Picture this: You are tasked with converting potential customers. However, instead of bombarding them with isolated marketing messages or relying solely on sales representatives to close deals, you adopt a Product Led Growth approach and let the product speak for itself.
Product led growth companies laser-focus on providing a delightful user experience, offering self-service options, and implementing data-driven insights. This enables these companies to create a powerful growth engine that’s fuelled by the inherent value of their product.
In this guide, we will provide practical tips for implementing PLG strategies within your own organisation.
Why Become a Product Led Company?
Becoming a product led company is a strategic decision that offers multiple benefits, such as:
#1 Enhanced User Adoption
Useful for:
- Startups and early-stage companies who want to establish a strong user base quickly
- Established businesses launching new products or entering new markets
By prioritising the user experience and designing products that are intuitive, valuable, and easy to use, product led companies can significantly increase user adoption rates.
#2 Faster Time-to-Value
Useful for: SaaS companies where customers expect quick results and want to see the value of the product without lengthy implementation or complex setup processes.
Product led companies focus on delivering immediate value to users from the outset via:
- self-service capabilities
- clear product benefits
- streamlined onboarding processes
#3 Data-Driven Insights
Useful for: Companies with large user bases or high customer engagement (e-commerce platforms or social media networks).
Product led companies rely on data to understand user behaviour, preferences, and pain points. They leverage analytics and user feedback to gain valuable insights into user needs. This allows for data-driven decision-making and continuous product improvement.
#4 Viral Adoption and Growth
Useful for: Companies with consumer-facing products and where user-generated growth is crucial.
Product led companies harness the power of viral adoption, where satisfied users naturally share and promote the product with others. Organisations can stimulate organic growth and expand their user base rapidly by:
- incorporating built-in referral mechanisms
- social sharing features
- free trial options
How to Become a Product Led Company: 5 Useful Tips
A shift towards a product led approach can unlock growth and value for your business, leading to sustainable success. Here’s how you can achieve the same:
#1 Customer-Centric Mindset
Embrace a customer-centric mindset where the focus is on delivering value to users by:
- Understanding the customer’s needs, pain points, and desired outcomes
- Putting the user at the centre of your product development and decision-making processes
Use-case: Slack embraces customer-centricity by prioritising user feedback and rolling out features that perfectly align with user preferences.
#2 Deep Understanding of Users
Invest in gaining a deep understanding of your target users through research, feedback, and analytics. You can also use data-driven insights to identify user behaviour, preferences, and usage patterns.
To take your understanding one step further and inform product improvements, gather feedback routinely.
Use-case: Spotify utilises data-driven insights to understand user preferences and behaviours and analyses the user’s listening habits to curate personalised playlists. The “Spotify Wrapped” feature that users get at year-end is an excellent demonstrable example of how well Spotify understands its users.
#3 Intuitive User Experience
Design your product with a strong emphasis on usability, simplicity, and intuitiveness. Strive for a seamless and frictionless user experience that makes it easy for users to achieve their goals. The idea is to remove unnecessary complexity and barriers that may hinder adoption.
Use-case: Apple is renowned for its intuitive user experience across its product line. The brand focuses on simplicity, clean design, and ease of use so that users require a minimal learning curve.
The brand rolled out a “Lockdown Mode” to provide additional protection to users, such as “safer wireless connectivity defaults, media sharing defaults, sandboxing, media handling, and network security optimisations“.
#4 Product Led Onboarding
Create an onboarding experience that showcases the value of your product from the very beginning. Additionally, provide interactive tutorials and self-service resources to guide users through the initial setup.
Use-case: StoryChef offers a seamless onboarding experience by guiding new users with clear instructions and short and interactive tutorials.
#5 Self-Service and Product Value Documentation
Empower users to explore and learn on their own through self-service options. Provide comprehensive documentation, knowledge bases, tutorials, and video resources that enable users to maximise the value of your product independently.
Use-case: HubSpot provides a comprehensive knowledge base, training resources, and a vibrant community forum for self-service support.
The Ideal Messaging for Acquiring Customers Through Advertising and Promotions
To become a product led company, make sure to optimise your messaging for each of the following approaches.
| Discounts | Freemiums | Referral Bonus |
| When using discounts as a promotional strategy: 1. Highlight the value and savings customers can leverage. 2. Emphasise the time-sensitive nature or exclusivity of the discount, creating FOMO within users. 3. Focus on the benefits customers will receive, such as cost savings, access to premium features, etc. | When offering a freemium model: 1. Emphasise the value and functionality customers can get without any upfront cost. 2. Highlight the key features and benefits of the free version. 3. Encourage users to upgrade to a paid plan for additional benefits. | When promoting referral bonuses: 1. Focus on the mutual benefits for both the referrer and the referred. 2. Clearly communicate the reward users will receive for successful referrals. 3. Highlight how easy it is for users to refer others. |
Working With M&C Saatchi Performance
M&C Saatchi Performance is an award-winning performance marketing agency that delivers targeted, data-driven campaigns for clients.
By partnering with us, you can tap into our team’s expertise, embrace a more data-driven approach, and leverage our integrated marketing solutions to accelerate your product led growth journey and achieve organic success.
