By Sameer Kazi, President of marketing and sales automation company, ActiveCampaign.
In recent years, the term “product-led growth” has become increasingly popular and, frankly, somewhat of a buzzword. The idea is simple: Instead of relying solely on traditional marketing and sales tactics to grow your business, you focus on building a powerful product that offers value to customers immediately, and then customers organically share their excitement with others. The goal is for this customer advocacy (via product-value stories) to become what’s filling your marketing funnel.
While the concept of product-led growth seems straightforward, implementing it successfully doesn’t happen by introducing a few new initiatives or touting it in your latest company meeting. Product-led is a structure and ideology that needs to be infused into the business’ core. It should be the epicenter of all your processes.
The Foundation Of Product-Led Growth: Experimentation And Iteration
It’s important to constantly be testing new ideas, features and concepts to understand what resonates with your current customers and, therefore, will resonate with future customers. By experimenting, you can quickly iterate and improve your product and ultimately drive growth.
When you identify a change that needs to be made to your product or receive customer feedback, make sure you are able to implement it quickly. Rapid iteration allows you to test and update new features and ideas at a pace that keeps you ahead of the competition.
A continuous loop of customer feedback is also critical to successful experimentation and iteration. Your power users should have a vital role in the evolution of your product. Consistently ask for customer feedback and ideas on how to improve your product. For example, in 2022, we implemented more than 400 customer ideas into our product, making it better for all businesses.
Speed To Value: Understanding The Importance Of Immediate ROI
Many customers today expect immediate value, often before they are willing to put down any amount of money.
Putting the concept of speed to value into practice starts with ensuring that the people who market, support, build and sell your product are product experts. From marketing and sales to customer support and innovation, make sure every member of the team has a deep understanding of the product and its features. This enables them to answer customer questions, provide valuable insights into user behavior and contribute to product development.
Everyone at your company should be positively influencing the customer lifecycle. Your team should be equipped to provide customer support, as well as work with customers to inform the strategy and evolution of your product. This can drive product adoption and ultimately help you achieve that golden ticket: positive customer advocacy to serve your marketing funnel. It all comes full circle.
Much of this ideology is also rooted in observing the customer’s path in the product and ensuring they are having a great experience. During a free trial period, for example, provide prompts and links to additional videos where customers are getting stuck. Customers should feel your presence and support along their journey through the product. Once that trial period ends, the value is proven, and that customer feels confident in investing in your solution.
Infusing a product-led growth mindset into your business’ culture is a journey, not a destination. It requires a commitment to experimentation and quick iteration, as well as speed to value. By focusing on these areas, businesses can create a culture that prioritizes growth, delivering real value and driving sustainable success over the long term.
However, the recipe for successful product-led growth is not just about focusing on the product but also on the people behind it. Build a team of product experts who are attuned to the needs of your customers. By working directly with customers to continuously solve their business problems, you could end up with a product that speaks for itself in the market.
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