To: My Cleverest Converg-ling

From: The Desk of Lillian Pierson

Happy Friday! Surprised you’ve not heard from me yet this week?

Well, I’ve got final rounds of edits on both of my new books - The Data & AI Imperative (pre-order it now!) AND Data Science Essentials For Dummies, both this week! That coupled with the sophisticated product-market fit strategy I’m building for a client, and the two small kiddos? I’ve been doing lots on the fly this week (including this email).

That said, here’s the latest you need to know:

📰 This Week In Data & AI: August 16, 2024

Grok 2 was just released! Here’s why it matters:

Grok 2 is changing the game in the AI space, particularly in open source! Why? Well, it’s cutting-edge LLM is in parity with proprietary counterparts, BUT it’s open-source and accessible to developers worldwide. By making such a powerful tool freely available, Grok 2 accelerates the development of AI-driven solutions. Prepare yourself for more inclusive and fast-moving AI advancements. Read more about it here.

WEEKLY AI-LED PLG POWER PLAY

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞.

Free trials seem like an easy way to convert users, BUT there’s a not-so-hidden cost.

Many of the SaaS companies that I work with rely heavily on free trials, but early-stage startups often struggle with activating their users and converting them from free trial to paid. 

The reality is, without a strong activation strategy, your free trials can lead to high churn and wasted resources.

Instead of putting all your faith in free trials, focus on building a comprehensive onboarding process that turns trial users into long-term customers. This, of course, means personalized outreach, in-app guidance, and offering value beyond the trial period.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤.

Let me introduce you to Humanic AI.

Humanic AI is revolutionizing PLG by integrating product analytics with advanced generative AI in a way that’s certain to skyrocket your user engagement and conversions in short order.

Unlike traditional marketing automation platforms, Humanic zeroes in on the two stages of PLG that are most important to early startups:

• 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

• 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐭𝐨-𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

By connecting with your product analytics tools and marketing platforms, Humanic uses LLMs to automatically create micro-cohorts and and then develop custom activation strategies based on those cohorts in real-time.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. Humanic’s platform doesn’t just predict user behavior — after developing micro-cohorts and strategies to activate them, the platform then uses LLMs to assemble personalized marketing content and sequences on the fly, again based on real-time data. 

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 

Even your multi-step email campaigns are built automatically by Humanic AI - with every word and call to action laser targeted to get your free trial users their next step forward on the path to becoming paying customers.

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊𝐘?” I hear you, but get this. Humanic AI is architected around safety-first principles that allow marketing experts to step in to review and fine-tune strategies before any execution ever happens.

𝐒𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲: 𝐀𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐭𝐨-𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟. 🍿

We both know that driving more free trials alone is not enough. It’s what happens during and after the trial that really moves the needle.

If you’re looking to drive growth for your PLG company, I’m here to help. Book a time for us to have a conversation about how we can work together to drive more revenue growth for your SaaS.

MARKETING STRATEGY SIDELINE

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭.

Knowing your ICP is as much about knowing who to target as it is about knowing how they move through your funnel.

It’s easy to say you have a clear ICP, but how many can actually track these customers from initial awareness to the final purchase?

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐂𝐏’𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝.

• Are your potential customers recognizing your brand?

• Are they engaging with your content?

• Are they seriously considering your product, or are they slipping away to your competitors?

Every interaction, every step matters. You need to know exactly where your ICP is in the buying process at any given moment.

Because if you’re not tracking this, you’re missing opportunities to connect, to convert, and to grow.

Whether you call it ABX, ABM, or just good marketing—it doesn’t work unless you can follow the breadcrumbs all the way to the sale.

How are you tracking your ICP’s journey? Hit reply and share your thoughts or tools that help you stay on top of your customer’s buying process.

DOES YOUR GROWTH STRATEGY PASS THE AI-READINESS TEST?

I’ve put these processes to work for Fortune 100 companies, and now I’m handing them to you…