The secret behind any successful product is a good go-to-market strategy. Without this crucial plan in place, organizations may fail to reach their desired audiences—and lose out on valuable revenue. But what _is_ go to market strategy in business? A go-to-market (often abbreviated as GTM) strategy is a plan of action that describes how a company will sell its products or services to customers.
This plan covers everything from the identification of the target market to the channels used to reach customers. It also includes the tactics and actions required to achieve sales and revenue goals. A GTM strategy’s ultimate aim is to detail the steps and processes that will enable a company to get its products or services from conception to the customer.
A go-to-market strategy is often confused with a go-to-market sales strategy, but there are some key differences between the two to be aware of. A sales go-to-market strategy specifically zeroes in on the tactics a sales team will utilize to approach and convince potential customers. This might involve sales processes, training, methodologies, and tools.
By contrast, a general GTM strategy encompasses everything required to bring a product or service to the market. It includes marketing, sales, distribution, pricing, and more, and is thus a more overarching plan than a sales-led go-to-market strategy, where the sales team is the driving force behind things.
Here’s why it’s so important to have a solid go-to-market strategy:
- Clear Direction and Focus: Without a well-defined GTM strategy, businesses run the risk of misallocating resources or targeting the wrong audience. An effective GTM provides a roadmap, ensuring that everyone, from product developers to marketers to salespeople, understands their role.
- Competitive Advantage: In today’s world, simply having a good product isn’t enough. A strong GTM strategy allows businesses to differentiate themselves, pinpointing unique selling points and tailoring their approach to appeal to specific customer segments.
- Customer Alignment: By understanding and segmenting the target market, businesses can tailor their offerings and sales tactics to resonate with potential customers.
- Faster Time to Market: With a clear strategy in place, businesses can streamline processes, reduce redundancies, and launch products on or ahead of schedule.
Who Should My Sales GTM Strategy Target?
So, who should my sales GTM strategy target? This is one of the first questions to consider when devising a go-to-market approach. To determine your target audience, draw up an ideal customer profile, or ICP, which paints a clear picture of the company or individual who derives the most value from your product.
This is the customer who will not only make a purchase but potentially become a long-term, loyal client. Customer profiles encapsulate firmographic attributes for businesses and dive deep into the psychographic traits, habits, and aspirations of potential clients. Creating an ICP is much more than an exercise in speculation—it requires extensive research and data analysis.
With a well-defined ICP, businesses can tailor their offerings and messaging to resonate more profoundly with potential clients. Researched profiles also keep sales and marketing teams aligned and prevent them from wasting time chasing leads that are unlikely to convert.
A targeted account is a more laser-focused approach wherein businesses identify specific companies or individuals that perfectly fit their ICP. If the ICP gives you a broader view of your ideal customer, targeted accounts are those real-world entities that align with this ideal.
For instance, while an ICP might outline the type of businesses that can benefit from a B2B company’s software, the targeted account strategy will pinpoint actual businesses they should approach. This granularity allows sales teams to prepare highly personalized pitches and solutions, thereby increasing the odds of a successful sale.
Another dynamic angle to consider when creating a GTM is intent-based targeting in marketing or recognizing and targeting entities that are actively looking for a solution you provide. It’s also important to understand the various customer segments that may exist within your audience and how nuances in purchasing behavior, demographics, and interests impact sales potential.
How Do I Show Value To My Audience?
Countless businesses and products are vying for customers’ attention. With the rise of the internet and online shopping, it has become especially difficult for organizations to stand out from the crowd. So, how do I show value to my audience? Crafting a compelling value proposition requires thoroughly examining what sets your offering apart.
First, outline your product or service. Before you can communicate value to someone else, you need to understand it yourself. What problem does your product solve, and how does it do it better or differently than other solutions on the market? Get specific with these details, as they form the backbone of your value proposition.
Once you have a grasp on your product’s intrinsic value, it’s time to focus on revenue intelligence. Revenue intelligence is the process of gathering and analyzing data about customer interactions, sales activities, and market trends to drive revenue growth. This intelligence can illuminate areas where your product shines and where it might resonate most with potential customers.
Every product or service has a unique path from conception to the customer. The go-to-market model you adopt will heavily influence your value proposition. A direct-to-consumer brand might emphasize the cost savings that come from cutting out middlemen, whereas a brand relying on retail partnerships might tout the widespread availability of its products.
Because personalization and relevance are so paramount in today’s marketing landscape, embracing an account-based experience can be pivotal. This approach involves tailoring interactions and experiences to specific accounts or segments. It’s an evolution of traditional account-based marketing, blending sales, marketing, and customer service to provide a holistic experience for each account.
How Do I Reach And Engage With My Audience?
Even the most well-designed GTM can fall flat on its face if you fail to grab the attention of your target audience, and so you may wonder: how _do_ I reach and engage with my audience? While it’s often easier said than done, there are a myriad of ways that businesses can achieve high levels of engagement.
First, they can leverage content marketing. This strategy emphasizes creating and distributing relevant content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, eventually driving profitable customer action. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are providing truly useful content to your prospects and customers to help them solve their issues.
By producing content that resonates with their audiences, businesses can establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective industries. This strategy has a twofold benefit: increasing brand visibility and building trust amongst potential clients. For example, a company can create detailed eBooks that address FAQs, showcasing their expertise.
It’s also worth exploring digital marketing channels. Be active on platforms where your audience spends their time, whether it be social media sites or other online forums. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow brands to interact with their audience in real-time. Engaging posts can foster genuine connections between the business and its audience.
Sales enablement content should be another element of your GTM plan. This refers to content specifically designed to assist the sales team in closing deals. By equipping sales representatives with detailed product information, objection handling procedures, and compelling storytelling narratives, businesses can ensure their frontline staff is best prepared to convert potential clients.
Likewise, account-based marketing personalization offers a strategic approach that treats individual accounts as a market of one. Instead of marketing to a broad audience, businesses can tailor their messaging and campaigns to specific high-value accounts.
How Do I Measure The Success Of My Sales GTM Strategy?
How do I measure the success of my sales GTM strategy? First, be sure to regularly track metrics. Trying to market a product without this critical data is like navigating a stormy sea without a compass—you’re unsure which direction leads to success and what leads to failure.
Metrics provide quantifiable information that reflects outcomes. For example, in ROI marketing, which examines the return on investment in marketing campaigns, businesses can clearly discern whether a particular campaign brought in more revenue than the cost of running it. Positive metrics are a clear indicator that the marketing strategy was successful.
When looking at account-based marketing goals, you might focus on metrics like account engagement levels, pipeline creation, and progression rates. Here, the emphasis shifts from a broad audience to specific high-value accounts. Are these targeted accounts engaging with the content? How many are moving down the sales funnel, and at what speed?
Then, there are sales KPIs or key performance indicators. They help businesses gauge the performance of their sales teams and strategies. A good example of a sales KPI is lead conversion rate. This can tell you what percentage of your audience is actually converting, and you can tailor your future efforts accordingly.
But metrics are virtually useless without benchmarks, which provide critical context to numbers and allow businesses to gauge where they stand. If a company’s lead conversion rate is 15%, but the industry benchmark is 20%, there’s clear room for improvement.
Terminus offers valuable tools for GTM teams that allow them to metrics and measure their success against proven benchmarks. With Terminus, you can more easily meet buyers where they are and get your messaging into the right channels. This is key to building ICPs and demonstrating product value.
