You need a go-to-market strategy if you find yourself in one of the three situations below:
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you are targeting an existing market with an all-new product
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you are taking your existing product to a completely new market
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you are testing growth for a new product’s market
The reason for the sheer relevance of a go-to-market strategy lies in the fact that these strategies deliver valuable information for companies. GTM (go-to-market) strategies are highly useful when you want to strategically position yourself against market competition, leverage suitable tactics to fulfill your goals, and develop scalable inbound and outbound models.
Product launches that usually result in failure tend to make assumptions about market needs, wants, and trends. As a result, businesses invest heavily in new products without having gathered the necessary information.
"Before you can develop a successful go-to-market strategy, you need to generate innovative ideas for your product or service. Our article on Ideation provides a comprehensive guide to idea generation and can help you kick-start your brainstorming process.
Different kinds of GTM strategies for you
There are two main approaches: sales-led and product-led.
A sales-led GTM strategy involves creating compelling marketing materials like demos and content to generate interest in your product. Salespeople then reach out to potential customers and try to persuade them to purchase.
On the other hand, a product-led GTM strategy relies on the product itself to attract and retain users. The idea is to create a product that is so valuable and user-friendly that it sells itself. Instead of relying on salespeople, the product serves as its own salesperson, enticing users to upgrade and stay loyal to the brand.
A step-by-step approach to building a GTM
1. Set out your ideal customer profile (ICP)
An ideal customer profile provides a comprehensive and inclusive description of the perfect customer for your company. This is the customer who may enjoy a wide range of benefits while using your products and services. In return, he or she provides you with enough value to make business activities profitable.
To carefully curate your ICP, you need to identify the following factors:
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who your customers are
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where they work
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what are some of the routine challenges they deal with
To be more efficient in this regard, user stories will be of great help.
2. Learn more about your competitors.
The cornerstone of a seamless go-to-market strategy is comprehending where your products and services fit within the existing market landscape. When you expand your knowledge about your competitors’ offers, you are better able to position your product.
Begin researching your competitors by evaluating their G2 reviews page. Filter the results according to relevant business segments such as mid-market, SMEs, and so on. This will assist you in identifying factors that closely resonate with your ideal customer. You should also pay close attention to micro and macro trends which may impact your product or service launch in the upcoming future.
3. Develop a strong messaging strategy.
The key to developing a strong messaging strategy for your product is to learn how to communicate your product’s value to your ideal customers in a way that resonates with their pain points. This can be achieved by ‘speaking their language’.
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You can start by paying close attention to the language being used by sales reps around you or online and focus on the language being used to offer solutions to customers’ pain points and ambitions.
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You can also help yourself by reviewing case studies, identifying keywords and phrases from them, and trying to revolve your messaging around these ideas.
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Next, identify the messaging strategy that your competitors are currently using on their websites and evaluate their strategy to position their products and services. In simple words, try to unleash your ‘unique selling proposition’ and learn how to reframe the offerings of your competitors.
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When it comes to developing a go-to-market strategy, it's important to start with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that showcases your product's core value proposition.
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This should be followed by developing a brief for your executives. This should include key takeaways that you have identified regarding the positioning of your competitors in the market.
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Now, identify the personas you will primarily target and your possible strategies for speaking to them.
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It is now time to send out the final word. Arrange a call with company executives and eventually finalize an agreement.
4. Set attainable, realistic targets.
Outbound
For instance, let's say you have two outbound Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) who are key to your product launch. By analyzing their daily cold calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages, you can calculate their average output and response rates. With this information, you can estimate the number of meetings each SDR can book.
To set achievable targets for your reps, you can use the meetings booked/opportunity rate, which gives you a sense of how many opportunities will arise from each meeting. In addition, if you take into account your average opportunity-to-close rate, you can create a complete pipeline that maps out data-driven objectives and sales goals for your reps each month.
Marketing
If you're looking for a smart and efficient approach, aiming for a 50/50 split between inbound and outbound at the start could be what you need. Not only will this assist you in landing on attainable, feasible benchmarks, but it will also enable you to measure the effectiveness of each approach against the other.
It all starts with calculating your estimated cost-per-lead (CPL). From there, you can edge a series of predicted conversions across the sales funnel for paid direct demo requests and content. This will help you understand the different conversion rates at each stage and plan your budget accordingly.
And when it comes to generating opportunities, your plan should involve an apt balance of content and paid ads. This diversification will allow you to test a variety of tactics and see what works best for your product. Plus, by working out the budget needed to hit the same number of opportunities as outbound, you'll have a clear picture of the resources required for each approach.
5. Choose appropriate tactics.
Data
As it was mentioned earlier, creating a go-to-market strategy requires quality data in order to target the right customers. You can simply get the job done with a variety of top-notch data provider companies. When you work with these, you will gain targeted leads and up-to-date data. Using this, you can ultimately augment your account-based sales and try to target consumers who are going to be your most potential buyers.
Marketing strategy
It all begins with crafting a compelling offer tailored to your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
To maximize your chances of converting leads, you'll need different offers for the top, middle, and bottom of the marketing funnel. And don't forget to present the offer uniquely and distinctively on each channel. A one-size-fits-all approach simply won't cut it in today's fast-paced digital world.
When it comes to quick wins and key learnings, BOFU campaigns are the way to go. Consider targeting retargeting audiences on platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook. You can also build Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaigns on Google and Bing through high-intent keywords.
By starting with BOFU, you'll be ticking off the lowest-hanging fruit and building momentum for your TOFU and MOFU strategies.
Content plan
While data is essential for your outbound approach, it's content that drives your inbound efforts. There’s one crucial step you need to take first: keyword research.
Before you start creating content, it's vital to understand what your potential customers are searching for online. Fortunately, there are plenty of free tools out there to help you get started. But if you're serious about dominating your niche, paid platforms like Ahrefs and SEMrush are the way to go.
With these powerful SEO tools, you can analyze the keywords your competitors rank for and identify untapped opportunities to gain an edge. You can even track the rank of your target keywords and monitor your progress over time.
Partnerships
If you lack brand recognition but are striving to make a splash in a new market, some piggybacking is all that you need.
One of the most effective ways to generate buzz and gain exposure is by teaming up with companies that share your ideal customer profile (ICP). Look for businesses that have established themselves in the market and have a significant number of followers.
By collaborating with these companies on co-marketing initiatives, you'll get in front of the right people and tap into their existing network. This can help you generate awareness and demand for your product or service, even if you're just starting out.
6. Provide feedback
If you want to ensure that the most significant learnings from your GTM strategy are actually implemented, it is absolutely vital to develop a product feedback loop for the sales, marketing, and product development departments.
In order to form this loop, you need to assign specific personnel to remain accountable for multiple aspects of your strategy.
But it's not enough to simply assign tasks and responsibilities. You also need to regularly check in and hold meetings to discuss progress, identify stumbling blocks, and brainstorm solutions. This will help you overcome challenges and make progress as a team.
Go-to-market strategy FAQs
Who makes the GTM strategy?
Ideally, the responsibility of the GTM strategy falls on the shoulders of the marketing department, particularly individuals who engage in product marketing. It is, however, suitable to note that GTM is a conjoined output based on the ideas of multiple stakeholders such as the sales, marketing, and product department, along with strategic leadership.
What is the difference between market strategy and marketing strategy?
Market strategy refers to the overall approach a company takes to reach and engage its target audience, including factors such as product development, pricing, and distribution. Marketing strategy, on the other hand, is specifically focused on promoting and communicating the value of a product or service to potential customers through various marketing channels.
What is the pricing strategy in GTM?
It involves analyzing various factors such as costs, competition, and customer value to determine the optimal price point that will attract and retain customers while maximizing profitability.
What is a channel strategy in GTM?
It involves evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of various channels such as direct sales, online marketplaces, and retail partnerships to determine the most effective and efficient way to deliver products or services to the market.
Be sure to check out Harvestr for a variety of other relative and informative articles that will help you grow your business.