Originally published on GTM Newsletter by Scott Barker

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Growth channels change as your company scales. These changes also depend on whether your company follows a Product-Led Growth (PLG) or Sales-Led Growth (SLG) model.

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Holly Chen is the Managing Partner of ExponentialX, a Marketing and Growth Advisory Collective for high-growth SaaS startups, advising companies like Miro, Loom, ServiceNow, Appsflyer in their growth journeys. She outlines the evolution of channels in the slides below, which we’ve broken out for a side-by-side comparison.

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Let’s get into it.

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Let’s take a closer side-by-side view for each stage.

PLG vs. SLG Channels for <$1M ARR

Key differences:

• Product-Led Growth (PLG) focuses on organic channels and community-driven engagement. It leans into digital community engagement and leverages social media to drive awareness.
• Sales-Led Growth (SLG) prioritizes direct sales and outreach. It often relies on founder-led sales efforts and uses the founder’s network to build relationships with early adopters.

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PLG vs. SLG Channels for $1M - $5M ARR

Key differences:

• Product-Led Growth (PLG) focuses on digital channels and user-driven growth. Influencers and ads help to increase visibility. Virtual events foster user engagement and build a strong community around the product. Referrals from customers, partners, and affiliates, along with review platforms, help drive growth organically.
• Sales-Led Growth (SLG) prioritizes direct sales engagement. It emphasizes thought leadership to establish authority and credibility. Outbound sales efforts target potential clients and leverages events for direct interaction with prospects.

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PLG vs. SLG Channels for $5M - $20M ARR

Key differences:

• Product-Led Growth (PLG) focuses on driving growth through the product itself and community engagement, along with ads and events for increased visibility.
• Sales-Led Growth (SLG) prioritizes targeted and relationship-driven approaches. ABM targets high-value accounts and events provide direct engagement opportunities.

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PLG vs. SLG Channels for $20M ARR (SLG)

Key note:

• Both Product-Led Growth (PLG) and Sales-Led Growth (SLG) models often converge into a more sales-led approach as companies reach the $20M+ ARR stage.

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Summary:

It's important to achieve the 'Channel-Stage' fit when it comes to growth channels for PLG and SLG companies.

Note that this is a general guideline to illustrate the maturity of companies. When deciding on growth strategies for your company, the audiences, average contract value, product, team maturity, and many other factors may impact the growth channels adopted, and tailored analysis is needed.

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