Beginner's guide to building a successful PLG flywheel

Activate, Adopt, Adore, Advocate

In this article, I'll explain how to build a successful product led growth flywheel using the four stages of "Activate, Adopt, Adore, Advocate."

This powerful framework offers a roadmap for driving adoption and revenue through a seamless user experience, continuous product improvement, and personalized engagement.

Discover how to build your own growth engine and leave your competitors in the dust.

1. Activate

You work so hard to attract new users, but when they finally arrive do you end up scaring them away?

Let's call new users "evaluators".

Evaluators are looking for something special - a product that offers the perfect balance between ease of use, core functionality and unique features.

They’re evaluating all options to ensure they find value without having to dig too deep.

Show them you recognize their concerns and can offer an uncomplicated path to solving it - one with no trade-offs or arduous tasks in sight.

Let them take your product on a test drive and get an idea of what it can do but don't flood them with every detail.

Focus on the core features that will move the needle for their goals, whether they know those offhand or not!

Your onboarding experience should shed some light so you can point them in the right direction. 

Later down the road when users want to go deep dive into specific functionalities - That's where your CS or support team (or help center) comes in - but hold back until it’s time for lift-off!

They’re just looking around, don’t scare them away. Remember that there's one goal.

Give them a reason to stay. Get them to activate.

This means getting them to experience an "aha" moment in your product - The moment where they realize your product's value and how it can help them.

2. Adopt

If you figure out what they need to succeed, they will pay for your product.

It’s not enough to get users to activate. Most companies jump the gun and dive straight into the sale after activation. This is a mistake.

• How do you keep users engaged?

• How do you build champions?

• What makes users upgrade?

• What makes them leave?

These are the questions you should be asking.

It starts with activation - making sure they experience the product’s value.

But the real challenge? Winning your user’s hearts and minds so they stay for the long run.

In this stage of the flywheel you want to promote:

• Educational webinars.

• High-value content.

• Advanced usage.

• Subtle advice.

• Feedback.

• Trust.

Adoption is about developing a consistent user experience. It's not only about getting your product to stick in the minds of your users, but also having them associate it with a specific task or solution.

Once they become familiar with and trust in your product, users will start using it regularly without having to decide every time; it has simply become part of their habits.

Check in once in a while.

This is a completely new stage.

It’s no longer a technical battle of activation.

Remember that users are just people.

It’s time to build a relationship.

Show them appreciation.

Help them succeed.

 

Habits

Encourage routine and automation.

This will allow users to focus their energy on other areas of the product, as well as prioritize their requests.

Invest in continuous user engagement to ensure they are taking full advantage of all the value you have to offer.

But always remember: Prioritize quality over quantity.

Focus on making sure that each habit is beneficial for the user in some way, rather than just forcing them into a routine without providing any added value.

Monitor metrics such as user activity, feature usage, session duration.

Then leverage this data to set up: Automated in-product nudges and notifications.

Personalized incentives for continued usage.

Non-intrusive email sequences.

The goal being to positively bring users back into the product and/or continuing their flow.

When users develop habits around using our product, they become invested in its success.

Association

Positive association creates a sense of trust in the product, which encourages users to stick with it.

Moreover, when users can easily think of how a product fits into their lives and makes their lives easier, they are more likely to adopt and commit to the product.

Keep this in mind when you’re designing your user journeys and messaging. Make it obvious how it fits into their existing workflows and routines.

Once users associate your product with a specific task or outcome, it simply becomes second nature. For example:

If you’ve adopted a tool like Asana and you want to now assign tasks to your team members, you’re gonna be thinking “I need to assign these tasks” and not “I should use my task management tool right now.”

This is the power of association - users simply use it without putting a lot of thought into it.

It becomes the obvious way to do things.

Product adoption is about unlocking your product’s full power and incorporating it into one's daily life. This results in an ongoing relationship between the user and your product that is mutually beneficial.

We can then move on to the next stage in the flywheel, where they become regulars who adore your product.

Last but not least, it’s super important to note that product adoption is a cross-functional effort.

Your product team should be busy blazing trails and removing any in-product friction that stands between users and their ultimate goal.

Customer success should be focused on providing proactive guidance & best practices that will create a straight path from activation to adoption.

Meanwhile, your support crew should work to identify common questions and pitfalls so they can make sure those needs are met before a user even has time to ask.

3. Adore

Most companies make the mistake of thinking that once a user becomes a regular, they no longer require as much attention.

This is a huge misconception and causes retention to overpower acquisition.

Here are 3 of the biggest mistakes companies make in this stage of the flywheel:

❌ Not investing enough in user feedback.

❌ Not providing enough incentives for customers to return.

❌ Not focusing on constantly improving the customer experience.

Here’s some advice on how to avoid them:

✅ Systemize the way you collect, analyze and distribute customer feedback.
Make sure your product team is actively working on prioritizing and implementing changes based on that feedback.

✅ Make sure you have multiple touch-points designed to incentivize users to come back into the product.
Appreciation - Celebrate their victories when they reach product milestones - reward them and boast their progress.
Guidance - Deepen your understanding of the user journey so that you can know exactly where and why users falls off and then cater for their specific needs along the way.

✅ Improve more than just features but also in each point where the customer interacts with the product.
This can include support, account management, payment processing, and other areas that can impact the overall experience. Every aspect of the customer experience matters.

Focus on making it as seamless and positive as possible.

Focus on measuring metrics like

• Customer satisfaction.

• Engagement.

• Expansion.

• Retention.

Getting users to adopt your product is just the beginning, not the end.

4. Advocate

The PLG flywheel isn't just about attracting new users, it's about creating a community of advocates - We call these users “Champions”.

By encouraging your users to invite others, share their experiences, and leave reviews, you create a self-sustaining flywheel that drives compounding growth and elevates your product to new heights.

Champions are those super-users who absolutely love your product.

They provide valuable feedback, recommend your product to others, and help you improve and innovate.

In short, they are the ultimate dream team for any business.

How do you build champion users?

Make sure you let them know the feeling is mutual.

Don't overlook these essential elements:

→ Provide dedicated support.
→ Show your appreciation.
→ Build for flexibility.
→ Ask for feedback.
→ Stay in touch.
→ Community.

If you want to benefit from these rewards:

✅ New use cases.
✅ Reduced churn.
✅ Increased revenue.
✅ Enhanced reputation.
✅ Word-of-mouth marketing.
✅ Critical feedback and insights.

Embrace these responsibilities:

→ Make sure they have everything they need to resolve any issues.
→ Exclusive access to new features, swag, discounts.
→ Help them explore, your users will be creative.
→ Actively reach out and make sure to listen.
→ Keep them updated, and offer support.
→ Help them connect with each other.

Conclusion

To build a successful PLG flywheel, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of each stage and its unique requirements.

It's not just about getting more signups, it's about establishing a community of champions and laying the foundation for long-term success.