What is a go-to-market strategy?

John O'Shea

Launching a new product is never a simple task. A single misstep could sabotage your entire launch, so you must take into consideration your marketing strategies, sales funnel and the buying process.

Having a proper marketing plan will ensure you reach your target customers, hit the right key performance indicators and realise your broader business goals. To achieve this and improve your odds, you need a go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

A solid, actionable and effective marketing plan will help you cut down on customer acquisition cost, reduce the time you invest in marketing, streamline the sales process, increase conversions, minimise the chances of failure and, of course, guarantee a successful product launch.

In this article, we’ll help you unpack what a go-to-market strategy is, why you need one, and the components that make up an effective GTM strategy.

What is go-to-market strategy?

A go-to-market strategy is a step-by-step plan that will help you coordinate your messaging, define your ideal customers, and position your new product for a successful launch or relaunch for an existing product.

A GTM strategy will offer a unique and compelling value proposition to gain competitive advantage and enhance customer experience. A go-to-market strategy is an asset to businesses in the B2B space.

Why is a go-to-market strategy important?

Most product launches fail because marketing teams assume their target audience needs a certain product and invest in the development without taking the right business model into account.

Your go-to-market plan is a subdivision of your general marketing strategy that will ensure you align all your business units to a single plan as you enter a new market. The only exception is that your GTM strategy focuses on the sales process of the particular product you’re launching, as opposed to your entire brand.

It defines your target audience, pricing strategy, sales strategy, and marketing plan. A good market GTM strategy will identify the gap in the market and position your new product as an ideal solution.

Go-to-market strategies provide information you need to create scalable outbound strategies and inbound models, along with suitable tactics, to achieve your goals and sustain your competitive advantage.

What are the 4 Components of a go-to-market strategy?

A go-to-market plan comprises four core components:

1. Product market fit/value proposition

Your marketing campaigns need to have a clear description and value proposition of your product, clearly outlining the problem it solves for both new and existing customers.

This will help in positioning your brand so that it cuts through the noise even in a crowded marketplace to achieve competitive advantage in both emerging markets and an existing market.

2. Target market

It is important to define your target audience before a product. You must take geographical, demographic and psychographic variables into account. This will help you focus on the market segment that really matters to you.

Creating a buyer persona and an ideal client profile will give you perspective on their frustrations, pain points, and how much they are ready to pay. After all, you only want to target people who are experiencing a problem that your product answers to.

3. Pricing/competitive demand strategy

Once you’ve defined your target market and, with proper product positioning, you need to have a proper pricing strategy. When working out your pricing strategy, keep in mind your marketing objectives, market forces, your customer base, the competition and demand for the product.

4. Distribution plan

It’s important to have an effective distribution plan for the product launch. Identify the mediums you’ll use to sell your service or product. This can be a self service model, an app, website, or third-party distributor.

What are the 4 go-to-market strategies?

Wondering how to get started with your go-to-market plan? Here are four common go-to-market strategies you can tap into:

• Demand generation. This go-to-market strategy includes varied marketing activities that may be sales-centric or outbound. Here, you can take advantage of marketing channels like marketing automation, cold calls, sponsored webinars and TV commercials.

• Inbound. This GTM strategy uses various forms of marketing; blogs, content marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, and events, among others, to not only create brand awareness but also attract potential customers organically through each stage of the buyer’s journey.

• Account based marketing. Here, your sales team combines their expertise in targeting, locating, engaging and closing deals with high value accounts using technology, valuable content and comprehensive cross channel campaigns, among others.

• Sales enablement. This GTM strategy focuses on increasing productivity and sales results by providing training, content and coaching services for salespeople through the sales cycle.

Having a GTM plan is a sure way to make an effective entry into the market. However, you must be ready to invest in creating a meaningful value proposition, research, along with sales and marketing tricks.

Book a call with Growthonics to find out how we can support your marketing efforts.