If you are pushing a new product in an existing market, an existing product in a new market, or just interested in seeing a new product’s growth potential, you need to devise a go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Put simply, a go-to-market strategy is exactly what it sounds like, a plan which details the steps a company must take to launch a certain product in a certain market. It could also apply, more broadly, to a company in the process of rebranding itself for a new market. GTM strategies can take many forms, so it’s important to figure out which type of strategy will work best for you before working out the finer details of your marketing plan.
What type of GTM strategy is right for you?
Product-led strategy
- The product you are offering provides enough value to attract customers without a persuasive sales technique. You offer a unique value proposition where people just cannot help themselves when it comes to choosing your product over others. While persuasive sales techniques may not be necessary, a focused marketing plan will be incredibly effective.
Sales-led strategy
- Your product must be marketed to your target audience to cultivate and direct interest, this could encapsulate content marketing, product demos, trials, case studies etc., to demonstrate the value of your product to potential customers. Salespeople must be trained to handle prospective customers at every step of the sales process, and most of your efforts will go towards ensuring your salespeople are trained and coached to effectively sell your product.
Account-based strategy
- More appropriate for B2B marketing, where your team pursues high-yield accounts through marketing campaigns and securing one huge account can lead to a very significant return on investment in what could be a brief time period.
Demand generation strategy
- A more old-school approach to marketing, generally outbound in nature, which can involve cold calls, media buying, list buying, sponsored events like webinars, email campaigns etc. This marketing strategy is best used in conjunction with others listed here.
5 essential components for any marketing plan
Recognizing the problem your product solves
- A great product launch solves a specific problem experienced by the general population. Slack enables instant and organized internal communication for businesses, the original iPhone introduced an incredibly intuitive control scheme for cellular devices, Robinhood allowed more people to buy and sell stocks by offering 0$ commissions on trades. Each of these products had a target market strategy behind them, ensuring they would be a perfect fit for the market they targeted.
Establishing your target audience
- Once you understand the problem solved by your product, it is essential to understand who is experiencing that problem. You must define your buyer personas and consider the demographic most in need of your product. It is also essential to understand the location, spending habits, pain points, and preferred media of your ideal customer base. This information will aid you in the creation of an advertising plan.
Analyzing your competition
- Your product might not be an entirely new solution to an age-old problem. But it might be the best solution so far, or a more affordable alternative to your competitors. Research into other companies that offer similar products is necessary when devising a GTM strategy. Maybe competing businesses are targeting a different demographic, or geographic area. It’s possible demand in your industry is consistently unmet or oversaturated with options. These are all things to consider during your planning process.
Deciding which marketing channels to use
- It goes without saying that there are more options than ever for reaching people with your marketing efforts. Knowing which channels to utilize is essential for any GTM strategy, and you can minimize wasted spending by focusing on the most effective ad delivery methods for your ideal customers. Your product may be spread through emails, social media, blogs, media spots, physical ads (billboards, etc.), digital ads, and so on. Through an understanding of your target audience, you will align your marketing plan and channels to your audience. Different channels can also be relevant at different stages of the customer’s exposure to your product. For example, they might see a billboard ad, then read a case study on your website, then watch an explanatory video on your social media, then choose to purchase your product.
Creating and executing a sales strategy plan
- Knowing your niche, audience, competition, and marketing channels is of course incredibly important. But after you’ve worked through these necessities, you still need to sell your product. Know which sales strategy best fits your product, which will depend on price point, the nature of your product (it is a digital service, or physical item, etc.)
- Self-service, customers come across your product and purchase it themselves through an e-commerce platform or subscription service, this requires marketing
- Inside sales, your team convinces prospective customers to buy your product or service, if your product is more expensive or complicated, a sales team needs to educate customers regarding how the product can help them solve their problems
- Outside sales, your team focuses on larger deals, generally employing more cold calling and email correspondence to convert leads into sales. The sales cycle is longer, but the deals are ideally larger as well
Setting and achieving marketing goals
Now that your GTM strategy has been sketched out, it’s time to set some goals. After all, you need to be able to measure your progress and successes over the course of executing your marketing plan. Here are some important metrics you could track over the course of your campaign:
- Brand awareness
- Lead generation
- Brand reputation
- New customers
- Website traffic
- Brand engagement
- Revenue
- Conversions
- Email list
When setting marketing goals, it’s a good idea to use the SMART criteria. Marketing goals should be Smart, Measurable, Aspirational, Realistic, and Timely. You’ve probably heard about this framework before, and it works especially well for marketing campaigns where you work with well-defined performance metrics which can be tracked throughout your campaign. For help setting up your marketing strategy, consider reaching out to a professional marketing agency like Clever Samurai.
Acquiring leads through marketing strategy planning
Unless your product is a truly miraculous offering, unmatched by anything currently on the market, your sales strategy plan will have to involve lead generation. After all, you need people to purchase your product. There are lots of different ways to generate leads, through inbound content marketing, outbound email campaigns, cold calling, digital marketing, the list goes on. However, you’re already working on perfecting your product, or expanding your offerings for future growth plans, so why not leave lead generation to the professionals? Lead generation companies like 360Leads have years of experience working with clients across all industries, and countless success stories when it comes to assisting companies in the early stages of planning their GTM strategy.