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There’s a lot of talk right now about scarcity marketing – the idea of limiting the supply of a product, whether it be through restricting availability to a certain time frame or decreasing production – often both. The principle is sound – we all want what we can’t have and love to flaunt when we have something others don’t – a little wouldn’t do, so the little gets more and more.
Give this song by Guns N’ Roses a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week…
Netflix no longer bingeing
You’ve probably heard the rumours that Netflix is going to abandon its ‘binge’ model. Is that not a concept that is ingrained in the product itself? Netflix was an alternative to HBO, which in turn was an alternative to cable networks. And binge-watching became a huge part of its value to its customers! Now I get up around whenever… when bingeing Breaking Bad on Netflix, I just couldn’t stop watching that ‘next episode’!
Many highlight Netflix as a great example of a PLG strategy that has been extremely successful – a great example of how to react flexibly and in a dynamic manner to the changing conditions generated by the market.
But abandoning the binge model seems to be contrary to this – potentially ignoring its customers in search of an ever-growing bottom line. (This is how the music business got in trouble!) Perhaps this is a misguided attempt at scarcity marketing, rationing out shows an episode at a time.
According to Bob Lefsetz, the tail is now wagging the dog. Investors are running the streaming companies, and Netflix should’ve known better and may need to kick them on down the line. Producing less content for more money AND bringing in ads, all while charging MORE, Netflix is starting to resemble the TV networks of yore that it was meant to make obsolete.
Fallacies of Product-Led Growth
Matt Papertsian is one of my favourite analysts at Forrester… and he’s got a great balanced take on PLG. To ensure the revenue engine stays aligned and focused on the customer, the B2B CMO has a huge role to play in addressing these fallacies of PLG:
- Product-led growth puts the product first.
- Companies must take an all-or-nothing approach.
- Product-led growth is new!
- The product has been ignored in favor of marketing and sales.
- The product alone can scale the company.
- Marketing is no longer needed at the top of the funnel.
- Operationalizing the insights gleaned from user data is easier with a PLG strategy.
By dispelling these seven product-led growth fallacies, CMOs can use the skills unique to marketing to help the company scale for growth. Maybe our friends at Netflix should check this out as they keep tryin’ ta get better than before…
I might get burnt, but you’ll get to laugh live!
Outbound Isn’t Dead (You Just Suck At It) – that’s my session title! I’ll be speaking at breadcrumb.io’s Hot Takes Live online event on Sept. 27. But this one is meant to be different. They’ve gathered 30 of the top SaaS leaders to dish out hot takes and harsh truths on product-led growth, RevOps, marketing, and sales.
Trendy marketing and sales strategies emerge seemingly every day, but do they really live up to the hype? Don’t miss your opportunity to see whether I crash and burn or fight back the flames. It’s free, and you can register here.
I’ve been knockin’ and won’t leave you alone… So as always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!
Looking forward,
Rick
Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat