Rather than pooh-poohing this new word or dismissing it by claiming that people use it so they can avoid calling themselves marketers, ask yourself: "Why do people find this distinction useful?"
Probably because the group of marketers using technology wants a name for themselves to convey the meaning that they're not normal marketers, but marketers that use and create advanced technology to make better decisions.
Absolutely. The term has a definite meaning. It refers to a software engineer with enough market awareness, copywriting savvy, and statistical ability to run a campaign full stack. There aren't that many people with this skillset, but they are valuable. By contrast, the typical person listing "marketing" on LinkedIn is just not that technical.
A good growth hacker can conceptualize and code the AirBnB/Craiglist integration; most of the people listing marketing on LinkedIn can't do that, skilled as they may be in other respects.
That would make for a much better article, IMO.
Here's a thread where I attempt to justify the term: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4309570