The Ultimate Guide to Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy

Table of Contents

  • What is a Go-To-Market Strategy?
  • What is the importance of a Go-To-Market Strategy?
  • How to build major components of a Go-To-Market Strategy?
  • How to build a Go-To-Market strategy?
    • Identify target markets
    • Identify target customers
    • Understand brand position
    • Define unique value proposition
    • Select marketing channels
    • Set your budget
    • Outline sales strategy
    • Put together your marketing strategy
  •  Final thoughts

Imagine you own a business and plan to reveal a new product in the market. You obviously will consider certain factors before and after launch to make sure your business is successful.

It’s important to have a solid marketing plan for launching a new product or service to the market. Before creating a marketing plan, you must identify your target audience and define your goals.

What is a Go-To-Market Strategy?

A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is a roadmap to successfully launch a product to the market. This includes planning sales techniques, pricing, marketing and advertising budgets, defining your target customer, and your unique selling proposition(USP).

A GTM brings all the fundamental ingredients together that drive a business- marketing, sales, pricing, brand development, competitive analysis, and customer insights.

Key Statistics

  • According to a study by Harvard Business School, out of 30,000 new products launched every year, 95% of them fail because of the lack of marketing and sales preparation.
  • Another survey conducted by the Marketing Research Association showed that only 40% of developed products reach the market and out of that only 60% generate some revenue.
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What is the Importance of a Go-To-Market Strategy?

Every organization has a purpose to keep progressing. There are several ways to promote growth but without a proper strategy, you will end up spending resources and time without getting anywhere.

It is a known fact that almost 90% of startups get exhausted mostly within the first year of their launch. The culprit of this figure is inefficient execution, a parasite that fails even the brightest ideas. So, a go-to-market strategy is essential.

The key benefits of a successful Go-to-Market strategy include:

  • Secures successful product launches
  • Improves consumer experience
  • Avoids wrong directions
  • Paves a roadmap for growth
  • Clarifies the plan and builds unity of the team
  • Reinforces brand image and position
  • Minimize costs
  • Increases the adaptability of the business to new market changes

How to Build a GTM Strategy?

Here are eight steps that will help you create a step-by-step GTM strategy.

Identify Target Markets

To create an effective GTM plan, you must know your market well. So, while building a go-to-market strategy, start with analyzing your targeted marketplace.

You can incorporate Poster’s Five Forces into your research to create an efficient plan. Whenever you are planning to produce a new product to the market, you should be aware of:

  • Buyer Power
  • Supplier Power
  • Threat of New Entry
  • Threat of Substitution
  • Competitive Rivalry

Identify Target Customers

The second most important step of a GTM strategy is identifying your target consumers. Once you have defined your target market, you will be able to identify your ideal audience. 

You can gather information about your ideal audience by conducting surveys, interviews, research, and direct interactions. By the end of this step, you will understand your consumers, their buying journey, and consider their viewpoints.

Understanding Brand Position

Ask yourself. What kind of brand do you want to establish? Do you want to offer high-quality premium products, or would you rather offer affordable alternatives? Or would you like to establish your brand as a mix of both?

You can use a perceptual map to assess the strengths and weak points of your products and your competitor’s products on the factors relevant to your audience.

Defining Unique Value Proposition

This area will help you analyze the crucial points of your product and its benefits to the consumer. Sketch out the features of your product that make it unique in the market, how it differs from your competitors, and how it solves the problems of your consumer.

Selecting Marketing Channels

Whenever you are thinking of different marketing channels, always use online and offline forms of marketing.

INBOUND MARKETING: Websites, social media handles, blogs, newsletters, e-mails, videos, podcasts.

OUTBOUND MARKETING: Flyers, Ads on newspapers, magazines, TV, banners, etc.

Setting your Budget

This step requires creating a pricing strategy for your product and estimating revenues with your GTM plan.

Before finalizing your pricing, you will have to consider the expectations of your consumer and the pricing of the products of your competitors. These key factors will help you gain an edge over your competitors.

Outline Sales Strategy

This applies if your product is sales-intensive. You will have to form a sales team who will identify, reach out, and gain consumers. The team must have the required knowledge and the right tools to manage the sales successfully.

Put Together your Marketing Strategy

Now you have answers to the important questions- what you are selling, to who are you selling, and what channels to use for selling. The last step is to decide the launch and promotion of your product.

Once you have launched your product, you will need to focus on new advancements, fixing of arising issues, and more new ways of attracting consumers to buy your product.

Final Thoughts

Imagine your product and customers as two different points, A and B. Then, a GTM strategy will be defined as everything that helps to create a line between those two points. This includes sales techniques, targeted audience, marketing plans, pricing, and the unique product that solves or improves your customer’s problems.

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