Aligning and effectively communicating a go-to-market (GTM) strategy can be challenging for product leaders, especially when dealing with long-form versions. The key challenges include:
- Information overload from complex, overwhelming content.
- Lack of clarity due to excessive detail in long-form strategies.
- Difficulty fostering enthusiasm and collaboration among stakeholders.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
Despite the communication and comprehension advantages of a short format over a long one, product leaders may encounter some of the following hurdles when trying to execute a GTM strategy:
- Perceived lack of detail.
- Fear of oversimplification.
- Lack of clarity and understanding.
- Ambiguous roles and responsibilities.
- Resistance to change.
- Uncertain stakeholder buy-in.
Impact and Result
Executing an effective GTM strategy can significantly boost a company's market penetration and revenue growth. It aligns product offerings with market needs, ensuring targeted customer segments are reached efficiently and leading to higher customer acquisition rates and enhanced competitive advantage.
Go-to-Market
Strategy-on-a-Page
A quick reference guide to communicate clearly and effectively.
Analyst Perspective
Go-to-Market Strategy on a Page (SoaP)
Nathalie VezinaMarketing Research Director Info-Tech Research Group |
Product managers often encounter a myriad of challenges when developing their go-to-market (GTM) strategies. The challenges include avoiding information overload, fostering alignment across cross-functional teams, navigating market intricacies, addressing unclear prioritization, overcoming communication inefficiencies, ensuring customer needs are met, and establishing product differentiation. Overcoming these obstacles requires a strategic approach that a well-constructed GTM strategy on a page can provide. The GTM SoaP acts as a focused and visual tool, offering solutions to these challenges by distilling complex information, fostering alignment, simplifying market complexities, aiding in prioritization, enhancing communication, and guiding the strategic differentiation of products in the market. |
Executive summary
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Obstacles |
Info-Tech’s Approach |
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Developing and executing a successful GTM strategy can be challenging for product leaders, who can encounter problems when trying to implement a long-form strategy, such as:
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Despite the communication and comprehension advantages of a short format over a long one, product leaders may encounter some of the following hurdles when trying to execute a GTM strategy:
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Info-Tech provides a clear and concise GTM strategy development process that streamlines efforts, improves communication, and enables successful market entry. The benefits of this approach include:
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“The two most fundamental strategic choices are deciding where to play and how to win.”
– Roger Martin, 2010
Avoid overwhelming GTM strategies
The complexity and length of traditional GTM strategies can pose significant challenges for team members, stakeholders, and decision-makers. This complexity often results in:
- Lack of clarity
- Stakeholder misalignment
- Communication gaps
- Limited cross-functional collaboration
- Difficulties prioritizing
- Information overload
To address these root causes, a winning approach exists. The key is to reduce the information overload sent to different players, promote clarity and enthusiasm among those directly or indirectly involved in the execution of the strategy, and foster effective cross-functional collaboration by adopting a clear and concise GTM strategy.
A strategy is not a plan!
Strategy vs. plan – what’s the difference?
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Strategy The strategy is the guiding principle, the "why" behind actions. It sets the direction and provides a framework for decision-making. A strategy is like deciding the destination for a road trip based on broader goals and considerations, similar to a business deciding overarching objectives. |
Plan The plan is the “how” – the detailed steps that operationalize the strategy. It provides the actionable elements to achieve the strategic goals. The plan in the road trip analogy comes after the destination is chosen. It outlines specific routes, stops, and activities – a step-by-step guide enabling the broader strategic goal. |
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This blueprint focuses on crafting an effective GTM strategy, communicating it clearly, and fostering stakeholders’ alignment. |
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Ask the right questions |
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Accomplish more with less
In contrast to cumbersome, exhaustive documents, a concise one-pager distills the essence of the market approach into a streamlined, focused format.
This approach enhances clarity, enabling stakeholders to quickly grasp the key elements of the strategy without getting bogged down in excessive detail.
The simplicity of a one-pager promotes efficiency and facilitates quicker decision-making. Its brevity encourages a more accessible and digestible understanding of the GTM strategy, fostering alignment among team members and stakeholders.
Get everyone on the same page
The importance of a concise GTM strategy
A GTM strategy is essential for synchronizing team efforts, judiciously using resources, and effectively reaching target customers to elevate the chances of market success.
The GTM SoaP takes this further, fostering a collective grasp of the business approach, ensuring value proposition clarity, and guiding uniform GTM execution. It's a strategy that fine-tunes actions for better outcomes, such as:
- Team alignment across various functions.
- Strategic use of budgets and personnel.
- Precision in identifying and engaging customer segments.
- Customized messaging for distinct market segments.
- A boost in the likelihood of a product's market takeoff.
In essence, a well-designed GTM strategy is the glue that binds all contributors in a product's journey, providing a clear roadmap that facilitates efficiency and reduces missteps.
Achieve revenue target with a clear GTM strategy
Embrace a GTM SoaP to align stakeholders, streamline communication, and enhance the likelihood of achieving your financial goals. Turn your strategy into a competitive advantage.
GTM Strategy
Over 60% of companies develop a GTM strategy (Product Marketing Alliance, 2022).
Systematic Approach
Yet merely a third apply a systematic approach to it (Product Marketing Alliance, 2022).
Revenue Target
Companies with a well-documented GTM strategy are 33% more likely to achieve their revenue targets (Aberdeen Group, as cited in Mario Peshev, 2024).
Key elements of an effective GTM strategy
Done well, the key elements of a solid GTM strategy should fit into one double-sided page, with all elements being useful and interconnected. The one-pager should condense these elements into a coherent strategy that encapsulates the essence of your approach to the market.
Those key elements are:
- Identify ideal customer segments and specify the target market.
- Determine effective channels for reaching and distributing the product.
- Articulate a clear and unique value proposition for the product.
- Craft compelling, consistent messaging that resonates with the target audience.
- Align product positioning and pricing with market expectations.
- Develop both launch and post-launch strategies, as well as marketing and sales strategies.
- Address considerations, assumptions, and risks associated with the GTM plan.
- Document, communicate, and align the strategy with key stakeholders to ensure cohesive execution.
“In the second half of 2023, 75% of companies surveyed realized the need to shift their strategy towards efficient growth, requiring more leadership efforts to align teams, fix GTM issues, and retool their businesses.”
– GTM Partners, 2024
Three phases to a winning GTM strategy
You’re only three phases away from building and communicating an effective GTM strategy that will position your product for success in the marketplace. Adhering to these steps will equip you with a succinct and powerful roadmap that empowers your team to implement the strategy effectively and achieve measurable success.
Phase 1
Define Business Goals
Phase 2
Analyze Product-to-Market Opportunity
Phase 3
Document, Align, and Communicate
Step 1 – Define Business Goals
Document business goals guiding your GTM strateg
Before launching a new product or service, it is essential to document the business goals that will guide your go-to-market strategy. This ensures a proper alignment between the strategic objectives and the launch plan.
Product-to-Market Opportunity Analysis, Slide 4
Nathalie Vezina
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