A growth hacker is a trendy (and some say useless) name for a marketer who focuses on user growth, who can also write code. Growth hacking usually involves "hacking" existing systems or data for high-impact user growth actions (example: what AirBnb did with craiglist can be considered growth hacking)

(Edit: grammar)

"Growth hacker" is the in vogue jargon for "marketer". I have read arguments promoting the title on the basis that there is an increased reliance on quantitative analysis but the bottom line is they are just marketers naturally applying their craft to their own job titles.

For those that would disagree, please tell me what would differ on a growth hacker's resume vs. a marketing professional's resume. A big clue that they are the same role is that both jobs would list user acquisition numbers as a key metric of their work efficacy.

The difference is quite makred. A conventional marketer focuses on using, well, conventional methods. They use already made marketing tools to get their messages across. Seldom do they dare innovate in any regard. They basically apply the same thing to every idea.

A growth hacker:

    builds his/her own tools (including software)
    is always developing new marketing tools 
    works to combine conventional with new

Its not a new term, but has been getting some attention in the past years.

As an aside, I find some irony in the fact that a growth hacker uses blogspot. All Blogspot blogs are blocked in China without the use of a vpn. Thus, a sizeable chunk of potential readers is excluded.

I've heard this term only in the last week too, and still unsure of what it is..

A BS name for a marketer.

A coder on the customer acquisition team.

Its another (idiotic) term for marketer

It's a marketing term for a marketer.