SaaStr Annual 2024: PLG Decoded: Blueprint for Leading a PLG Effort in a SaaS Company with Buffer

SaaStr Annual 2024: PLG Decoded: Blueprint for Leading a PLG Effort in a SaaS Company with Buffer

1. PLG Decoded - how to Succeed as a Team Maria Thomas CPO, Board Member Rebrandly, ex-Buffer

2. Hi 🙌 I am Maria, welcome to my Braindate about PLG We’ll be here for 30 minutes. 1st 15m - content, 2nd 15m - your questions PLG motion decoded Definitions and myths vs best practices Practical lessons from delivering successful PLG Product <> Marketing Collaboration GTM Teams Product Teams Various Lessons Learned I’m a CPO, PLG Leader at Rebrandly, formerly: Buffer, Bitly, Insightly, Intuit, Microsoft Last year, we talked about ‘Transparent Roadmaps and Why They Are Worth It’.

3. PLG isn't just about your product; it's about unleashing your users' potential to expand your growth.

4. Demystifying Successful Product-Led Growth Traditional Growth Goals Every signup to convert to paid now Every user buys and expands your growth Every pricing tweak leads to revenue Ultimate Goal is Funnel Optimization ⭐ Successful PLG Goals Every signup oppty for future paid customer Every user becomes your evangelist Every user interaction is an opportunity Ultimate Goal is Flywheel

5. PLG Myths vs. Success: Setting the Record Straight Common Misconceptions Product teams own PLG PLG starts in product, post signup Northstar Metric is Revenue PLG is everyone’s accountability ⭐ Keys to PLG Success Must have marketing <> product alignment PLG starts w brand awareness, organic Northstar Metric is MAU (free and paid) Yes, and a specific x-team is accountable

6. Practical lessons from running PLG in PLG-First Company

7. Marketing <> Product Collaboration PLG Practical Advice Weekly Meeting: marketing, product, data and finance - discuss data & experiments Product Marketers attend every single product roadmap and strategy meeting, full stop Marketing team focuses on New Signups (Northstar), who Activate and Pay (Control) Product teams focus on Activating, Retaining and Converting New Signups With PLG, every signup that didn’t activate, retain, or convert this month is an opportunity for product teams to make changes and turn them into future paying customers. Forget the Marketing vs. Sales leads quality battle—PLG has opened a new front in the collaboration war.

8. PLG Advice for Go to Market Teams Practical Advice North Star: Signups, Control Metric: that activate & convert Content Marketing share a blog post MINIMUM 2x week, better every day Community is essential, start in Slack, Discord with most involved customers Social Media converts, share consistently and optimize for conversion Product Launches drive New User Acq. If they don’t - you are on wrong track. Armed with deep product knowledge & audience expertise, lean into organic channels for growth

9. PLG Advice for Product Teams Practical Advice North Star: MAU, Control Metric: launches, features that drive new user acquisition Launch what drives new user signups. Add value pre-signup for quick gains Data is essential, reliable, democratize in the hands of PMs, Designers UX make it “consumer-grade”. Look to Notion, Canva, Slack for inspiration Growth accountability concentrated with specific team, and across EPD org Top Advice: Flywheel won’t build itself. Go pre-signup, drive website traffic, and “consumer-grade” your UX.

10. Other Lessons Learned in a PLG-First Company Activation rate is 35%+? You are either the next unicorn OR…you need to refine your activation metric, it’s too generous Encourage PLG cross-over in team responsibilities GTM: Actively engage in QA, testing, and using the product firsthand during every launch EPD: Contribute to creating marketing content by sharing insights and expertise or building in public Make data accessible across the organization and invest in robust data and analytics tools I endorse: Mixpanel, ChartMogul I don’t endorse client-side analytics that are ad-blocked for 20% users Product Marketers attend every Product Roadmap / Strategy meeting UX: Hire product mgrs, designers, front-end engineers from consumer companies

11. Please stay in touch [email protected]