Make your go-to-market plan tactical
The strategy you pursue should include a go-to-market plan or GTM plan, which details how you will implement your strategy and extend your reach. The more details you provide, the easier it will be to meet objectives. The type of information you want to include in your GTM plan includes the following:
- Product or service information – features, benefits, roadmap, life cycle elements (beginning, incremental improvements, technology leap, end of life), competitor offerings, and insights
- Target customer profile(s) – lifestyle factors, demographics, business or consumer, environmental factors, purchasing habits, and product preferences
- Market information – size, demographics, purchasing power, region targeted, growth trends, and market trends
- Promotion or outreach programs:
- Goals – to educate, build awareness, increase sales, or improve loyalty
- Methods or vehicles used for reaching prospects – website, advertising, direct mail, email, events, social media – and setting objectives for each one
- Internal support required for outreach
- Sales tools for internal and external audiences (collateral, product demos, customer success stories, etc.)
- Telemarketers – a call script plus a list of prospects to call with enough background information to make the call worthwhile
- Marketing – defines buyer persona, buyer journey and traits exhibited, branding to be used, and product/service use cases
- Sales – training needs identified and met; able to obtain leads and close deals
- Accounting/billing processes need to be defined
- Production/operations
- Customer and/or technical support
- Legal review
- External support required (designers, printers, technology, etc.) depending upon in-house capabilities
- Time line associated with developing and rolling out all deliverables and supporting activities
- Program tracking and processes to ensure all leads are appropriately pursued or nurtured
- Customer support and follow-up program
- Budget available
- Internal communications regarding GTM status
- Customer messaging to be used:
- Where is the customer or prospect in the buying cycle?
- What type of information will they seek (collateral, product demo, or other)?
- What will motivate your prospect to buy, learn more, or share your information with others?
- How will you contact them? (Examples: a sales call, a telemarketer, email or direct mail piece, billboard, social media posting, house party or another event)
- When is the optimal time to reach them – whether it’s a specific time of day, a holiday, or season?
- What’s the next step with the contact or your call-to-action?
- Will focus group or other testing of the messaging be necessary?
- Price – method or strategy to be used (cost based, market based, etc.), retail and channel pricing, special discounts, complementary offers/incentives, special financing or buying terms offered, projected revenue, costs, and return on investment based on percentage likely to buy
- Place – locations where the offering will be sold
- Product delivery via the web (and device), in brick & mortar stores, catalogs, home parties, etc.
- Partners – strategic alliances and channel partners who will help you sell, and any marketing or product delivery support required
- Special product placement such as a point-of-sale display, delivery, or logistics necessary to complete sale
- Operations – special infrastructure support needs, product/service updates required, and disaster recovery
- Success metrics and benchmarks
Tips!
- To develop compelling messaging that resonates with prospects, review your customer profile and evaluate purchasing habits and product preferences.
- Look at your competitive analysis to find opportunities where competitors are weak and you have an advantage.
- Consider external or environmental factors that may support or motivate your customer to purchase your offering.
- Use an integrated marketing approach to help improve recall and the probability of taking action.
Sounds easy, right? Don’t worry. Your strategy will be shaped over time, but your go-to-market plan should include as many details as possible within the next 1 – 2 years to help your organization implement your vision.
Discover more…
- Brey, Janet. “Growth Insights for CEOs.” Chief Outsiders. Last modified September 28, 2016. https://www.chiefoutsiders.com/blog/go-to-market-plan-template.
- Davis, Julie. “Future-Proof Your Business In The Wake Of A Natural Disaster.” American Express Company. Last modified August 31, 2017. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/future-proof-business-wake-natural-disaster/.
- Fechter, Josh. “7 Go-To-Marketing (GTM) Strategy Examples to Inspire Yours [In 2020]. The Product Company. Last modified February 27, 2020. https://theproductcompany.com/gtm-strategy-examples/.
- Kapoor, Hanisha. “Top 40 Go-to-Market Strategy PowerPoint Templates.” SlideTeam. Last modified January 10, 2020. https://www.slideteam.net/blog/top-40-go-to-market-strategy-powerpoint-templates-for-the-perfect-product-launch.
- Llewellyn, Gavin. “The Key Characteristics of an Effective Go-to-Market Plan.” Smart Insights (Marketing Intelligence) Ltd. Last modified March 25, 2022. https://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-strategy/key-characteristics-effective-go-to-market-plan/.
- Minkara, Omer. “Multi-Channel vs Omni-Channel Customer Experience.” Business 2 Community. Last modified July 20, 2014. http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/multi-channel-vs-omni-channel-customer-experience-0948475.
- O’Connor, Casey. “Go-To-Market Strategy: Process, Framework, Examples.” Yesware, Inc. (blog). Last modified October 26, 2022. https://www.yesware.com/blog/go-to-market-strategy/.
- “Step-By-Step Guide to Creating a Viable Go to Market Strategy.” SlideModel.com. Last modified March 28, 2019. https://slidemodel.com/guide-creating-a-go-to-market-strategy/.
- Vrountas, Ted. “How to Plan and Create the Perfect Omni-Channel Marketing Strategy.” Instapage, Inc. Last modified August 28, 2017. https://instapage.com/blog/what-is-omni-channel-marketing.
- Woschnick, Vicki. “Top 10 Most Effective Marketing Strategies.” Weidert Group. Last modified June 25, 2020. https://www.weidert.com/blog/top-10-most-effective-marketing-strategies.
