C2 · Motions & channels · 38 terms
Motions
& Channels
Economics and buyer requirements constrain the policies worth testing.
Motion is constrained by contribution, costs, cash, capacity, product access and buyer requirements. ACV bands help describe segments; they do not establish universal PLG or sales-led thresholds. Compare feasible self-serve, assisted and hybrid policies on incremental contribution over the same outcome horizon.
Motion feasibility (thesis T5)
A feasible motion must cover acquisition and delivery costs with expected contribution while satisfying cash, capacity and buyer requirements. Price alone does not identify those quantities or the incremental benefit of human assistance. The bands below are illustrative screens for local testing, not calibrated boundaries.
| ACV band | Candidate | What to test |
|---|---|---|
| < $500/month | PLG or self-serve | Acquisition and onboarding cost versus cohort contribution |
| $500–$5,000/month | PLG + inside sales (hybrid) | Incremental contribution from human assistance |
| $5,000–$25,000/month | Hybrid or field sales | Buying-group coordination and implementation needs |
| > $25,000/month | Enterprise sales-led | Actual procurement, legal and security requirements |
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PLG is a loop, not a funnel (thesis T14)
Product-led growth compounds through a recursive loop: product usage generates word-of-mouth, which generates new signups, who use the product, which generates more word-of-mouth. Under a constant-rate recurrence, k < 1 produces a finite expected chain. A measured short-run k ≥ 1 does not imply perpetual growth: reachable market, network overlap, saturation and retention can change the rate. Measure new eligible users and subsequent paid contribution; use k_effective = k_raw × R only when those factors share a defined population and time basis.
All 38 terms
- ABMAccount-Based Marketing A focused motion where marketing and sales jointly target a defined set of high-value accounts with personalized program… abm
- Activationactivation milestone, aha moment The point where a new user first experiences core product value; the leading indicator of PLG conversion and retention. plg
- Advocacyreferrals, word-of-mouth Existing customers actively recommending the product, generating high-trust pipeline. motion
- Agentic ABMagentic account-based, ABX (account-based experience) Signal-led, context-aware, account-level ABM where agents connect scattered buyer signals (ad click, webinar, site revis… abm
- Bottom-Up Adoption Traction starts with individual users or small teams, then expands to broader organizational adoption — the classic PLG … plg
- Channel Strategydistribution strategy Choosing the small set of primary channels where your ICP actually is and how they prefer to buy — deliberately, rather … channel
- Channel/Partner-Ledchannel sales External partners (resellers, VARs, integrators, alliances) source, influence, and close deals on your behalf, tapping t… motion
- Co-Marketing Partnering with another company to co-produce content or events, sharing reach and credibility. channel
- Community-Led Customers, fans, and builders drive awareness, acquisition, and expansion. Instead of marketing TO an audience, you crea… motion
- Content-Led A content engine (SEO pages, tutorials, thought leadership) creates organic demand and captures search intent over time. motion
- Ecosystem-LedELG Growth driven by integrations, marketplaces, and ecosystem partners that make the product more valuable inside partner w… motion
- Event-Ledevent-led growth In-person and virtual events are the primary channel for pipeline generation and engagement. motion
- Feature Adoption How many users actively use a specific feature — a proxy for value delivery and stickiness. plg
- GTM Motiongo-to-market motion, sales motion The primary engine by which you acquire and expand customers. Motions are composable (different motions for different se… motion
- Hybrid MotionPLG+SLG, product-led sales (PLS) Blends self-serve adoption with sales-assist: the product drives initial adoption and qualification; sales steps in when… motion
- Land and Expand A motion that wins a small initial footprint, then grows it within the account over time. The economic engine behind NRR… motion
- Marketing-Led / Inbound-Led Pull demand via content, SEO, and organic channels so leads arrive already trusting the brand; sales engages later. motion
- Marketplace A platform (e.g. cloud or app marketplace) where your product is listed and transacted inside a partner ecosystem. channel
- MQAMarketing Qualified Account An account (not an individual) that meets ICP and engagement thresholds enough to warrant sales outreach within an ABM f… abm
- Named Accountstarget account list (TAL) The explicit, finite list of accounts a team is assigned to pursue (e.g. '200 named target accounts'). abm
- North Star MetricNSM The single metric that best captures the core value a product delivers and predicts long-term growth — the number teams … plg
- Onboarding Guiding a new user or customer to first value and successful setup. Owned by CS in SLG, by product design in PLG. plg
- Outbound-Led Proactively reach prospects who have not discovered you, via cold email, calls, and sequences. The hardest execution lay… motion
- Paid-Led Paid media generates awareness and traffic quickly through targeted media buying; fast and scalable but stops when spend… motion
- Partner Enablement Equipping partners with training, playbooks, and co-marketing so they can sell effectively on your behalf. channel
- PPCPay-Per-Click, paid search Paid advertising charged per click; a fast demand-capture channel measured on conversion quality, not just click-through… channel
- PQLProduct Qualified Lead A lead qualified by in-product behavior (usage hitting expansion-predictive thresholds) rather than marketing engagement… plg
- Product Analytics Instrumentation of in-product behavior to learn which features drive activation and which usage patterns predict expansi… plg
- Product-Led GrowthPLG, product-led The product is the primary driver of acquisition and expansion; users self-serve via freemium or trial and experience va… plg
- Retargetingremarketing Serving ads to people who already engaged, to pull them back into the funnel; a mid-funnel reinforcement tactic. channel
- Sales-Led GrowthSLG, sales-led Human sales reps drive growth through relationships and structured processes. Fits complex, high-ACV enterprise products… motion
- Self-Serve A buying path where customers sign up, onboard, and pay without sales involvement. plg
- SEOSearch Engine Optimization Optimizing content to rank in organic search and capture buyers researching a problem. A TOFU/MOFU demand-capture and cr… channel
- StickinessDAU/MAU ratio How habitually users return; commonly measured as daily-active over monthly-active users. plg
- Time to ValueTTV How long it takes a new user or customer to reach the product's core value. Shorter TTV lifts activation, retention, and… plg
- VARValue-Added Reseller A partner that resells your product bundled with their own services (onboarding, training, integration). channel
- Webinar A live or recorded online presentation used for mid-funnel education and lead capture. channel
- Word-of-MouthWOM Organic peer recommendation; the growth mechanism behind community-led motions and much of the dark funnel. motion