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Build a More Effective Go-to-Market Strategy

Maximize Go-to-Market success through deeper market and buyer understanding, competitive differentiation, and launch team readiness that delivers target revenues.

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Thought Model: Build a More Effective Go-to-Market Strategy

Member Challenge

  • A weak or poorly defined Go-to-Market strategy is often the root cause of slow product revenue growth or missed product revenue targets.
  • Many agile-driven product teams rush to release, skipping key GTM steps leaving Sales and Marketing misaligned and not ready to fully monetize precious product investments.
  • Guessing at buyer persona and journey or competitive SWOT analyses – two key deliverables of an effective GTM strategy – cause poor marketing and sales outcomes.
  • Without the sales and product-aligned business case for launch called for in a successful GTM strategy, companies see low buyer adoption, wasted sales and marketing investments, and a failure to claim product and launch campaign success.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Having an updated and compelling Go-to-Market strategy is a critical capability – as important as financial strategy, sales operations, and even corporate business development, given its huge impact on the many drivers of sustainable growth.
  • Establishing alignment through the GTM process builds long-term operational strength.
  • With a sound GTM strategy, marketers give themselves a 50% greater chance of product launch success.

Impact and Result

  • Align stakeholders on a common vision and execution plan prior to the Build and Launch phases.
  • Build a foundation of buyer and competitive understanding to drive a successful product hypothesis, then validate with buyers.
  • Deliver a team-aligned launch plan that enables launch readiness and outlines commercial success.

Research & Tools

Build Your Go-to-Market Strategy

Use this storyboard and its deliverables to build a baseline market, understand your buyer, and gain competitive insights. It will also help you design your initial product and business case, and align stakeholder plans to prep for build.

Name Actions
Build a More Effective Go-to-Market Strategy – Phases 1-3
Go-to-Market Strategy Presentation Template
Go-to-Market Strategy RACI and Launch Checklist Workbook
Product Market Opportunity Sizing Workbook
Go-to-Market Strategy Cost Budget and Revenue Forecast Workbook
Build a More Effective Go-to-Market Strategy – Executive Brief

Onsite Workshop: Build a More Effective Go-to-Market Strategy

Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Do-It-Yourself Implementation

The slides in this Best Practice Blueprint will walk you step-by-step through every phase of your project with supporting tools and templates ready for you to use.

Project Accelerator Workshop

You can also use this Best Practice Blueprint to facilitate your own project accelerator workshop within your organization using the workshop slides and facilitation instructions provided in the Appendix.

Module 1: Align on GTM Vision & Plan, Craft Initial Strategy

The Purpose

Align on GTM vision and plan; craft initial strategy.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Confidence that market opportunity is sufficient.
  • Deeper buyer understanding to drive product design and messaging and launch campaign asset design.
  • Steering committee approval for next phase.

Activities Outputs
1.1 Outline a vision for GTM, roles required, identify Steering Committee lead, workstream leads, and teams.
  • Documented Steering Committee and Working team.
1.2 Capture GTM strategy hypothesis by working through initial draft of the Go-to-Market Strategy Presentation and business case.
  • Aligned on GTM vision and process.
1.3 Capture team knowledge on buyer persona and journey and competitive SWOT.
  • Documented buyer persona and journey. Competitive SWOT analysis.
1.4 Identify info./data gaps, sources, and plan for capturing/gathering including buyer interviews.
  • Document team knowledge on initial GTM strategy, buyer personas, and business case.

Module 2: Identify Initial Business Case, Sales Forecast, and Launch Plan

The Purpose

Identify Initial Business Case, Sales Forecast, and Launch Plan.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Confidence in size of market opportunity.
  • Alignment of Sales and Product on product forecast.
  • Assessment of marketing tech stack.
  • Initial business case.

Activities Outputs
2.1 Size Product Market Opportunity and initial revenue forecast.
  • Product Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM) and Total Available Market (TAM).
2.2 Craft initial product hypothesis from buyer interviews including feature priorities, pricing, packaging, competitive differentiation, channel/route to market.
  • Definition of product-market fit, uniqueness, and competitive differentiation.
2.3 Craft initial launch campaign, product release and sales and CX readiness plans.
  • Preliminary campaign, targets, and readiness plans.
2.4 Identify launch budgets across each investment area.
  • Incremental budgets for each key stakeholder area.
2.5 Discuss initial product launch business case and key activities.
  • Preliminary product launch business case.

Module 3: Develop Launch Plans (I of II)

The Purpose

Develop final Launch plans and budgets in product and marketing.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Align Product release/launch plans with the marketing campaign for launch.
  • Understand incremental budgets from product and marketing for launch.

Activities Outputs
3.1 Apply product interviews to scope, MVP, roadmap, competitive differentiation, pricing, feature prioritization, routes to market, and sales forecast.
  • Minimally Viable Product defined with feature prioritization. Product competitive differentiation documented Routes to market identified Sales forecast aligned with product team expectations.
3.2 Develop a more detailed launch campaign plan complete with asset-types, messaging, digital plan to support buyer journey, media buy plan and campaign metrics.
  • Marketing campaign launch plan Content marketing asset-creation/acquisition plan Campaign targets and metrics.

Module 4: Develop Launch Plans (II of II)

The Purpose

Develop final Launch Plans and budgets for remaining areas.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Align Product release/launch plans with the marketing campaign for launch.
  • Understand incremental budgets from Product and Marketing for launch.

Activities Outputs
4.1 Develop detailed launch/readiness plans with final budgets for: Sales enablement , Sales training, Tech stack, Customer onboarding & success, Product marketing, AR, PR, Corp Comms/Internal Comms, Customer Events, Employee Events, etc.
  • Detailed launch plans, budgets for Product Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and AR/PR/Corp. Comms.

Module 5: Present Final Business Case

The Purpose

To gain approval to move to Build and Launch phases.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Align business case with Steering Committee expectations
  • Approvals to Build and Launch targeted offering

Activities Outputs
5.1 Review final launch/readiness plans with final budgets for all key areas.
  • Combined budgets across all areas. Final launch/readiness plans.
5.2 Move all key findings into Steering Committee presentation slides.
  • Final Steering Committee-facing slides.
5.3 Present to Steering Committee; receive feedback.
5.4 Incorporate Steering Committee feedback; update finial business case.
  • Final approvals for Build and Launch.
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