The concept of go-to-market strategies refers not only to new product launches, but can also refer to the actions that companies need to take in order to interact with its customers.
When implemented effectively, a go-to-market strategy will align all stakeholders and establish a timeline to ensure each stakeholder meets the defined milestones and outcomes, creating a more obtainable path to market success.
The reasons to adopt a go-to-market strategy include:
- Generating awareness of a product or service
- Finding, qualifying, and converting leads into customers
- Capturing market share by entering new segments
- Retaining current customers
- Strengthening a brand
- Streamlining operations
Go-to-market strategies are implemented to reach full potential value within an organization, with benefits including:
- A plan and direction for stakeholders
- Less time and friction to bring value to customers
- Agility to react to the market's needs
- A path for realizing growth
- Effective customer experience
- Necessary regulatory compliance
For organizations to develop an effective GTM strategy, they must understand the work environment and the target market. In order to manage the go-to-market strategy, it is crucial to clearly define the steps in the GTM process and establish a system for managing them.
Creating an effective GTM strategy should directionally include these steps:
- Identify buyer personas and target markets
- Create a value matrix that maps the product or service across business needs
- Define the marketing strategy (including brand, demand and lead generation, content, and more)
- Understand the buyer's journey
- Select a sales strategy (including training, tools and resources, enablement)
- Sync sales with support (with CRM, onboarding, retention strategies)
- Understand the product priority in the overall roadmap
- Define success metrics
- Determine ongoing budget and resource needs
