- The Connection Between Growth Hacking and Customer Success

7 August 2025

Alright, let’s talk about two buzzwords that sound like they might belong in two entirely different meetings: growth hacking and customer success. If you think about it, one feels like it belongs in a scrappy startup where people drink oat milk lattes and whiteboard until midnight, while the other sounds like it’s from a corporate HQ where everyone’s calendar is full of “client touchpoints” and “success metrics.”

But hold on a second. What if I told you (in my best infomercial voice) that growth hacking and customer success are actually a match made in heaven? Yep, like peanut butter and jelly or Netflix and “Are you still watching?” screens. They’re not just related; they’re interwoven — and when they work together, magic happens.

So, grab your coffee, kick back, and let’s dive into why these two concepts are BFFs and how they can work together to drive your business forward.

What is Growth Hacking, Anyway?

Before we get too deep into this relationship, let’s clear up what we mean by “growth hacking.” Growth hacking is basically the business world's equivalent of MacGyver-ing your way to fast, efficient, and scalable growth. It’s about using creative, low-cost strategies that test the limits of traditional marketing.

Think about it like this: If traditional marketers are playing chess (carefully planning every move), growth hackers are playing speed chess with a caffeine buzz. They're obsessed with one thing — growth — and they’re willing to experiment and take risks to make it happen.

Dropbox giving away free storage to users who referred their friends? Growth hacking. Airbnb turning Craigslist into its unofficial marketing platform? You guessed it — growth hacking.

In other words, growth hackers are the rebel problem solvers of the business world. But don’t let their edgy vibe fool you—they care about customers too. They just have a sneaky way of showing it.

And Customer Success? What’s That All About?

On the flip side, we’ve got customer success. It's not just a jargon-y term companies slap on to sound cuddly and customer-focused. At its core, customer success is about ensuring that your customers achieve their goals while using your product or service.

In a nutshell, when your customers win, you win. If they’re delighted, they stay. If they stay, they buy more. If they buy more, they start telling their friends how awesome you are. It’s a beautiful chain reaction of love and loyalty.

Customer success teams aren’t just there to fix problems or answer support tickets. No, no. They’re the proactive champions of the customer experience. They’re like your dedicated fitness coach, making sure you actually follow through on that gym membership and stick the landing on your New Year’s goals.

Okay, But What’s the Connection Between the Two?

Now, here’s where the worlds of rogue creativity (growth hacking) and structured empathy (customer success) collide. They’re both fundamentally about value.

Growth hackers are trying to attract customers by showing them a glimpse of the value your product brings. Customer success teams are ensuring those same customers stick around by delivering on that promise of value. They’re two sides of the same coin, and when the two work in harmony, the benefits are enormous.

Still not convinced? Let me break it down further.

1. Growth Hacking Fuels the Customer Success Engine

Growth hacking is all about driving those leads through the door. But here’s the thing: not all growth is good growth. If you’re only bringing in customers who are mismatched with your product, customer success is going to have a major headache trying to retain them.

Growth hackers who keep customer needs at the center of their strategies can bring in the right kind of customers – the ones most likely to succeed with your product.

Think about it. If your growth hacking efforts attract people with misleading “too good to be true” claims, they’ll churn faster than a stressed-out washing machine. And guess whose job it is to clean up the mess? Yup – your customer success team.

2. Customer Success Drives Retention Growth (and More Growth Hacking Opportunities!)

Did you know that acquiring new customers costs five times more than keeping the ones you already have? Retention is the golden goose of growth, and it’s customer success that makes it happen.

When customers are happy and engaged, they stick around longer. Period. But that’s not the only perk. They also tell others about you. Word of mouth is the OG growth hack, and it still works like a charm.

And here’s where it gets really juicy: happy customers = glowing reviews, testimonials, and case studies. Those materials? Pure gold for growth hackers. It’s the fuel they need to run campaigns that build credibility and attract even more users. It’s like a self-sustaining growth loop.

3. Shared Data = Superpowers

Data is the secret sauce that makes both customer success and growth hacking thrive. Growth hackers rely on metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and customer acquisition costs. Customer success teams analyze retention rates, Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and churn signals.

When these two teams share their data, that’s when the real magic happens. Growth hackers can tweak their strategies based on insights from the customer success team, like why certain customers leave or which features lead to the highest satisfaction.

On the flip side, customer success teams can use customer acquisition data to anticipate challenges for new users and smooth out the onboarding process. Shared data = fewer silos and happier customers. Boom.

4. Both Teams Thrive on Experimentation

Growth hackers live for the A/B test. They’re constantly testing, failing, learning, and iterating. (You know, like a mad scientist with a marketing budget.)

Guess what? Customer success thrives on experimentation, too. From testing onboarding strategies to fine-tuning engagement emails, success teams are always experimenting to figure out what helps customers succeed.

When these two teams collaborate on experiments, it’s like combining peanut butter and chocolate — a Reese’s Cup of business brilliance. Suddenly you have a holistic strategy that accelerates growth while ensuring customers are getting the value they expect.

How to Align Growth Hacking and Customer Success

Alright, so you’re sold on the connection between growth hacking and customer success. But how do you actually get these two to play nice together? It’s not like you can throw them in a room and say, “Figure it out, folks!”

Here’s how to build a bridge between growth hacking and customer success:

1. Set Shared Goals

Nothing fosters collaboration like a common goal. Growth hackers might focus on lead generation, while customer success teams obsess over retention rates. But why not find the overlap? For instance, set a goal around increasing the lifetime value (LTV) of customers or reducing churn.

2. Create Feedback Loops

It’s all about communication, baby. Growth hackers need to hear from customer success teams, and vice versa. Set up regular check-ins or joint meetings to share insights, successes, and challenges.

3. Celebrate Wins Together

When the two teams work together to drive business outcomes, shout it from the rooftops! Celebrate milestones, whether it’s reaching a retention goal or cracking the code on a profitable acquisition channel.

4. Share Your Tools

Got growth hacking tools? Share them with customer success. Got a CRM system that customer success swears by? Growth hackers should jump in, too. Shared resources = seamless collaboration.

Examples of Growth Hacking + Customer Success in Action

This all sounds great in theory, but it’s even better in practice. Here are a couple of real-world examples where growth hacking and customer success joined forces:

Slack: Simplicity Meets Retention

Slack didn’t just rely on aggressive marketing to skyrocket in popularity. Their growth hacking focused on making it stupidly simple for teams to start using their product. No lengthy onboarding. No confusion. Just immediate value.

Meanwhile, their customer success team ensures new users stick around by offering helpful tips and resources. The result? High user retention that fuels word-of-mouth growth.

HubSpot: Aligning Teams for Growth

HubSpot’s entire business model is built on bringing in the right customers and making them successful. Their growth team works hand-in-hand with customer success to ensure their marketing and sales efforts attract users who genuinely benefit from their tools. This alignment has helped HubSpot become a customer-focused powerhouse.

Final Thoughts

Growth hacking and customer success might seem like opposites at first glance, but they’re more like yin and yang. One drives rapid growth; the other ensures sustainability. When these two work together, you not only get more customers — you get happy customers who stick around for the long haul.

So, if your growth team and customer success team aren’t collaborating yet, now’s the time to get them in the same room (and maybe provide snacks — that always helps). Together, they’re unstoppable.