True to its name, a go-to-market strategy establishes a framework for introducing new products or services to a group of customers (or market segment). As Gartner notes, a GTM strategy’s purpose is to detail not only “how an organization can engage with customers to convince them to buy their product or service,” but also how the company can gain an advantage within the marketplace.

A GTM strategy serves as an actionable blueprint for the launch of a given product or service. Depending on the scope of the GTM strategy and its specific objectives, it may include things like fine-tuning the target market, developing products/services that are well-aligned with market needs, setting a budget, and even devising plans for marketing and messaging. A go-to-market strategy’s objectives or definitions of success depend on what the business is trying to achieve. For example, one company’s GTM strategy might be designed to introduce a new product or service, while another company might leverage GTM best practices as part of a broad, organization-wide rebrand. Beyond the GTM plan itself, companies often benefit from working through the process of developing a GTM strategy, as the exercise can also help the organization to fine-tune its objectives, product/service offerings, and even the metrics it will use to gauge success.

More than simply a one-and-done activity, a GTM strategy is meant to help organizations bridge the gap between an idea and its market. With that in mind, a GTM strategy can accomplish several types of objectives, like:

Building off of the objectives listed above, the importance of an effective GTM strategy is difficult to overstate. One of the biggest benefits of a well-implemented GTM strategy is it can mitigate many risks that often accompany the launch of a new product, service, campaign, or company. For example, a GTM strategy might be crafted to…
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An effective GTM strategy also improves an organization’s chances of short- and long-term success. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that:

This presents a compelling opportunity for businesses to develop GTM strategies that will attract and engage customers, drive key business and growth metrics, and edge out any competition. There are many common metrics that a GTM strategy can improve, including:

GTM and product marketing are neither synonyms or opposites; rather, GTM strategies are best thought of as a component of broader product marketing initiatives. Gartner defines product marketing as “the process of bringing a product to market and overseeing its overall success,” also noting how it “involves promoting and selling a product to a customer and is the intermediary function between product development and increasing brand awareness.” 
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By contrast, a GTM strategy is a shorter-term, more tactical activity—a go-to-market strategy for a new product or service offering, for example. In certain cases, there may be one or multiple GTM strategies embedded within an organization’s product marketing framework and objectives. 

For smaller or less-established organizations, GTM and product marketing strategies may actually be one in the same. In these instances, the GTM strategy drives brand awareness and lead generation (rather than the introduction of a specific new product or service).

While every GTM strategy should be unique to the company, product or service, and target market, there are certain components that virtually every successful go-to-market plan has. According to the Product Marketing Alliance, the 5 most essential GTM strategy elements include:
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As you can imagine, developing a successful GTM strategy in the modern business world requires, at a minimum, effective collaboration, actionable data, and powerful technology. While the idea of GTM strategy has been around for awhile, today’s solutions are increasingly versatile. 
The truth is, putting together a successful GTM strategy doesn’t have to be overly complicated—provided you’re leveraging the right tools for the job.
At Aptivio, we know that one of the most difficult aspects of developing an effective GTM strategy is amassing the right tools and data. As we’ve discussed, the success of GTM strategies often depends on how well the product/service offering and related messaging align with the target market and audience. 
While there are unique solutions for each aspect of the GTM process, getting those tools to work together can be maddening. What’s been missing is a comprehensive and unified platform to power GTM initiatives. The Aptivio platform brings together capabilities like network selling and buyer intent signals in a way that is poised to disrupt the sales landscape as we know it.
With Aptivio, you can leverage actionable GTM intelligence—and even automate certain parts of the process. You can learn more about the platform by visiting our website.

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 example should consist of 5 key components or actions:
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Once those components are accounted for, the strategy itself can begin to take shape—including the specific GTM strategy or strategies you’ll leverage for best results. While each works toward the broad objective of GTM, there are at least 7 different subtypes of GTM strategy to consider, which we’ll explore next.

The 7 main go-to-market strategies you should know include the following:‍

It’s important to note that every GTM strategy is going to be unique. Typically, though, the most successful companies are those that leverage multiple strategies as part of a coordinated GTM approach. A comprehensive and intuitive platform like Aptivio makes it easy to develop and set your strategy or strategies, execute them, and monitor their progress. But what does this all look like in practice? Next, let’s explore an example of a go-to-market success story powered by Aptivio.

To read more about how companies have leveraged Aptivio’s platform to develop and succeed with their GTM strategies, consider reading some of the case studies on our website. With each, you can learn more about how each customer identified—and overcame—their initial challenges, developed effective strategies for reaching and converting customers, and the results they achieved.

For example, you can learn about how Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, was looking to accelerate sales. When Capgemini began considering using Aptivio’s platform, they had an idea of what their customers were looking for. It was a solution that could:

In addition to providing those desired features and functions, Capgemini envisioned going a step further, with the ultimate objective of not only building a custom sales intelligence tool but sourcing its data themselves. They evaluated their competitors’ offerings and developed an idea of how they could disrupt the market with something innovative and new. Ultimately, what Capgemini needed was exactly what Aptivio offers:

The results? Capgemini’s new product—and the go-to-market strategy that would introduce it to their prospects and customers—was a success.

You can read Capgemini's full case study to learn more about how they were able to achieve positive GTM results using the collection of tools within the Aptivio platform.

While there are several different ways to go about organizing and developing a go-to-market plan, following a general go-to-market framework is a great way to get started. Here’s an step-by-step go-to-market strategy framework you can use to develop a plan with a high chance of success:

Step 1: Define What Your Ideal Buyer Persona Looks Like
It’s best to tailor your approach to different customer segments within your market. Several different factors that impact what customers are looking for, as well as how they prefer to be engaged with. The more in-tune you are with your ideal buyer persona, the easier it will be to develop successful GTM strategies. When developing your buyer personas, you can consider factors like education, income, interests, objectives, and spending habits—and tailor your messaging accordingly.

Step 2: Fine-Tune Your Branding and Messaging
At the center of virtually every marketing campaign or GTM initiative, there must be a concise and compelling brand identity. While GTM strategies should be tailored to the product or service they are launching, there should still be a connection with the core brand itself. By monitoring the success of your GTM strategies, you can continue to refine your approach over time, uncovering new opportunities—and even better results.

Step 3: Determine the Best Marketing Channels to Use
For a successful GTM, you don’t necessarily need to reach every customer with every message. In fact, doing so could actually compromise a GTM strategy by making the new product or service seem just like everything else they’ve heard before. Not only that, but you also risk wasting time and energy on duplicative or unnecessary efforts. For best results, think deeply about the buyer persona(s) you’re targeting and the channels they prefer to use, and develop your GTM strategy accordingly. 

Step 4: Consider Your Pricing and Payment Models
Even the best GTM strategy is going to fail if you haven’t given sufficient thought to pricing and payment models. Use the information at your disposal—including how you’ve previously structured pricing—to ensure that you’re not going to have customers balk at the price and back out in the final stages of a deal. When setting pricing, make sure to think about not only fixed costs, but variable costs, as well—and, of course, the underlying profit margin.

Step 5: Develop Effective Sales Strategies
Depending on the buyer persona(s) you’re targeting, tailor your sales strategies accordingly. For example, direct-to-consumer sales have different priorities than traditional inbound or outbound sales. By identifying the right sales strategies early on, you can make effective and informed decisions as you generate—and execute—your GTM sales strategies.

Step 6: Decide What Constitutes Success
You’ll need to figure out which metric or metrics will define success, and then you’ll need to commit yourself to tracking them. Earlier in this article, we introduced some of the key metrics to consider—Customer Acquisition Cost, Customer Lifetime Value, Monthly/Annual Recurring Revenue, Return on Ad Spend, Churn Rates, and Organic Search Traffic. With metrics like these in mind, it’s best to set both short- and long-term goals, so that you can adjust or expand your GTM strategy on the fly as needed.

Step 7: Produce Compelling Content
Creating and promoting highly informative and engaging content can help grow an audience and increase the chances of succeeding with your GTM strategy. Don’t waste the time of your customers or prospects, though—make sure everything you produce provides compelling value while nudging your audience toward learning more or even making a purchase. As you develop content, use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to ensure that what you’re producing aligns well with what your target market/audience is looking for. Over time, you can monitor how that content performs, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

When it comes down to who “owns” go-to-market strategy development within an organization, it depends on several factors, including company size and the complexity of the product or service at the heart of the initiative. 

When it comes to who is responsible for developing a go-to-market strategy, there are potentially several roles involved. According to the Product Marketing Alliance, it’s typically product marketers who own the go-to-market process in most cases, “since it depends heavily on cross-functional management, extensive knowledge of the product, and analysis of the market.” That being said, many larger companies opt to assemble a dedicated go-to-market team to oversee and coordinate one or multiple GTM plans.

Again, it depends on the size of the company more than anything else. However…

There are often two key actions that occur at this phase of the GTM process: creating a go-to-market template that documents the strategy and its objectives, and designing a compelling presentation for stakeholders.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. There are plenty of resources and templates available that you can use to give structure to your GTM strategy development process. For example, you can browse and download free Smartsheet templates in a range of formats including Word, PDF, and Google Docs. Using these templates can help to ensure that your strategy is complete and well-organized, consisting of many distinct sections:

Once you have a GTM strategy ready to roll, the next step is to present your strategy to generate buy-in from stakeholders. While you can certainly submit your plan as a document, it’s often best to present your plan in person. That way, you can engage and connect with them, answer their questions, and make sure everyone’s on the same page. 

As is the case with GTM strategy templates, you can also find presentation templates online. For example, beautiful.ai, Pitch, and PandaDoc each have go-to-market presentation templates available for download, which means you can hit the ground running.

The importance of an effective go-to-market strategy is difficult to overstate—and the same is true for the role of data and technology in its development and implementation. In other words, creating a cutting-edge B2B go-to-market strategy requires cutting-edge data and insights. That’s because data is (or should be) at the heart of the strategy. Whether you need to perform simple market research, better understand customers’ nuanced buying signals and intent, or both, Aptivio will make your life easier. By using our single, comprehensive platform, you can ensure that your GTM strategy has its greatest odds of success—and that success is inevitable.