Product-Led Growth: Driving Success from Onboarding to Retention
Explore How Leading B2C and B2B Brands Boost User Engagement with Proven Growth Strategies
Hello, I am Saurabh Tandon and welcome to the free weekly edition of More than Buzzwords.
Today’s newsletter is relevant for people looking to grow themselves or their businesses by deploying product led growth or subscriptions. Very useful for people in product role at startups as we deep dive into the various stages of PLG, how to deploy, what are the pitfalls, how is it relevant along-with a sales team.
The newsletter provides ample frameworks, tactics and examples to understand and execute product led growth in detail. Lots to uncover.
Let’s dive in!
Do you ever wake up in the morning, glance at your inbox, and think, "Oh Jeez, not another ‘Book a Demo’ email?"
I feel you! It’s like waking up to a stubborn alarm clock that just won’t quit. Aarrgh!
In stark contrast, in the world of Product-Led Growth (PLG), things operate quite differently.
Here, the product takes centre-stage in both communication and sales. It is like having a self-sufficient sales expert who’s always on duty, never needs coffee, and doesn’t take smoke breaks.
In PLG, users engage with the product directly, exploring its features and benefits at their own pace. This self-service approach not only enhances user experience but also drives customer acquisition and retention more effectively than conventional methods
Differentiating Sales Motion and PLG Motion
Once upon a time, in the B2B world, you had to hire a sales army, sign contracts, and then end users would finally get their hands on the product. Thing of the past! Why? Understand great sales motions here in my previous newsletter
Because the users are humans (shocker!), and they want to try before they buy. That’s why PLG has exploded in popularity like a new iphone model on launch day.
Imagine downloading an app, playing with it, and thinking, “Hey, this is actually saving me time and sanity!” All without thinking twice to get cracking on the free trial. It’s the no-pressure Netflix of B2B SaaS.
No need to sit through a boring sales pitch; you’re diving right into the experience, instead.
So, what’s really changed?
People have become more discerning and impatient. They don’t want to waste time wading through lengthy demos or sales meetings.
They want instant gratification, and PLG is all about giving that to them. If your product is the star of the show, then it has to perform.
Free trial your way to growth
The biggest CTA in B2B? “Book a demo.” But PLG turns that on its head because “Book a demo” CTA is so 2020!
The real magic happens when you have a low barrier to entry: a free version or trial. Now anyone can stumble upon your product, try it out without a clunky process, and before you know it—boom, they’re hooked. You nailed it!
It's like offering free samples at the grocery store but for software.
And who doesn’t love free samples?
As a customer, don’t you?
And that reminds me of Spotify – the master of the freemium model: The stats say it all!
You get to test the waters, explore the product’s features, and see if it’s a fit for you—all without whipping out your card.
A win-win, it is! Isn’t it?
And just like that, you’ve created a frictionless onboarding experience that encourages users to become customers – the first step!
Miro nails activation by keeping it simple and targeted. When you sign up, they ask just a few questions---- very targeted ones --- about your use case—like whether you're there to brainstorm or develop a roadmap.
In just under five minutes, you’re using a template tailored to your needs, making it super easy to dive right in. This quick journey from sign-up to value is what we call “time to value,” and it’s a winning strategy that gets users hooked fast!
Takeaway: The quicker you lead users to their “aha!” moment, the better your chances of turning them into paying customers. Period!
You aren’t at the finishing line as yet though!
Once they’re in, it’s your responsibility to keep them engaged. If they try your product, like it, and then leave, it is all pointless!
PLG’s foundation is DATA
PLG is really all about data—yes, I said it, DLG: Data-Led Growth.
When users sign up for your free trial, they aren’t just having a good time; they’re giving you valuable insights. Make the most of these!
Which features are they using? What’s their "aha!" moment? What makes them go, "Take my money!”?
That’s gold.
If you’re not collecting this data, you’re just handing out free stuff for nothing (and nobody likes doing that).
In the world of PLG, data is your best pal. You need to track engagement metrics, user behaviors, and feature usage patterns.
The insights gathered during the PLG process can also inform how well your product is achieving product-market fit
What you discover can inform your product roadmap and marketing strategies, making your product even better for future users
Steps and Structure to PLG - The Fab FIVE
Ah, the aha moment—that magical instant when users realize your product is the solution to their problems. (If only that happened as easily in real life, am I right?)
It might save them time and money, or finally make them look like the office hero.
#1. Onboarding
It is the critical first step where you roll out the red carpet and ensure the user journey is smooth and intuitive. View onboarding as a chance to hold users' hands and guide them through their first wins.
This is a great place to understand a user in detail, personalise next steps for them. When a user knows you have understood them well and content is relevant for “them”, the next steps of PLG become smooth.
Needless to say, demonstrate how your product makes a difference in their lives.
And onboarding ---- should be easy!
Shopify, for instance, makes onboarding a cakewalk.
#2. Activation
This is where it all begins—getting users to experience that immediate value. But before diving into activation, let’s define a crucial element: high-value action.
What do I want users to do? This could be signing up for a free trial, completing their profile, or engaging with a key feature.
Calendly is another fantastic example of Product-Led Growth! When someone receives a Calendly link for the first time, they instantly see the value—scheduling becomes super easy.
Want to use it yourself? Just click the “powered by Calendly” invite, and you’re taken straight to the sign-up page. Simple and fast!
Once I have Value defined, it's essential to run some experiments to ensure users are actually performing that action. Your job: “users do that action”
This will help convert my users more.
#3. Conversion
The moment when a free user becomes a paying one. This is the holy grail of PLG. You've already activated your users; now it's about nudging them toward pulling out their wallets.
Conversion can be driven by smart upsell tactics, feature unlocks, or well-timed in-app messages that make upgrading a no-brainer. Remember, hard selling is a BIG NO-NO! ; it’s about showing users the extra value they’ll get with the paid version.
Eg: Splitwise App - Once the user splits the expense entry with their friends successfully (which is the high value action defined by Splitwise), then the App prompts you to pay for even better features.
If activation was High-value 1.0, Conversion is High-value 2.0!
#4. Retention
This stage is where you really need to shine. Retention is all about ensuring users keep coming back, again and again. If your product is a one-time-use wonder, that’s a problem.
You want to create frequent touchpoints that make your product indispensable—something users rely on regularly, like Slack or Notion.
To build a habit in users’ usage patterns, your product needs to have high enough usage frequency.
If it’s a low-use case, then you’ve got to find a solution or build a feature which serves a high frequency use case within the low frequency business model. The more users engage, the more likely they are to stick around and they gotta see a reason or let’s say - Value for doing so.
Eg: At Magicbricks, we had low frequency use case for home buying/selling/renting. We created a high value use case within it (called Propworth)
#5. Extension
It is also part of retention! This is where you take your existing users and drive additional growth through expansion.
Whether it's adding more users to a team, upgrading to a higher-tier plan, or unlocking advanced features, extension maximizes the lifetime value (LTV) of each customer.
The beauty of PLG is that happy users naturally spread the word, acting as mini-salespeople by advocating for your product—think of them as your secret growth agents.
Data, Data Everywhere (And How to Manage It All)
Your PLG strategy is only as good as your data infrastructure. You’ll need:
Data collection tools like SurveyMonkey, Google Analytics, Segment (because guessing isn’t a strategy)
Product analytics tools to see what’s working (hello, GA, Amplitude, Mixpanel!)
Experimentation tools for when you’re feeling risky (Crazyegg, Hotjar)
Lifecycle marketing tools to keep users engaged (WebEngage, MoEngage, Clevertap)
And of course, the big kahuna—a data warehouse like Amazon Redshift, Azure, Bigquery where all this glorious data goes to live its best life.
Without a robust data infrastructure, you are building your PLG house on quicksand—good luck with that!
So, it is time for introspection --- and a few questions.
Am I in a good position to analyze user behavior, track engagement, and measure the impact of implemented changes?
Do I have organized and accessible data to make well-informed decisions that propel growth?
By understanding my users better, how can I enhance their experience and foster further development?
Building your dream PLG Team
To pull off PLG, you’re going to need more than just a killer product. You need a cross-functional Growth Squad.
See, we have to understand that PLG is a motion that’s out-and-out cross-functional in nature! So, I consider it a big mistake to see this as a product or growth team.
Building your PLG dream team? Start with a Growth PM—your funnel optimization guru. Toss in a Data Analyst (because someone has to read the tea leaves), an Engineer to refine the product, and a Designer to make it all look fabulous.
Don’t forget the Head of Growth, who orchestrates this symphony, ensuring growth, marketing, and sales teams harmonize. Communication is key!
And let’s add a Head of Growth Marketing and a Head of Product-Led Sales to round things out. With everyone in sync, you’ll be well on your way to product-led success!
PLG for Enterprise Sales: Yes, It’s Possible!
Still think PLG is just for B2C motions?
PLG works wonders even for SaaS-based enterprise sales organizations.
In fact, larger organizations often have even more to gain from a PLG approach. By empowering individual users within a company, you effortlessly create organic demand that can lead to larger contracts down the line.
Imagine an employee using one license version of your SaaS product, loves it, becomes a brand ambassador and recommends the enterprise version for their company. Such a brilliant outcome!
So, when employees are excited about a product they’ve discovered and are actively using, they’ll champion it to decision-makers. That’s a game-changer!
The Wrap-Up
Product-led Growth or PLG is more than a buzzword; it’s the future.
Build something irresistibly good, that users can’t help but use and share (for free, no less!).
And while they’re at it, make sure you’re watching their every move...you know, in a data-driven kind of way.
As you start your PLG journey, remember that the product is at the heart of everything you do.
Keep innovating, keep listening to user feedback, and keep optimizing for engagement. Your users are your best salespeople, and if you give them an exceptional experience, they’ll do the heavy lifting for you, and till then your product will!
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