Steal* proven growth tactics from the best marketers
No B.S. Just good ol' fashioned marketing ideas you can use to grow your online business.
*Okay, it's not really stealing. We share what works, you apply it. Everybody wins.
Which growth tactics should a startup try first?
Start with the 13 tactics in this library that we rate high impact and low effort, such as build in public, launch on Product Hunt, progressive pricing, and allow to pause subscriptions. Then pick by funnel stage: acquisition has the most tactics (22 of 133), and the table below names one to start with in each stage.
The Growth List is a free library of 133 growth tactics for startups and online businesses, run by Ryan Doyle, founder of CommunityMentions and Sales.co. The domain was registered in November 2018, and every tactic is free to read with no account and no paid plan.
The ratings are our own editorial scores, last reviewed October 8, 2026. They are not measured results. 15 tactics carry a high-impact, low-effort rating; 2 of them (review gating and engagement pods) are pages that tell you what to do instead, so they are left out of the 13.
| Stage | Tactics | High impact | Quick wins | Start with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AcquisitionGetting people to find you | 22 | 7 | 3 | Build in publicHigh impact, low effort |
| ActivationGetting new users to a first win | 13 | 4 | 0 | Free migrationHigh impact, high effort |
| RetentionKeeping people who signed up | 20 | 6 | 2 | Allow to pause subscriptionsHigh impact, low effort |
| RevenueTurning use into money | 13 | 6 | 4 | Disabled premium featuresHigh impact, low effort |
| ReferralGetting users to bring others | 11 | 4 | 1 | Run an affiliate programHigh impact, low effort |
A tactic can sit in more than one stage, so the rows add up to more than 133. Quick wins are rated high impact and low effort.
The 13 quick wins
- Allow to pause subscriptionsOffer a dated pause on the cancel screen so seasonal and on-and-off customers can return.
- Build in publicShare your product's progress as you go to earn early users, feedback and trust.
- Data-backed headlinesPut a real, specific result in the title and prove it in the first paragraph.
- Disabled premium featuresKeep paid features visible but locked, with a clear path to upgrade.
- Inactive users updateEmail lapsed users one new feature and why it matters to bring them back.
- Launch on Product HuntPrepare the listing, pick a launch time, and avoid the vote-asking rules that get launches penalized.
- Limited early bird pricingA lower launch price that ends on a real date or after a real number of sales.
- Progressive pricingA cheap first plan, then room to grow. How to set it up and when it backfires.
- Run an affiliate programPay partners a commission per customer they refer, with clear terms and disclosure.
- Cold email deliverability without open trackingOpen tracking is unreliable and may hurt inbox placement. Track replies instead.
- Plain text vs html cold emailWhat HubSpot's email tests show, and how to choose a format for cold outreach.
- Question-based cold email subject linesWhat large datasets say about question subject lines, and where the evidence stops.
- How long should a cold email bePublic data points to 50 to 125 words. Here is what each source measured.
Building something that has not launched yet? Read the pre-launch tactics in the order to start them.
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