where we need to focus.
• Here is an real-life example to relate better. One of my friends had this specially designed activity kit for kids to help sharpen their mental abilities. The initial scope of target market covered parents in Bangalore – of course, they were all ‘hard-sell’. We did a quick research and figured out that there is a segment in the market for easier penetration – it wasn’t the parents but particular schools that enabled students to explore such new models.

Amplify the ‘word of mouth’ effect in the target market

• Often the fastest buyers are the ones that are convinced about your product-business fit. In majority of cases, such buyers are gained through word of mouth. This is where networking plays its super critical part. The more contacts you have, the more may be the influence on your target market. Running specific programs for increasing market influence and client referrals could be of great value here. Depending on the type of market that you are targeting, these programs could be based on product, delivery, offers…etc.
• Let us relate this with my friend’s activity kit example. Now we started talking to a significant number schools, conducted various workshops and further shortlisted schools based on their interests in such activities. Some of the schools’ founders and leaders started taking these discussions to their circle which not only set the stage for our next steps but also brought in some immediate requests.

Targeted Marketing Campaigns will do wonders

• Complementing your engagements with targeted marketing campaigns will maximize impact. Communicate product innovations, roadmaps, ideas and wins to your audience to gain their confidence and trust in your product and solution capabilities. It is of paramount importance to understand the cost of acquisition, nurturing and closure for a better cost-benefit analysis of your marketing campaigns.
• Going back to our activity kit example, we now had a good list of hot targets with good opportunity value. We ran specific targeted campaigns focused on accelerating their buying journey including direct mailers, outdoor ads in strategic locations, social influencer campaigns and generic newsletters on kids’ mental development. The result was fabulous. Before we reached their doorstep, they knew who we were and what we offered. The discussion was purely on closing the sale rather than introducing the product or convincing them that this is good for kids.

This set of 3 golden rules will apply to most engagements. However, depending on the type of business environment you may have to consider different tactics and approaches. I’d recommend getting in touch with a growth hacking specialist to fine tune your engagements for better results. 

All said, it is important to note that such low hanging opportunities can only be a part of the pipeline and not the pipeline itself. A synergized sales and marketing effort would add much greater value to win such opportunities.

Feel free to share your thoughts on identifying low hanging opportunities for your business / organization.

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