3 ways product-led growth is like dating
Agnes Li
Jennifer Paul
They say "build it and they will come!" In an ideal world, a product can sell itself. That's not only a myth but an over-simplification of product-led growth. Real growth takes time, resources, and commitment; it's a labor of love. We sat down with Agnes Li, a Senior Product Growth Manager for GoPay at Gojek, to find out how building successful growth is like dating. She shares 3 dating tips that all product managers should master.
Make users fall in love and stay in love with your product
Product-led growth is all about using product values to acquire, activate, and retain customers. To Agnes, it's about creating the perfect union between product value and customer desire. Being a product-led growth manager is like being a dating coach, highlighting and experimenting with product features to attract customers. Like any successful match, it is about creating interest, engagement, and attachment.
Product-led growth managers are like dating coaches, highlighting and experimenting with product features to attract customers.
Imagine being a dating coach for your product. First, you need to highlight its best features to catch the attention of the right customers, be thoughtful to activate the first experience, and commit to ongoing optimization to build a long-lasting relationship.
Acquisition
create interest by knowing your value
This is your opportunity to show off your values and be clear on the services and benefits your product brings to the table. To do this, we must answer these questions:
- Who will use your product?
- Where will they find out about your product?
- Why are they using your product?
- How are they using your product?
One product can serve multiple customer archetypes. Answering these questions will empower you to strategize the value that best captures attention.
For example, group meals are a big part of young people’s social lives, but it can be awkward when splitting the bill. Therefore, besides the quick-moneyless transaction value, GoPay’s Split Bill feature can be of tremendous attraction to them, saving them from headaches and heartaches. On the other hand, for a busy mom, it is essential but a hassle to keep track of her expenses. Highlighting GoPay’s easy no-frills expense tracker will likely catch her eye. Better yet, setting up a booth in front of a grocery store to facilitate setup will definitely swoon her heart!
The crux of product-led growth is communicating the product value. The more you are in tune with what your customers crave, the easier it is to highlight and share your value.
Activation
minimize friction to motivate action
Once the target has the “Ah-Ha” moment of what your product offers, how do you create an experience that encourages the next step? Be wary of asking for too much too soon; you don’t want to scare away new users by making them jump through hoops!
Think back to the last time you asked someone out on a date; it’s likely you thought about:
- When to ask so that it’s appropriate?
- How to ask so that they will be most inclined to say yes?
Onboarding videos and educational content are valuable in that they help make users comfortable with what’s next and setting their expectations. Simplifying the sign-up process is also crucial. There’s always time down the road to obtain more information from them.
Sweetening the deal is another good way to lure in users. To execute this successfully, you must know what will nudge and trigger your customer personas. For example, students are always looking for the best deal to save a few bucks. To entice activation GoPay offers incentive programs with vendors that students enjoy, such as bubble tea shops and Spotify.
Regardless of simplifying the onboarding process, creating incentive programs, or even offering freemium plans, the goal is always the same - quick engagement and maximize value.
Retention
listen and optimize to keep them coming back
Users will fall for the incentives but only stay because of the product experience. To keep them coming back and form a long-lasting relationship, it is imperative to understand the customer loyalty journey.
Users will fall for the incentives but only stay because of the product experience.
To keep them coming back and form a long-lasting relationship, it is imperative to understand the customer loyalty journey. Working closely with the UX team and product team to dig and answer questions such as:
- Where do they drop off?
- Why do they stop the interaction?
- Where do they spend the most time?
- What triggers action?
This will allow you to optimize the product experience.
For example, we discovered that users stop using GoPay because they don’t consistently top-up their wallets and thus have insufficient balances to complete purchases. GoPay experimented with features to enable users to top-up with ease; such as top-up with SMS, at convenient stores, even with their Gojek driver. Sending users notifications when their balance has dipped is also an excellent tactic to remind them to top-up.
GoPay introduced gamification to create another fun and rewarding level of attachment for users. The loyalty program celebrates transactions with a rewards system; there are several elements such as points, leaderboards, badges, and prizes. Points are awarded with every purchase. Users unlock various prizes on the platform, including free delivery, discount vouchers with partner vendors, and so forth.
It is essential to tune in to their user journey and provide practical features to turn a one-off action into a habit. Be curious, experiment, and optimize product features that serve them better. This will ultimately benefit your growth.
Product-led growth is all about creating a delightful product experience and fostering a strong relationship with your users. Designing such an experience is a labor of love. It is not something that happens magically or overnight. It takes time and resources, but it’s worth the investment. In the end, the happier your users are, the more your product thrives.
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