New PLG Strategy Guide | Driving Hypergrowth through Cloud Marketplaces

Product-Led Growth (PLG) has been a driving force in reshaping the software industry. Over the past two decades, PLG has become essential for many hypergrowth companies, such as Dropbox, Slack, and Atlassian, by allowing users to start using the product with minimal friction and scale seamlessly within organizations. Modern PLG leaders like Notion and Figma continue to utilize this approach with low entry prices or generous free tiers.

Cloud marketplaces, such as AWS Marketplace, are emerging as vital channels for companies to deploy self-service models and create seamless user experiences. Contrary to the belief that marketplaces are solely for procurement, they offer significant opportunities to drive trials and public offers.

The Evolution of Self-Service in Marketplaces

Self-service models have become integral to both B2C and B2B marketplaces. In B2C, giants like Amazon and eBay have long demonstrated the power of self-service, allowing customers to browse, compare, and purchase products with minimal assistance. This shift towards self-service is now mirrored in B2B cloud marketplaces like AWS Marketplace. 

Forrester Research indicates that B2B buyers now prefer a self-service experience similar to B2C. 74% of B2B buyers find purchasing from a website more convenient than purchasing from a sales representative.

The success of B2C marketplaces provides valuable lessons for B2B cloud marketplaces:

• User Experience: B2C marketplaces excel in providing intuitive and user-friendly interfaces, a standard that B2B marketplaces are increasingly adopting. 
• Customer Reviews: Just as Amazon leverages customer reviews to build trust, AWS Marketplace incorporates third-party verified reviews from platforms like G2, offering real-world feedback that buyers can trust.
• Seamless Transactions: B2C platforms streamline purchasing processes, which is now a critical feature of B2B marketplaces, reducing procurement times and enhancing buyer convenience. 

Driving Product-Led Growth through Cloud Marketplaces

Moreover, the benefits of cloud marketplaces extend beyond these enhancements. Cloud marketplaces offer significant advantages for ISVs aiming to leverage PLG strategies:

• Greater Convenience: Buyers can purchase products seamlessly and optimize overall cloud spend. Buyers spent 80% more on ISV applications when transacting through Cloud Marketplace compared to traditional Marketplace.
• Faster decision marketing：Buyers are increasingly seeking ways to educate themselves and mitigate risks. Vendor Insights gives buyers compliance certifications, data privacy policies, and security practices on their products, helping them assess vendor reliability and product suitability quickly.
• Increased Licensing Flexibility: Using AWS Marketplace can lead to a 10% reduction in licensing costs for customers.
• Streamlined Procurement: Time spent searching for and selecting vendors is reduced by 66%, and invoicing tasks by 50%, resulting in $2 million in efficiency savings through SCMP.

Furthermore, the difference between cloud marketplaces and traditional B2B marketplaces lies in their ability to address the entire software commerce value chain, rather than merely facilitating simple buyer-seller interactions. By offering plug-and-play technical compatibility, driving trials, and public offers with subscription models, cloud marketplaces significantly enhance buyer procurement efficiency and flexibility.

Suger comes in

Listing your products on cloud marketplaces and selling your software solutions is one of the fastest ways to achieve PLG growth! Understanding Cloud Marketplace PLG and its nuances can be challenging, and the same is true for implementing it effectively. To help you get started, we've created a comprehensive guide on Product-Led Growth, offering insights on the tactics and metrics crucial to success. Stay tuned for our next blog-Best Practice: How to achieve PLG growth on AWS Marketplace with Suger.