What is a Go-to-Market Strategy?

A Comprehensive Guide to Boost Your Business Success in 2023

A go-to-market strategy, or GTM strategy, is a plan outlining how a business aims to connect with its target customers and gain a competitive edge. The GTM strategy works as a roadmap for delivering a product or service to the end user, considering factors like distribution and pricing. It bears resemblance to a business plan, though the latter is more comprehensive, taking into account elements such as financing.

Such a strategy can be employed for a variety of events including launching new products or services, presenting an existing product to a fresh market, or rebranding a company. The GTM strategy assists a company in understanding the purpose of launching a product, identifying the target market, and creating a plan to interact with customers and persuade them to purchase the product or service.

What does a go-to-market strategy aim for?

When carried out effectively, the GTM strategy unites all stakeholders and sets a timeline to ensure each party fulfills the designated milestones and results, forming a feasible route to market success.

The benefits of a GTM strategy within a business are:

• Providing a clear plan and direction for all stakeholders.
• Shortening the time to market for products and services.
• Boosting the chances of a successful product or service launch.
• Lowering the risk of additional costs due to unsuccessful product or service launches.
• Heightening the ability to respond to changes and customer needs.
• Better handling of challenges.
• Charting a course for growth.
• Ensuring an effective customer experience.
• Assuring regulatory compliance.

GTM strategies are commonly linked with product launches, but they can also outline the particular steps a company must take to guide customer interactions for existing products.

To formulate an effective GTM strategy, companies must have a grasp of their work environment and their target market. Both new and existing workflows need to be clearly set out, and a system must be put in place to oversee the GTM strategy.

Key Elements

Five key elements are usually included in a GTM strategy:

1. Market definition: Which markets will the product or service target?
2. Customers: Who are the target customers within these markets?
3. Distribution model: How will the product or service reach the customer?
4. Product messaging and positioning: What is being offered and how does it differentiate from other similar products or services on the market?
5. Price: How much will the product or service cost for each customer group?

The market definition identifies the specific markets for a particular product or service — groups of individuals who have both the means and willingness to pay. If multiple markets are being targeted, one should take precedence, and this primary target should be clearly communicated.

The customer element utilizes the information and research collected to define the market, refining the target audience for the product or service. A key focus in developing a GTM strategy and enhancing the customer acquisition process should be identifying the prospective buyer.

Customer segmentation is a commonly used practice that divides a customer base into groups with similar attributes relevant to marketing. Buyer personas should also be established to help a company understand how to market and sell to these various customer segments and align with ROI.

The distribution model defines the channels the product or service uses to reach the end customer. Questions that should be asked when defining channels include:

• How will customers purchase the product or service?
• How and where will the product or service be distributed?
• If it’s a physical product that will be distributed in a store, how will it get there?
• If it’s a software product, how will the customer download it?
• Is the product or service available on the company’s e-commerce site or is it sold online through a third party?

The product messaging and positioning element involves defining what the product or service is and how it differs from others on the market. A unique value proposition should be created, and the product or service should be differentiated from its competitors.

The last component, price, should not be based solely on the costs of manufacturing or developing the product or service. The price should support the value proposition and market position of the product or service.

Building a GTM Strategy

The objectives of a GTM strategy include:

• Raising awareness of a specific product or service.
• Generating leads and converting them into customers.
• Maximizing market share by entering new markets, increasing customer engagement and outperforming competitors.
• Protecting the current market share against competitors.
• Enhancing brand positioning.
• Reducing costs and optimizing profits.

To meet these objectives, creating an effective GTM strategy should involve:

• Identifying buyer personas.
• Creating a value matrix.
• Defining the marketing strategy.
• Understanding the buyer’s journey.
• Selecting a sales strategy.
• Aligning with support.
• Understanding where the product fits in the overall roadmap.
• Defining the success metrics.
• Determining ongoing budget and resource needs.

Examples

Changes in a company’s overall strategic direction often result in changes to its GTM strategy. New products or strategies can also influence GTM approaches. For instance:

• Microsoft: In 2017, Microsoft announced a vertical industry GTM strategy to accommodate customers undergoing digital transformation and seeking vendors with deeper insight into their specific businesses.
• Violin Memory: Their transition from a niche storage player to a primary storage provider required the company to appeal to a broader range of customer segments, prompting the company to opt for channel partners as its GTM strategy.
• Anaplan: The cloud-based financial planning platform provider decided to shift services it had been providing on its own to deliver through channel partners, adjusting its GTM plan accordingly.

A robust GTM strategy can significantly elevate your product or service, whereas a defective one could result in stagnation or even decline. Schedule a 30-minute consultation with RiteGTM today and take the first step towards redefining your GTM strategy.