Product-Led Growth (PLG)
A GTM strategy where the product itself drives customer acquisition, expansion, and retention.
Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a go-to-market strategy that relies on the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion.
**PLG Characteristics:**
• Free trial or freemium model • Self-service onboarding • In-product conversion prompts • Usage-based expansion triggers • Viral/network effects • Low-touch sales motion
**PLG Examples:**
• Slack, Zoom, Dropbox, Notion • Calendly, Loom, Figma • Datadog, MongoDB, Twilio
**PLG Metrics:**
• Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) • Time to Value (TTV) • Activation rate • Free-to-paid conversion • Net Revenue Retention • Viral coefficient
**PLG + Sales:**
Many companies combine PLG with sales-assist for larger deals: • Self-serve for SMB • Sales-assist for mid-market • Enterprise sales for large accounts
Related Terms
Go-to-Market (GTM)
The strategic plan and execution approach for launching products or entering new markets.
Sales-Led Growth
A traditional GTM approach where sales teams drive customer acquisition through direct outreach and relationships.
Time to Value (TTV)
The time it takes for a new customer to realize meaningful value from your product.