Figma is the most popular tool for product designers.
With $700M in ARR and a valuation of $12.5B, I was intrigued to see how it builds its growth motions, especially as the company aims to grow to $1 billion in ARR in the coming years.
However, when I analyzed the funnel, I noticed they were missing opportunities and leaving revenue on the table.
Let’s take a closer look.
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Quick Note
A classical sales funnel does not reflect how marketing and sales work. You cannot strictly separate content and channels that solely drive awareness from those responsible for conversions. However, for the purpose of this analysis, it is easier to break it down this way.
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What a $700M ARR Sales Funnel Looks Like
Figma has been ranked the #1 tool of choice among designers for four consecutive years.
And this is no coincidence. The tool has set a new standard in terms of intuitiveness and ease of use. There are probably very few tools that achieve what Figma does.
But having a great product alone isn’t enough to get the word out. Marketing and sales need to work hand in hand. That’s where Figma’s sales funnel comes in.
Here’s what it looks like (you will find the full breakdown, including an analysis of their landing pages, at the end):
How Figma Generates 6.7M Organic Traffic Monthly
Starting at the top, we can see that Figma is driving awareness in three different ways: socials, SEO, and ads.
Figma’s SEO Strategy Part 1
Diving into each way, I first discovered Figma’s incredibly effective SEO strategy.
Let’s start with a question:
What is super important for every designer—whether in product or graphics?
Exactly.
Colors and hex codes.
To cover this need, Figma has built an entire color directory on the website, where you can find hundreds of colors.
In addition to the content about the color, every page includes a call-to-action that allows users to log directly into the tool, create a free account, and access the color palette.
The cool thing is that they are probably using AI to generate it.
These days, there are plenty of AI tools that allow you to create thousands of pages based on just a few keywords in minutes. Figma’s color pages are perfectly suited for this approach. They all follow the same structure, and the content is nearly identical on each page, even though the pages are helpful.
Note: Since I was corrected multiple times, these are probably dynamic landing pages, which, in Figma’s case, have nothing to do with AI. Nevertheless, I want to highlight this because, for most people, it is not easy to build these. Nowadays, however, there are AI tools that can do this for you.
This means free traffic with very little effort.
Figma’s SEO Strategy Part 2
But that’s not the only thing Figma is doing in terms of SEO.
Figma publishes comparison articles between the tool and competitor tools.
And that makes total sense.
Think about it: You need to decide between Tool A and Tool B, and you’re not sure about the differences or which one better serves your purpose.
What do you do? You ask Google.
This is exactly what Figma is capitalizing on. They create dedicated articles comparing their tool to the most popular competitors.
💡 This is also a strategy you can follow. In B2B, many people need to have multiple touchpoints before deciding on a tool. One of those touchpoints is usually researching competitors.
By publishing these kind of articles, there’s a high chance people will find them when they’re deciding on a tool—and the best part is, you control what’s written in those comparisons.
You shouldn’t criticize your competitors but remain neutral while subtly highlighting your advantages over them.
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Each Google result then leads to a landing page with a detailed breakdown.
In addition to Figma’s SEO strategy, it is no surprise that socials play a huge role in Figma’s organic traffic.
And the company is quite active on every major social channel.
Figma is promoting product features, events, user stories, and general updates from the Figma ecosystem—essentially anything that drives awareness.
From time to time, Figma posts memes about product designer clichés or their own features, and unsurprisingly, this works very well.
Source: LinkedIn
Other than the SEO efforts, this traffic lands directly on the website itself, and Figma does a great job there.
How Figma’s Website Converts Organic Traffic
Following the path a user takes, all the traffic lands on Figma’s website or dedicated landing pages.
Figma’s Homepage
Starting with the homepage, even though I don’t like the design, it follows a clear structure and includes every necessary element needed to increase conversion rates.
You are greeted with a large header that shows the tool in action and features clear and concise copy.
The headline, “Think bigger. Build faster.” addresses the needs of the target audience, while the subheadline, “Figma helps design and development teams build great products, together.” provides a clear picture of what to expect when using Figma.
It showcases testimonials and quotes from large, well-known companies, along with displaying many logos.
Almost every logo belongs to a major, well-recognized brand.
💡 If you don’t have a well-known brand or name to display, don’t worry—the important thing is to showcase some testimonials from anyone. This helps people get the impression that you are legitimate and not a scam.
The benefits and features section is also done very well here.
You can tell that Figma knows its target audience. With phrases like “Keep Design and Code Connected,” it frames its benefits perfectly around the needs of its users.
💡 Benefits vs. features
In copywriting, it’s very common to distinguish between benefits and features.
Benefits: These are the reasons why customers feel compelled to buy a product.
Features: These refer to what the product or service specifically does and how it differs from the competition.
When writing text four your website, you should ideally include both. Like Figma is doing it:
Feature: “Generate simple UI with AI” Benefit: “Instantly create mockups to explore a bigger option space”
After another trust-building section, there is a clear and precise call-to-action aimed at generating free users, with the phrase “Get started for free.”
Digging deeper into Figma’s website, you’ll find hundreds of pages—from tutorials to dozens of resources designed to help you get started with the tool.
These resources likely answer almost every question a (potential) user might have.
But despite all of the content, one thing stood out to me: Figma’s Design Academy.
The academy includes dozens of content pieces about design and how to learn it, all with a Figma-specific twist.
It’s a great way to engage the target group early on, educating those who are interested in design and converting them into Figma users.
Figma’s Ad Strategy – and Missing Opportunities
Stepping away from its organic traffic, Figma is also using ads to drive targeted users into its funnel.
What’s noticeable here is that Figma is trying to address at least two target groups:
“Everyone” (These are not clearly categorizable. They could be targeting solo users or small companies here.)
Enterprise customers (This is where the money is made—Figma is targeting larger companies and teams here.)
Target group: “Everyone”
Google Ads
Figma is using Google Ads to target almost everyone researching the tool on Google.
Most of the Google Ads are aimed at keywords like “Figma + use case.”
Source: Google
This approach generates a huge amount of traffic with high search intent (= someone who is genuinely interested in using the tool)—so far, so smart.
But with Google Ads, we also see where Figma’s ad strategy starts lacking.
In addition to text ads displayed on Google, you can use the Google Display Network to promote your service.
This allows your ads to appear as banners or videos in front of YouTube videos—or essentially on any platform that partners with Google.
In this format, you typically avoid text and instead use videos or images to capture attention.
As we saw in the Notion case study, Notion uses video testimonials for Google Display Network ads.
However, Figma sticks to text ads only, which is a missed opportunity to maximize their potential here.
LinkedIn Ads
But even more potential is wasted with Figma’s LinkedIn strategy.
Figma is relying on the typical old-school marketing playbook here.
They offer lead magnets like reports, pre-recorded webinars, and eBooks in exchange for email addresses.
Source: LinkedIn
So far, this might work, as people are probably willing to provide their data because it’s Figma.
However, what’s bad is that I signed up 10 days ago for one of these lead magnets (as of the day I’m writing this) and haven’t received a single email.
I tried two email addresses—my personal one and my business one (just in case Figma is automatically filtering)—and ticked the box each time allowing them to send newsletters and emails, but so far, nothing.
And this is a huge missed opportunity for potential revenue.
💡 When you use this kind of lead generation strategy, you typically set up email sequences triggered after an asset is downloaded, designed to educate and convert your users (called lead nurturing).
According to statistics, companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost.
To give you an example of how this could look, the image below sums it up:
After registering for an ebook and landing on the thank-you page, Figma could send email sequences with various types of content. These could include educational materials, case studies, testimonials, or calls-to-action for demo calls.
This process can also be extended with phone calls, which can then trigger additional sequences based on user engagement.
While this can get pretty complex, it is a huge opportunity to generate revenue
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Target group: Enterprise Customers
This, however, is where Figma is doing a great job.
Here, Figma only uses LinkedIn ads (as far as I can tell) and those are created based on case studies from customers who are already using their tool.
Source: LinkedIn
These ads then lead to a landing page where the case study is explained (though it might have a bit too much text for my taste).
The tag “Popular” highlights and frames the most popular package.
There’s a clear distinction between monthly and annual billing, with a discount offered for choosing the annual plan.
Trust is built right at the top of the page with reassuring elements such as guarantees or statements like “No credit card needed.”
But despite these minor missing elements, due to Figma’s standing in the market, it’s likely that the conversion rate is high on its pricing page.
Nevertheless, Figma is leaving some low-hanging fruits on the table.
After Sales: How Figma Generates Users Through Existing Ones
Coming to the end of the funnel. Once a paying user is generated, Figma makes sure to leverage this to generate new users.
But with everything Figma is doing, it’s difficult to draw a clear line between initiatives that attract new customers and those aimed at existing customers but end up generating new ones.
One thing I want to highlight, though, is the community, and more specifically, the ability for users to create their own plugins and templates inside Figma.
This is a smart way to encourage users to contribute to the tool’s development—and Figma even creates a monetary incentive for doing so.
In one of my previous issues, we looked at a startup that created a Figma plugin for their own solution. To use the plugin, users needed to create an account with the startup’s tool, and then could use the Figma plugin. Read the full story.
This way the startup generated over 7,000 users through it. 7,000 users that already lived on Figma and were routed to the startup’s tool.
That shows how these plugins and templates are a powerful growth multiplier for Figma & other companies.
Last Words
So, Figma is already generating $700M ARR, as a reader, you might wonder: why should optimizing their ad strategy or pricing page matter so much?
Well, Figma aims to reach $1B ARR in the coming years. With this ambitious goal, these areas represent low-hanging fruits they could easily capitalize on by further optimizing their funnel.
Even though the majority of Figma’s sales funnel certainly delivers very solid results.
But even those small improvements could result in generating a few more million dollars in revenue.
What can you learn for your business?
Ad Strategy: When creating an ad strategy, think about the entire process—how people discover your ad, what they should do next, where they land, and how the process flows after a conversion happens (aka have a lead nurturing in place).
SEO with AI: Be creative. Could you use AI to build something similar to Figma’s color directory? Think outside the box!
Pricing Page Optimization: Even if it seems like a small cog in the grand scheme of things, a well-optimized pricing page can make a big difference.
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Hi, I’m Andreas. Over the past 7+ years, I have worked with startups at every stage—from building MVPs and securing funding rounds to creating 8-figure sales pipelines. My greatest passion has always been crafting growth strategies and driving success. Now, I am on a mission to help you do the same by breaking down the growth motions and sales funnels of the most successful startups and turning them into actionable tips.
Love what they do with SEO especially the one with colors and targeting competitor keywords. I find many SaaS could benefit with targeting keywords with specific use case based on their products.
I agree, a lot to improve on their pricing page. It’s missing a lot of potential there!
Great post!
Love what they do with SEO especially the one with colors and targeting competitor keywords. I find many SaaS could benefit with targeting keywords with specific use case based on their products.
I agree, a lot to improve on their pricing page. It’s missing a lot of potential there!
Valuable stuff, thanks for sharing.
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