Designing Products for Better Product-Led Growth (PLG)
Product-led growth (PLG) means your product does the selling by itself—driving acquisition, upsells, and cross-sells. To maximize PLG potential, your product needs to be designed for growth from the ground up. Here are seven ways to do it:
1. Build “Aha!” Moments Early
Slack’s free tier helps users discover value quickly, leading to enterprise upgrades when teams scale.
Action: Identify your product’s “Aha!” moment and structure onboarding to surface it within the first session.
2. Incorporate Upsell Triggers
Zoom’s free plan encourages upgrades by limiting meeting durations, driving paid subscriptions from power users.
Action: Add clear, natural points where customers will want to upgrade—without making free plans feel incomplete.
3. Design for Cross-Sell Opportunities
HubSpot integrates its CRM with marketing and sales tools, making cross-sells seamless for existing users.
Action: Ensure new features integrate smoothly with existing ones to encourage multi-product adoption.
4. Leverage Freemium Models
Canva’s free plan attracts millions of users, with premium templates and features boosting upsells to Pro.
Action: Create a free version of your product with enough value to hook users, then strategically place premium offerings.
5. Monitor Usage Data
Dropbox tracks user behavior to identify those nearing storage limits, prompting timely upgrade offers.
Action: Set up data-driven alerts for when customers are approaching thresholds that justify upsells or cross-sells.
6. Add Self-Service Options
Atlassian products are designed for seamless self-service upgrades, reducing sales friction.
Action: Build in-product prompts and dashboards that let users easily upgrade without contacting sales.
7. Encourage Advocacy
Figma’s collaborative design features create network effects, turning teams into promoters.
Action: Design features that encourage users to share or invite others, expanding organic reach.
FintastIQ helps you align data insights with your PLG goals, identifying upsell triggers, tracking cross-sell opportunities, and optimizing product-led strategies.