Let’s cut to the chase: Marketing-led growth (MLG) is a myth.

The idea that marketing alone can drive growth just doesn’t hold up.

Whether you’re using product-led growth (where your product does the heavy lifting) or sales-led growth (with a sales team driving conversions), marketing is important—but it’s never the whole picture.

In this article, we’ll debunk the concept of marketing-led growth and show you how both PLG and SLG need marketing efforts but rely on different growth strategies. Here's what we’ll cover:

• The power of product-led growth
• Why sales-led growth thrives in complex industries
• The role of marketing in both models
• How to pick the right growth strategy for your business

Let’s get started!

Understanding product-led growth (PLG)

The core of PLG

At its heart, product-led growth relies on the product itself as the primary engine for customer acquisition and revenue growth.

The idea is simple: build an excellent product and let it do the talking.

💡 Users come in, try the product, experience its value firsthand, and convert into paying customers naturally. This approach shortens the sales cycle and reduces dependence on a sales team.

Take Slack and Dropbox, for instance—users can sign up, explore, and engage with the product without ever talking to sales. The customer journey in PLG is driven by the product experience.

If the product delivers actual value, users stick around and share it with others, fueling organic growth and customer loyalty.

Marketing’s role in PLG

Even in a product-led growth strategy, marketing plays a crucial role, though it doesn’t lead the charge.

Marketing focuses on creating brand awareness and driving users to the product through channels like content marketing, SEO, and other marketing campaigns.

The goal is to get the product in front of the right target audience.

Once potential customers are in, the product itself engages them, builds relationships, and turns them into loyal users.

Marketing may generate attention, but in a product-led growth model, the product ultimately drives user acquisition and customer retention.

The role of sales-led growth (SLG)

How SLG drives business growth

Sales-led growth puts the focus squarely on sales teams to drive business growth.

In this model, growth is led by direct human interaction, making it particularly effective for complex products or enterprise clients.

When potential customers have specialized needs or need a more tailored solution, a strong sales department steps in to build relationships, address concerns, and close deals.

💡 SLG is especially valuable in industries where the buying process is lengthy or complicated. Customer acquisition efforts are essential when the process involves multiple stakeholders, high-value contracts, or extensive sales cycles.

By nurturing relationships and customizing offers, sales-led teams can unlock larger deals, secure long-term success, and boost customer lifetime value.

In SLG, customer relationships are at the core of revenue creation. It's less about volume and more about quality—fewer but bigger deals that drive business expansion.

Marketing support in SLG

While sales teams lead the charge in SLG, marketing still plays a pivotal role.

Marketing strategies focus on lead generation, brand building, and supporting sales through content marketing, events, and targeted marketing campaigns.

In sales-led growth strategies, marketing helps the sales department by nurturing potential leads and creating educational resources like case studies and customer success stories.

Ultimately, marketing complements the customer acquisition process, providing the tools needed to attract potential customers and giving the sales department the best chance to convert leads into paying users.

Debunking the myth of marketing-led growth

What marketing-led growth claims to be

Marketing-led growth is often pitched as a strategy where marketing alone drives customer acquisition and business growth.

Proponents of marketing-led growth suggest that by heavily investing in marketing efforts, like content marketing, paid ads, and other marketing campaigns, you can grow without relying much on sales teams or even the product itself.

At its core, a marketing-led growth strategy implies that marketing can generate enough demand, nurture leads, and convert them into paying users on its own.

This idea may seem appealing, especially for companies with strong marketing departments.

💡 But the reality is, marketing-led growth strategies don’t typically work in isolation. You can attract leads, but converting them without the backing of a solid product or dedicated sales team? That’s where the concept falls apart.

Why marketing-led growth isn’t a standalone strategy

Here’s the reality: Marketing-led growth doesn’t exist as a standalone strategy.

Marketing plays a crucial role in both product-led and sales-led strategies, but it cannot drive growth independently.

Whether a company follows a product-led growth or sales-led growth motion, marketing supports the overall business strategy by generating awareness, creating demand, and positioning the product in front of the right target audience.

In both PLG and SLG, marketing works as complementary growth strategies. In product-led companies, marketing helps attract users to try the product, while in sales-led companies, marketing aids in nurturing leads for the sales team to convert.

But neither approach can rely purely on marketing. In the end, growth comes from how effectively your product or sales team engages and converts those leads.

Comparing PLG and MLG: Where marketing fits in

Alright, so even though we've established that MLG isn’t really a thing on its own, let’s humor the idea for a moment. I'll walk you through what is generally considered a marketing-led growth model and see how it stacks up against PLG.

Core differences between PLG and MLG

The biggest difference between product-led growth and marketing-led growth lies in what drives the engine of business growth.

In PLG, the product itself takes the wheel.

The focus is on creating an incredible product that delivers actual value from the start, and this product becomes the primary means of customer acquisition. Users experience the product, love it, and spread the word—driving organic growth.

On the other hand, marketing-led growth (in theory) hinges on marketing as the main growth driver. Companies that claim to use MLG strategies rely heavily on marketing campaigns, content marketing, and paid channels to attract and convert leads.

But here’s the kicker: even in PLG, marketing plays a complementary role.

It helps generate awareness and push the product into the spotlight, while in MLG strategy, it’s still marketing supporting either sales or the product.

Marketing is essential in both cases—it’s just not the only thing that drives growth.

Monetization in product-led vs marketing-led

In PLG, monetization typically happens later in the customer journey.

Users often start with free trials or freemium plans, where they get to experience the product firsthand before deciding to upgrade or pay for additional features.

This slower, more deliberate approach gives users time to understand the product’s value, which leads to better customer retention and long-term success.

With a marketing-led approach, companies aim for faster monetization, often pushing for paying customers early on. Through marketing channels like paid ads or content marketing, the goal is to drive conversions sooner rather than later.

While this approach can lead to quicker revenue generation, it doesn’t always guarantee sustainable growth if the product fails to deliver the promised value.

In contrast, PLG’s slower ramp-up can build a stronger, more loyal customer base.

Marketing’s universal role across growth strategies

The importance of marketing in PLG and SLG

Whether you’re pursuing product-led growth or sales-led growth strategies, marketing plays a vital role in driving brand awareness and attracting potential customers.

In PLG, marketing helps put the product in front of the right target audience through SEO, content marketing, paid ads, and so on. It brings in users who are curious to try the product, but then lets the product do the heavy lifting of conversion.

In SLG, marketing supports sales reps by generating leads and nurturing them through content and marketing tactics. Educational resources, case studies, and customer success stories help create demand and smooth the sales process.

💡 In both cases, marketing’s role is to create the pipeline, but it’s either the product (PLG) or sales (SLG) that ultimately converts those leads into revenue growth.

How marketing efforts fuels retention and engagement

Marketing isn’t just about getting users through the door—it’s also about keeping them around.

Through email campaigns, webinars, and customer feedback initiatives, marketing helps businesses increase customer retention and improve customer engagement. These post-acquisition efforts are critical in both PLG and SLG models.

For product-led companies, marketing helps drive ongoing product usage, while for sales-led companies, it keeps customers informed and engaged through updates and educational content, ensuring they remain loyal for the long haul.

Choosing the right growth strategy for your business

When PLG makes sense

Product-led growth is a fantastic choice for SaaS companies that offer products that are easy to adopt and scale.

If your product delivers value from the first interaction and has a short onboarding process, PLG might be your best bet.

This strategy works particularly well when your product can engage customers quickly without the need for direct sales efforts. A product-led approach allows your product to become your main customer acquisition tool, minimizing the need for expensive sales reps.

It’s perfect for products that thrive on virality and can benefit from a product qualified lead strategy that drives organic expansion.

When SLG is the better option

Sales-led growth shines when you’re launching your SaaS or much later, when you have a complex enterprise product that require personal relationships and customized solutions.

If your product is high-ticket or involves multiple decision-makers, you’ll likely need a strong sales team to build trust and guide clients through longer sales cycles.

SLG is the go-to choice for companies where a sales-led approach helps navigate complicated purchasing processes, especially in industries like enterprise software.

While marketing supports lead generation here, the sales process is key to converting those leads into paying users, making it a critical piece of the puzzle for high-value contracts.

Not sure yet? Read Product-led-growth vs sales-led growth: Which is right?

Marketing is key, but marketing-led isn’t real

At the end of the day, marketing-led growth is not a standalone strategy.

Whether you’re following a product-led growth strategy or a sales-led growth strategy, marketing plays a crucial role in driving awareness, customer acquisition, and engagement—but it doesn’t work alone.

Both PLG and SLG rely on marketing efforts to generate leads and create demand, but it’s the product or sales team that ultimately closes the deal.

To drive growth, marketing must work in tandem with either product excellence or sales efforts. So, while marketing is essential, it’s never the only player on the field.

If your go-to-market motion uses a PLG approach and you need help with your email marketing, get in touch!