Breezy Beaumont, Head of Growth at Correlated, takes us into the new and noteworthy world of product-led growth this week. Breezy walks us through the essentials of what product-led growth (PLG) is, top strategies in the PLG world, marketing team tactics for PLG cyber companies, and how data looks differently with this go-to-market strategy. Is the secret to tackling the market hidden in product-led growth? Breezy helps us uncover the mystery!

Timecoded Guide:

[00:00] Introducing the (still relatively new) concept of product-led growth companies

[05:38] Implementing PLG go-to-market strategies in the cybersecurity industry

[12:29] Breaking through highly competitive industries and being the first to market

[20:35] Understanding the product you’re marketing and achieving customer success

[26:16] Following the journey data takes in a product-led growth company

What is product-led growth? 

Product-led growth, or PLG, has become a buzzword that cybersecurity marketers hear, but rarely do we understand PLG as a go-to-market strategy. If you can go to a website and immediately get started with a product, that is product-led growth. Putting product at the forefront of your company, especially if this is a product-led growth cybersecurity company, changes the roles within your organization and removes many barriers in the sales process.

“Product-led growth is a little bit of an umbrella term for a lot of things that people are probably a little bit more familiar with. Basically, it's a way of describing any way that you can go to a website and immediately get started with the product, it's easily accessible to you.” 

What are some cybersecurity companies or cybersecurity use cases that you've seen work with PLG?

Although product-led growth can feel at odds with the cybersecurity industry, Breezy assures us that PLG works for companies in all areas of cyber, including identity management, IoT security, and security ops. While PLG can thrive anywhere, tactics can range from freemium product levels, free trials, or product preview options, all of which encourage a product-forward approach to the sales process. Breezy explains that even product tours are becoming an early element of product-led growth strategy for many cyber companies. 

“It's all about reducing friction in the buying process, because the buying process today stinks. It especially stinks for people who don't want to talk to people that much. We shouldn't have to put up X amount of dollars before purchasing.”

How do you respond to people who say, "I don't want my competition to see my products?" 

Cybersecurity teaches us to think twice and to act cautiously with our data and information, and cybersecurity companies can embody this mindset as well. Product-led growth can feel like foolishly you’re giving away all your assets and information to your competitors, but Breezy explains that your competitors already have access to previews and demos of your product. Instead of fearing your competitors seeing your product, focus on product-led growth as a means to becoming the first in the market.

“The competition is fierce. And so, I'd say first of all, your competitors are already seeing your product out there, but second of all, you want to be first in the market. You want to get that market share as quickly as possible.”

Do PLG companies have to have an official customer marketing team, or one customer marketing person that's fully in charge of customer marketing? 

Roles change when an organization shifts from a traditional go-to-market strategy to a product-led growth strategy. Marketing is not exempt from these changes, and instead often acts as a huge part of the sales and revenue processes as result of these changes. Breezy explains that, although we’re used to each department having separate data silos and clearly divided roles, the streamlined data approach of product-led growth facilitates collaboration and communication. 

“One of the big changes that happens in a product-led company is the data that we're working off of, on both the marketing side and across the company. In a lot of product-led companies, the entire revenue team, if not the entire team altogether, all work off of the same dataset.”

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Links:

Get tickets for our upcoming Cyber Marketing Con 2022. 

Spend some time with our guest Breezy Beaumont on LinkedIn.

Learn more about Correlated on LinkedIn and the Correlated website. 

Follow Gianna on LinkedIn.

Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn.

Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

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