A Founder’s Guide to Product-Led Marketing and Strategy

Discover the product-led growth strategy that helped my client achieve a 100% increase in membership revenue in just 7 months.

What if your customers could promote your product for you?

In the age of virality and user-generated content, tapping into your customers to fuel brand growth is highly valuable.

It all starts with product-led growth and marketing.

Product-led growth is the method of using the product itself as the primary driver for acquiring, retaining, and expanding your customer base.

This approach is particularly effective for product-based brands rooted in customer experience – like membership platforms and software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps.

But I often work with early-stage startup founders who are uncertain about how to fully harness this growth strategy.

So, this article will outline the core components of product-led growth:

• Offer strategy, including membership levels and pricing.
• Product-led marketing, with techniques to engage and attract users.
• User-led growth, through exceptional customer experiences and referrals.

These insights are drawn from my two decades of proudly working with hundreds of brands – from global companies like HSBC to early-stage startup founders.

Let’s talk about how to harness the potential of product-led growth to increase your reach and revenue.

What Is Product-Led Growth?

Product-led growth (PLG) is an approach in which the product itself plays a central role in attracting new customers and expanding the customer base.

This approach is grounded in the insight that customers prefer a hands-on product experience over extensive sales and marketing interactions.

For example, would you rather get on a 90-minute sales call with a team member at a SaaS company like Dropbox, or would you prefer to simply test out the platform on your own?

Most customers lean towards trying out the software or membership. And prefer marketing content that vividly depicts the product's utility and applications.

I’ve seen many successful examples of product-led growth companies include Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, and Canva – all of which have grown rapidly by prioritizing the product experience and user adoption as key drivers of their success.

Slack became the fastest-growing business application by leveraging product-led growth, such as:

• Offering a robust free version, combined with the allure of unlocking premium features.
• Ensuring a seamless user experience through effective onboarding and support.
• Encouraging users to champion its adoption among their organizations and colleagues.

This viral loop of user-driven growth propelled Slack's meteoric rise – and it's precisely the kind of growth you can replicate. Especially in a digital landscape where people eagerly refer their friends to products and services.

So, let's break down exactly what this strategy entails, and how to leverage it.

Product-Led Growth Breakdown: Offer Strategy, Marketing Methods, and User-Driven Growth

Effectively showcasing your product and providing an exceptional user experience empowers your customers to become your most influential advocates. When customers have a positive and fulfilling experience with your product, they’re more likely to remain loyal and enthusiastic about recommending it to others.

Here are the three pillars I’ve found to be successful when implementing product-led growth for startup-level founders:

1. Offer Strategy

Product-led growth hinges on how you develop your product and structure your offer. Many companies facilitate user exploration of their product before committing, through options such as a free trial or a freemium membership.

• Free Trial: This option grants users the opportunity to fully experience the product or service before making a commitment, providing them with a firsthand understanding of its value.
• Tiered / Freemium Membership: In this model, users have access to certain features for free, with the option to upgrade for premium functionalities.

While a free trial offers a single chance to encourage an upgrade, the tiered approach exerts a more compelling pull. It keeps users engaged and ensures that the allure of premium features remains at the forefront of their experience.

When I helped a client implement a tiered membership structure, it led to a 100% increase in membership revenue in just seven months.

In this approach, users receive value for free but multiple opportunities are strategically embedded to incentivize them to opt for an upgraded membership.

2. Product-Led Marketing.

Product-led marketing prioritizes showcasing the product's features, benefits, and value to potential customers. It relies on the product itself as a powerful marketing tool.

• How-To Content. Create educational content like blog articles, posts, or videos that demonstrate how to use your product. These offer a firsthand glimpse into its functionality and igniting the audience's curiosity to try it themselves.
• Case Studies. Highlight the product's capabilities by showcasing how it benefited a customer. This enables your audience to visualize how the product could enhance their own experiences.

I employed similar product-led tactics to assist my client, Rokt, in doubling its ARR from $80M to $160M. But product-led marketing can be somewhat bewildering, as it doesn't adhere to a single channel or distribution strategy.

Instead, it represents a unique content style that places the product at the forefront of the content.

Nonetheless, you'd still utilize traditional channels to distribute this content, including SEO, paid ads, email marketing, and more. The exploration of channels and distribution strategies is a topic I'll dive into in a future article.

3. User-Driven Growth.

Customers who enjoy a positive experience with your product are not only more likely to return but also inclined to refer others. By prioritizing a seamless product experience and introducing referral incentives, you can ignite virality.

• User Experience. A paramount aspect of user-driven growth is optimizing the user experience – with onboarding, feedback, and customer service. Ensure users fully grasp the benefits and feel well-supported with any questions.
• Referral Process and Incentive. While having an exceptional product lays the foundation for eliciting referrals, simplifying the referral process and providing incentives through platforms like Capterra can further promote virality.

For instance, Slack introduced a feature allowing users to invite coworkers to their Slack workspace, prompting enthusiastic sharing among colleagues.

This network effect spurred widespread adoption – solidifying Slack's position as a crucial communication tool within organizations.

Fueling user-led growth through user experience and referrals is a strategy we employed with FrenchFounders that helped grow their membership base by 400%.

Product-led growth is particularly pertinent in today's digital landscape, where social media and user-generated content are abundant.

I’ve learned from my clients that when you design a product with a focus on delivering a remarkable customer experience – satisfied customers are more inclined to advocate for and discuss your offering.

By emphasizing the customer experience, employing effective marketing strategies, and using referral incentives, you pave the way for product-led growth.

It's not too late to embrace this strategy – especially if you operate a product-based business.

I hope these examples gave you insight into just how powerful this method is.

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