go to market strategies

Bullitt proof go to market strategies

A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is a step-by-step plan designed to bring a new product to market and drive demand. It helps identify a target audience, outline marketing and sales strategies, and align key stakeholders. While each product and market will be different, a well-crafted GTM strategy should identify a market problem and position the product as a solution.

Your go-to-market strategy should be a handy roadmap that measures the viability of a solution’s success and predicts its performance based on market research, prior examples, and competitive data. Ultimately, you want to create a plan that sets the product apart from the competition and generates leads and customer retention.

It’s also worth noting that go-to-market strategies aren’t exclusive to physical products. You can create a GTM plan for a new service, a new branch of your company, or even an entirely new business.

As you develop a new product or service, it’s vital to start drawing a go-to-market strategy that’s customized to fit your budget and your buyer persona. Although it takes a great amount of effort, time, money and resources, a well-planned go-to-market strategy can significantly benefit your project.

Create Alignment

Alignment is essential when preparing to launch a new product or service. Whether you’re a product designer or a social media coordinator, everyone needs to be on the same page.

Go-to-market strategies help maintain alignment throughout the whole product lifecycle because they include roadmaps and planning documents that keep the team informed on who will be handling which tasks. They can also help you establish deadlines so your team stays on schedule. Without alignment, things can get unorganized pretty quickly. This can lead to miscommunication, missed deadlines, and errors that can cause your project to flop.

Establish Product-Market Fit

Creating a go-to-market plan can prevent many of the mistakes and oversights that can tank new product launches. Poor product-market fit can dampen a launch — even if the product is well-designed and innovative.

Iron out the wrinkles

While a go-to-market strategy isn’t guaranteed to prevent failure, it can help you manage expectations and iron out any wrinkles before you invest in bringing a product to market. The process of creating a go-to-market strategy allows you to discover gaps in the market, which can help you hone down your product’s niche and better alleviate your buyer persona’s pain points.