Few companies actually use growth hacking as I understand it: taking advantage of [social] networks to grow exposure exponentially
It's not SEO, and it's not SEM. It's making your product interesting and accessible to social networks, and allowing for organic growth.
BuzzFeed growth hacks (that's basically their entire business model), and while it may fall under the broader term known as marketing, it's not traditional marketing, and it absolutely deserves it's own name.
I think the bigger problem is that people who misuse growth hacking for their marketing department.
It's not SEO, and it's not SEM. It's making your product interesting and accessible to social networks, and allowing for organic growth.
BuzzFeed growth hacks (that's basically their entire business model), and while it may fall under the broader term known as marketing, it's not traditional marketing, and it absolutely deserves it's own name.
I think the bigger problem is that people who misuse growth hacking for their marketing department.