# GTM strategy: self-serve vs sales-led Source: Lazyweb Research 30 data-backed questions on GTM strategy: self-serve vs sales-led. HTML: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/category/gtm-strategy-self-serve-vs-sales-led Markdown: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/category/gtm-strategy-self-serve-vs-sales-led.md ## Questions - [Should a new app use a self-serve (PLG) motion or a sales-led one — which is more common?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/self-serve-plg-vs-sales-led-share-overall) Of the 599 companies Lazyweb tags with a growth engine, 30% (179) run a product-led self-serve (PLG) motion versus just 10% (59) that are sales-led — a roughly 3-to-1 tilt toward self-serve[1]. Count… - [Do enterprise apps skip product-led self-serve (PLG) and go straight to sales?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/do-enterprise-apps-skip-plg) Mostly yes. Of the 597 companies tagged with both a growth engine and an archetype, only 12 are both PLG and Enterprise — 2% of the set — while 48 are Enterprise without any PLG motion[1]. Within Ent… - [Which types of apps are product-led vs sales-led — how does the motion change by product archetype?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/plg-vs-sales-led-by-product-archetype) The self-serve-vs-sales split flips hard by archetype. Prosumer apps are the most product-led at 38% PLG, while Enterprise apps are the most sales-led at 48% — with Collaborative close behind at 39%… - [Who actually runs product-led sales (PLS) — the hybrid of self-serve and a sales team?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/product-led-sales-pls-who-runs-the-hybrid-motion) Product-led sales is a small, concentrated motion: just 34 of 599 growth-engine-tagged companies (6%) run it, and every one of them also carries a Sales-led tag — so in this data PLS is a sales overl… - [What share of apps go self-serve (PLG) versus sales-led?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/self-serve-vs-sales-led-share-of-apps) Product-led self-serve wins on volume: 179 of 599 companies with a tagged growth engine run PLG (29.9%), versus 59 running a sales-led B2B motion (9.8%) [1]. Counting product-led sales too, any produ… - [Do PLG and sales-led motions overlap, or are they mutually exclusive?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/do-plg-and-sales-led-motions-overlap) In this corpus they barely overlap: all 179 product-led self-serve companies carry zero sales tag — 'PLG with no sales motion' equals the full PLG count of 179 [1]. Meanwhile every one of the 34 prod… - [Which product archetypes lean self-serve versus sales-led?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-archetypes-lean-self-serve-vs-sales-led) The split flips hard by archetype. Prosumer is the most self-serve at 38.2% PLG with only 7.3% sales-led, while Enterprise inverts to 48.3% sales-led against 20.0% PLG [1]. Collaborative products are… - [Is enterprise software always sales-led?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/is-enterprise-software-always-sales-led) No — but pure PLG enterprise is rare. Among 597 companies tagged with both a growth engine and an archetype, only 12 are PLG + Enterprise (2.0%), versus 48 that are Enterprise-and-not-PLG (8.0%) [1].… - [What is the most common growth engine across apps?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/most-common-growth-engine-across-apps) PR leads: 330 of 599 growth-engine-tagged companies cite it (55.1%), just ahead of paid performance marketing at 298 (49.7%) and word of mouth at 296 (49.4%) [1]. Product-led self-serve sits mid-pack… - [Content, paid, or product-led: which demand-gen lever wins by archetype?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/content-vs-paid-vs-plg-demand-gen-by-archetype) Paid performance is the most-used lever in five of six archetypes, peaking at 82.1% of 2-sided marketplaces [1]. Product-led self-serve only leads once — among Prosumer apps at 38.2% PLG versus 41.8%… - [Which monetization models require a sales team?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-monetization-models-require-a-sales-team) One model is unanimous: 100% of the 44 B2B Licensing companies run a sales-led motion, and 52.3% add product-led sales on top [1]. After that the sales dependence drops off a cliff — Cross-subsidized… - [Which monetization models go product-led (PLG)?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-monetization-models-go-product-led-plg) Financial Rails Revenue is the most PLG-friendly model at 56.8% of 37 companies, followed by Subscription at 41.6% of 351 and One-Time Purchase at 38.9% of 18 [1]. At the other extreme, several model… - [Do market leaders and challengers use different growth motions?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/do-market-leaders-and-challengers-grow-differently) Yes, and the split is intuitive: self-declared market leaders are more sales-led (12.3% vs 7.8%) and lean harder on network effects (40.0% vs 33.1%), while challengers are more product-led (27.7% PLG… - [Which app categories are PLG-dominant?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-app-categories-are-plg-dominant) Health & Fitness is the most product-led category at 95.5% of 44 companies running PLG, followed by Education at 75.0% of 28 and Finance at 61.3% of 31 [1]. Productivity (57.1%) and Utilities (43.5%)… - [Which app categories depend on paid performance marketing?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-app-categories-depend-on-paid-performance) Three categories are 100% paid: every tagged Shopping (33), Travel (33), and Finance (31) company runs paid performance marketing [1]. Magazines & Newspapers (88.0%), News (86.7%), and Navigation (63… - [Which app categories run on word of mouth?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-app-categories-run-on-word-of-mouth) Word of mouth is universal in three categories: 100% of tagged Education (28) and Utilities (23) companies cite it, and Health & Fitness is right behind at 97.7% of 44 [1]. Social Networking (90.0%)… - [Which app categories are content-led / SEO-driven?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-app-categories-are-content-seo-led) Media categories own content: 100% of tagged News (45) and Magazines & Newspapers (25) companies are content-led/SEO, versus 64.0% of Entertainment (25) and 45.5% of Music (22) [1]. Most product cate… - [What is product-led sales (PLS), and which companies actually use it?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-is-product-led-sales-pls-and-who-uses-it) Product-led sales is a small, sales-side motion: only 34 of 599 tagged companies run it (5.7%), and every one also carries the Sales-led tag — so PLS is a subset of B2B sales, not a PLG variant [1].… - [How do 2-sided marketplaces actually grow?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/how-do-2-sided-marketplaces-actually-grow) Marketplaces grow on paid, not product: 82.1% of the 140 marketplace-archetype companies run paid performance marketing, versus just 12.9% PLG and 13.6% content-led [1]. Looked at by revenue model, M… - [Do subscription apps go PLG or sales-led?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/do-subscription-apps-go-plg-or-sales-led) Overwhelmingly PLG: of the 351 subscription companies with a growth engine, 41.6% run product-led self-serve versus just 8.0% sales-led [1]. Word of mouth is even higher at 58.7%, and network effects… - [Which business models let you grow product-led, and which force you to hire a sales team?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/business-models-that-enable-plg-vs-force-a-sales-team) Among the 686 companies Lazyweb tags with a business model, how you make money all but dictates your acquisition motion. All 44 B2B-licensing companies (100%) run a sales-led motion and none grow pro… - [Is product-led growth actually compatible with enterprise software?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/is-product-led-growth-compatible-with-enterprise-software) Mostly no. Of the 597 companies Lazyweb tags with both an acquisition engine and a product archetype, only 12 (2.0%) are both product-led self-serve AND enterprise; PLG shows up 14x more often outsid… - [Which app categories are won by product-led growth versus paid acquisition?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-app-categories-are-won-by-plg-vs-paid-acquisition) It splits cleanly by category. Among 599 companies with a tagged growth engine, 95.5% of the 44 Health & Fitness apps grow product-led self-serve and 0% run paid — while 100% of Shopping (n=33) and T… - [Content, paid, or product — which demand-gen lever should each type of product lean on?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/content-paid-or-product-demand-gen-lever-by-archetype) Paid performance is the default lever in every archetype Lazyweb tags, ranging from 30.4% of Collaborative products to 82.1% of 2-sided Marketplaces (n=140).[1] Product-led self-serve only rivals pai… - [Do market leaders rely more on sales and network effects than challengers do?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/do-market-leaders-rely-more-on-sales-and-network-effects) Yes on both. Across 451 companies with a market position tagged, the 285 self-declared leaders run sales-led motions more than challengers (12.3% vs 7.8%), lean far harder on product-led sales (8.1%… - [Which monetization models are hooked on paid ads, and which grow on word of mouth?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/which-monetization-models-run-on-paid-ads-vs-word-of-mouth) Ad- and transaction-monetized models are almost entirely paid-acquisition-bound: 100% of Advertising (n=173), Marketplace/Transaction-Fee (n=63) and Sponsored-Listings (n=19) companies run paid perfo… - [Does committing to product-led growth mean you never build a sales team?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/does-choosing-plg-mean-you-never-build-a-sales-team) In this corpus, effectively yes. Of 599 companies with a tagged growth engine, all 179 that run product-led self-serve (29.9%) carry zero sales motion — PLG and sales-led never co-occur.[1] The only… - [Do B2B licensing companies grow through anything besides a sales team?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/do-b2b-licensing-companies-use-anything-besides-sales) All 44 B2B-licensing companies with a growth-engine tag are sales-led (100%), and 52% layer product-led sales on top[1]. But sales isn't the whole story: 50% also cite network effects and 48% word of… - [How do collaborative (team / multiplayer) apps grow?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/how-do-collaborative-apps-grow) Of the 46 collaborative apps with a growth-engine tag, 39% are sales-led and 28% run product-led sales — making Collaborative one of only two archetypes (with Enterprise) where sales-led clears 39%[1… - [How many apps run a hybrid of self-serve and sales rather than one or the other?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/how-many-apps-run-a-hybrid-of-self-serve-and-sales) Very few. Of the 599 companies with a growth-engine tag, only 34 (6%) run a genuine hybrid — a product-led motion and a sales motion together, which in this data means product-led sales[1]. Far more…