Business strategies are outlined plans, actions, and goals that are kept in place by the organization and the said stakeholders. One such emerging and popular type of business strategy is product-led growth or PLG.
PLG relies on using your product as the main vehicle to drive acquisition, retention, conversion, and expansion. This strategy has been implemented by several successful companies such as Slack, Calendly, and Datadog to name a few.
To become a successful company that uses PLG as a strategy, a company must first have an efficient product that delivers whatever is promised. It also needs an engaging product experience. To learn more about PLG and the rise of the user, read on because our detailed guide has all the information you’ll need to inform yourself.
Stages That Led To Product-Led Growth Strategy
Over time, there have been several strategies implemented by companies. This is because not all can withstand the wrath of changing trends, and so companies need to make iterations and adjustments to their growth strategies. Here are some of them below:
Sales-Led Growth Strategies
In this type of business strategy, sales take the driver’s seat. It focuses on outbound sales, personal relationships, one-to-one meetings, customized sales processes, and long cycles. Companies such as Microsoft and Salesforce have implemented this strategy and work best for service companies that sell highly technical products and need training for implementation.
Today, many companies have preferred not to use this strategy as there is a higher initial cost and the users are very well informed, so they know what software is best suited for their needs.
Marketing-Led Growth Strategies
This strategy became very popular in the world of Web 2.0 and is still used by several B2C companies that are focused on rapid growth. It is the type of strategy that does not focus on the adoption of the software but rather on the initial revenue of results. It was criticized as it was looking at short-term metrics instead of long-term growth gains.
Product-Led Growth Strategies
This is a more holistic approach and is being used by many today. It is also more cost-effective as end-users find it without much advertising. It is also more user-friendly as they can take control of how they incorporate the product into their day-to-day lives. And most SaaS companies scale and sell themselves, making them a preferred choice.
The Rise Of The End User
Earlier companies had a difficult time incorporating new software into their companies. Not only did it involve several people, but it also had a long sale process, complex installation, and some even required training and certification. But all this has recently changed, as the end-user themselves now finds software. Before we talk about the end-user era in-depth, let’s take a brief look at the history.
CLO Era
During this phase, buying business software was a capital-intensive process. Here, buying decisions were made by technical executives and training was provided later to employees on how to incorporate them into their business practices.
Exec Era
Next was this era when the power of buying decisions moved to non-technical executives. These software integrations were less complicated, and the executives were more concerned and focused on how the new software would help their company meet its outlined goals.
The End-User Era
This is where most companies operate. Today, the software is much extra consumer-friendly, and rather than hefty, one-time prices, software applications are based totally on subscription pricing. This technology has also visible a shift in who makes the buying choices and it has moved to the quit user who interacts with the software on a greater every day basis.
Benefits Of Product-Led Growth
Product-led growth is a popular go-to-market strategy for many because the business’s resources revolve around providing the best experience possible to the customers. Studies show more and more companies are adopting this strategy due to its numerous benefits. Some of them are mentioned below:
Faster Growth
The adoption and expansion process of companies that choose product-led growth is much faster than those that do not. Several companies also adopt a freemium model where companies offer basic features at no cost so that the users get a feel of the product before purchasing. In this way, companies are lowering barriers to entry by making the software more attractive with their free model.
Higher Retention Rates
Since users are the ones finding the software quickly understand the value of the product. However, this only stands true if user expectations meet the product’s capabilities.
Lower Advertising Costs
Most sales are made through word-of-mouth promotion. So instead of companies promoting the product, the users themselves encourage adoption, reducing advertising costs.
If you are interested in a platform that connects makers to customers through the product, then you’re in luck. Believing in the future of product-led strategy, Dev CRM encourages makers to grow their businesses with customers as the primary focus.
