A go-to-market (GTM) plan uses targeted data to track a product launch’s performance. Key performance indicators (KPIs)—are somewhat similar across businesses, but there are some differences industry-to-industry in what data matters. SaaS GTM metrics, for example, may focus on customer churn rates, whereas a healthcare business may care more about patient wait time.

KPIs for new market entry are both a measuring stick and a barometer. When used properly, they give metrics and guidance for future product launches; they help you know if your campaign worked, how well it worked, and why. You’re likely familiar with each of the above terms and what they measure, but the important thing is to note that these KPIs (or any KPI, for that matter) require context to be meaningful or even useful. For example, simply noting the churn rate for a SaaS company is around 8% means next to nothing. You could argue that 7% isn’t great because it’s above the average churn rate for companies, but if you also know that company’s churn rate last year was around 14%, now 7% becomes a massive improvement.

Data does not exist in a vacuum, so neither should your assessments of it. And keep in mind that not all data is created equal. More information does not always mean “more informed,” and better data isn’t about quantity but quality: the right data, at the right time. You may be acquiring a lot of data on your product launch, but if that flow of information is inaccurate or looking in the wrong places, it won’t be of much help to your business. And data that is overly generic will not give you any real, actionable steps you can take to improve your product launches. Using research tools that capture real-time data and potential future opportunities can give you a true strategic edge in the market.

Accurate, targeted data is one of the most critical go-to-market components; collect it wisely!

While these will differ for each industry and individual product, common KPIs for market health include:

With each of these, it’s important to remember that they are very broad concepts without much targeted direction behind them. The way you research something like purchase intent requires you to not just study your own business’s numbers, but competitors and even contact-level buyer intent for your ideal client profile. It’s not enough to monitor purchase intent; you also need to know what affects purchase intent, and monitor those factors too. Using a solution like Aptivio to give you a more comprehensive view of what influences your metrics will help you make decisions that will actually move the needle.

This first part is arguably the most critical—and it’s something that every business can do before they go-to-market. While defining success may seem like a no-brainer, it's a stumbling block that many orgs trip on, sometimes unaware it’s in their way. After all, you can easily get so focused on developing a successful product that you might forget what “success” actually means for the launch. And your concept of product success needs to go deeper than “sell a lot of product” or “break even on overhead;” you need to have objective, measurable GTM metrics—and the tools to track them accurately.

While there are some universally accepted figures to track as KPIs, it’s important to actually consider the “why” for tracking them. Having numbers to look at is great, but it’s meaningless if those numbers don’t drive your decision-making. Even if your data tells you exactly how a product launch is performing, if that data doesn't also give you reasonings for those outcomes, then those numbers aren’t that useful. Similarly, if your data is so broad and generic that you can’t pull any action items from it, you might as well have no data at all.

As you prepare to measure a product launch, ask the following questions:

Every GTM strategy is unique, but the best examples are those that are well-tailored to your target market, audience, and value proposition. As we’ve discussed above, any go-to-market plan exampleThink of KPIs as feedback for your GTM strategies. Similar to verbal feedback, it’s not helpful to hear “it’s good!” or “it’s bad!” when looking for actionable ways to improve. Find ways to pull reasons from your data—trends, correlations, projections—and use tools like Aptivio that enable a deeper data analysis. Also, make sure you’re specific about what you want to learn from the data; going back to verbal feedback as an example, if you don’t express what you’re looking for you can’t expect to receive it. 

Even if you select the right KPIs to watch, if your research tactics don’t look past the surface layer, you won’t truly know what’s helping or hurting your sales. In short, your research goals should ask specific questions, and your research tools/tactics should yield specific answers.

Some Market Metrics ExamplesWhile this will differ for each GTM plan, here are few common KPIs to look at as you start planning: should consist of 5 key components or actions:
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Measuring success isn’t something that happens at the end of a launch, it’s a continuous process that starts before the launch even happens. Develop a plan for data collections before, during and after a launch happens. If your KPIs from Step 2 were well-selected, more data points will give you more connections to make and more potential to discover unique insights. Here is also where you can set a timeline for reviewing the launch as a whole, which will formally occur in Step 6.

Oftentimes, finding ways to automate certain components of research will greatly improve its end value. Of course, you can’t automate everything—and you shouldn’t—but combing through massive amounts of data is one of the best ways to use tools like AI. For example, Aptivio’s AI-powered engine can monitor data points across a wide spectrum all at once, making it easier for you to step back and see the big picture rather than getting bogged down in the details. Aptivio’s engine also helps draw correlations in the data it monitors, so there’s opportunity to find something you may not have been looking for, but proves invaluable to your future launches.

This step doesn’t require much explanation—only one word: execute!

Measuring the success of your go-to-market campaigns starts with having the right tools to collect and analyze data. That’s what we specialize in at Aptivio, and we’ve helped businesses of all types upgrade their market strategies—at every stage of development. Our solution offers a myriad of ways to augment a GTM plan, including:

Your data should give you more than a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet to share with investors; you should also be gaining understanding, insights, and even ideas from your research. Aptivio makes it possible to collect those things and more as you set up your market analyses.

You may already have an image of success for your product launches, but with the proper insights at your disposal, you may be able to take that image to an entirely new level. Let Aptivio find your future “success,” and configure your free Market Snapshot today.