Defining Activation in product-led B2B SaaS (Part 2)

Let's see WHAT comprises a good definition of Activation.

I wrote about how to come up with your definition of Activation a while ago.

But WHAT does a good definition of Activation look like for a B2B SaaS product?

There are two ways to look at it:

1. Persona-based activation

2. User journey-based activation.

What is Persona based activation?

When defining activation for a PLG B2B SaaS, you want a TEAM to be bought into the product so the company/buyer can pay for it. The journey typically starts with a user who creates the product's free trial. However, when the TEAM sees the value in adopting it widely to solve its problems, the buyer converts or pays.

Thus, when defining activation, you need to pay attention to:
1. User Activation
2. Team Activation

User Activation comprises the User Journey-based activation moments such as:

1.1 Setup moments: Setup moments allow users to try the product well. It includes questions in the account setup wizard that ask about a user's profile, their jobs to be done, and any organizational info that can help set them up for success on their trial. Setup moments are an opportunity for the product to show the user that you understand their business and that this product will work for them. Very crucial - often forgotten.

1.2 Aha moments: Aha moments are the first time a user experiences the value prop promised by the product. First-time video created / first share of a project: the initial journey the user needs to take to experience the product value prop for the first time.

1.3 Habit moments: The user won't stick around if they only experienced the value for the first time. You need to make sure the usage of the product coincides with the natural frequency of the user's need to solve their problem. So, activation should optimize for 'X+ number of times a feature was used' or 'X+ projects created in 2 weeks', etc.

2. Team activation

User activation is excellent, but a single user rarely gets the company buy-in because the team has yet to experience the value. Thus, after the user activation steps, the activation definition should target the team's activation. This generally includes: X+ team members invited, X+ team members joining, X+ messages exchanged, etc. The steps that optimize for team interaction.

It still helps to think about team-level activation through a user journey lens, acknowledging that it's possible/likely that different roles and people might complete different parts of the activation journey. It might help to think about activation in terms of the primary and secondary users. (Shout out to Ben Williams for pointing this out.)

Defining activation this way shows a definite movement in your self-serve conversion metrics. This is because users realize value quickly, see that the product can work for their org, and share it with their team; teams get activated, leading to a definite buy signal for the buyer.

Try it, and let me know what works for you and what doesn't. 🚀