PLG or Product-led growth has been a preferred strategy for many product startups in the SaaS software space. It is a cheap, efficient, and scalable way to test a product, get feedback, drive adoption, and, to some extent, drive virality (using community power). The end objective is to drive growth mainly through ‘word of mouth’ (reference) or the freemium model.
It is particularly effective for early-stage startups when resources and funding are scarce. It is a great tool for testing product-market fit (PMF).
Several PLG-led success stories exist in both the B2C and B2B space. Let me share a couple of examples where I personally joined as a free user and eventually switched to a paid subscription plan.
Riverside, an online video and podcast recording software I use for recording and editing podcasts, uses the PLG motion quite effectively. The software provides a free entry point with 2 hours of multi-track recordings per month and a full suite of editing tools. I used their free version to record a few episodes before upgrading to a paid license, which offers much more value. The free version allowed me to test the capabilities and functionality while building my confidence as a fast-time video podcaster. The product was good and served my needs for free when I was just starting. Which means Riverside’s PLG strategy was bang on for starters like me.
Canva, the go-to design tool for content creators, is another tool I use daily to create various content. Like Riverside, I started off with the Canva free version. And frankly, the Canva free version provides tons of value, firstly due to its template-centric approach and secondly due to its easy-to-use design features & UI.
Now, let me declare something upfront. None of these products (Canva and Riverside) sponsored this blog and nor am I an affiliate to these products. I am sharing these examples because I have personally experienced their PLG motions.
10 reasons why I chose Riverside or Canva (PLG drivers)?
- Free entry points
- Great quality products
- Consistent flow of new innovations
- Perfect for my use cases (or problems)
- Easy to use, learn, and self-serve
- Great review on internet
- Flexible pricing options to suit my needs
- Easy to share and collaborate with team members
- Lot’s of user generated guides and tutorial videos
- Supports multiple device formats
As a product manager or founder, it may be one of the frequent debates or dilemmas you encounter, especially at the early stage.
One question often debated in the SaaS product space is whether PLG motion alone is good enough to drive product adoption and growth at the early stage. Honestly, it is not surprising. As a product manager or founder, it may be one of the frequent debates or dilemmas you encounter, especially at the early stage.
While Canva is a fairly mature and large startup, Riverside is still relatively new and small. For both companies, PLG motion worked beautifully while they were at early stage. Due to their self-serve nature and easy to use functionalities, both products enjoyed word-of-mouth references and wide spread adoption and user referrals. Thanks to quick adoption and large user base, the product teams were able to get regular user feedback and study the product adoption patterns. That obviously drove rapid product innovation and usability improvements.
While both stories represent the quintessential success of product-led growth motion and laid a strong foundation for future growth, PLG motion alone is not enough to grow their business beyond a certain scale, especially when they moved from an early stage to a more mature stage. This is particularly true for Canva, considering Riverside is still an early-stage startup.
PLG helped with the initial PMF, drove adoption, and developed a large user base. And the credit can be largely attributed to the product managers.
The success of PLG is deeply rooted at the product. These success stories were fundamentally driven by high quality self-serve products backed by deep understanding of the target user needs, current market conditions, exiting supply, and future opportunities. Without a strong product achieving growth only through PMG motion can be hard. The usability, the features & functionalities, and the quick innovation cycle, all carefully crafted around the target user needs and use cases are at the core of PLG driven success.
So yes, the PLG motion can help with PMF and accelerate user growth for early-stage startups. As the company scales to multiple geographies and targets enterprise buyers, it may need to embrace Sales-led growth (SLG) and Customer-led growth (CLG) and rely on a hybrid model, especially when the startup is expanding its target market beyond individual users to enterprise buyers for its next level of growth.
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