Go to Market Strategy in Product Management

Go to Market Strategy is a complete plan that defines your aimed product launch strategy. Every time you introduce a new product into an already-existing market, expand into a new market with an already-existing product, or introduce a new product into a previously unfulfilled market, you need to have a go-to-market strategy. A go-to-market plan helps you save money, shortens the time it takes for your product to reach the market, and gives all team members direction.

Go to Market Strategy

What is a Product go to market strategy (GTM)?

go to market strategy

A go to market strategy in Product management serves as a comprehensive roadmap for companies aiming to successfully launch and sell their products or services. The value proposition, a key element, must be articulated, outlining the unique benefits that the offering provides to address customer needs or challenges. A strong go to market strategy will detail the competitive positioning, ideal customer profile, distribution channels, promotional tactics, and sales enablement practices that will be used to not only commercialize the product but also accelerate its adoption in the marketplace. Remember, poor product-market fit and oversaturation can hinder a new product launch — even if the product is well-designed and innovative, so be sure to take this into account when putting together your go to market plan.

The Importance of a Go to Market Strategy:

Product go to market strategies also help you reduce your product’s time to market. It achieves this by helping you prioritize tasks relevant to market entry, better position your product and its messaging, and define your sales and distribution channels. A concrete go to market strategy even helps you reduce costs. It identifies optimal promotion channels and highlights indexes like your customer acquisition cost, which help you make better-informed decisions. The result is a clear sense of direction for all teams. With everything from your content marketing strategy to your pricing strategy, value proposition, and sales process clearly defined, your product enjoys a clear path for growth.

When do you need a Go to Market strategy plan?

1. New Product Launch: When introducing a new product to the market, a go to market plan helps outline the strategy for creating awareness, generating interest, and driving adoption among the target audience.
2. Product Expansion or Diversification: If a company is expanding its product line or entering new markets, a go to market plan is necessary to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities associated with these changes.
3. Market Re-entry or Relaunch: In cases where a product is being reintroduced or relaunched, a go to market plan is important to address any previous challenges, reposition the product, and regain market share.
4. Merger or Acquisition: When a company undergoes a merger or acquisition, a go to market plan is crucial to align and integrate the products, messaging, and market strategies of the combined entities.
5. Strategic Partnerships: In scenarios where a company forms strategic partnerships or alliances, a go to market plan helps coordinate efforts between the partners and create a unified approach for market entry.
6. Sales Channel Expansion: If there’s a plan to expand sales channels, such as moving from direct sales to channel sales or entering e-commerce, a go to market plan provides guidance on the transition and associated marketing strategies.
7. Product Repositioning: When a product needs to be repositioned in the market due to changing customer needs or evolving trends, a go to market plan helps redefine the product’s value proposition and target audience.
8. Scaling Operations: If a company is scaling operations, whether regionally or globally, a go to market plan is crucial to address cultural differences, regulatory requirements, and market nuances in each new location.

Go to Market strategy plan

What are the main components of a B2B Go to Market strategy?

Main Components of a Go to Market strategy

1. Objective: What are your business/marketing objectives? Perhaps you want to create more awareness for your brand, generate leads, maximize your market share, or protect your existing market share. Be sure to track the success of your objectives using OKRs.
2. Unique Value Proposition: Your value proposition highlights your brand’s competitive advantage over any other product or service. It reveals the value customers receive for the money paid.
3. Pricing Strategy: How much will you sell your product to your target market? Will you adopt a user-based, subscription-based, flat-rate, tiered, or freemium pricing model? Note that your pricing will influence the buyer’s perception of your product.
4. Marketing and Sales Channels: How would you reach potential customers? Seek channels where your target customers are most likely to be found and determine how best to approach them.
5. Distribution Channels: How will you distribute your product or service to your customers?

Product Go To Market strategy vs Marketing Strategy vs Product Strategy:

Go to Market Strategy	Marketing Strategy	Product Strategy
A plan outlining how a company will bring its product to market and reach its target audience. It involves distribution channels, pricing, and positioning.	A marketing strategy usually comprises customers’ demographic data, brand message, core values of your company, and some other important elements.	The long-term plan detailing how a product will evolve and stay competitive, considering features, technology, and user experience.
Primarily concerned with the entire process of launching a product, from development to market entry.	Concentrates on creating awareness, interest, and desire for a product among the target audience.	Centers around developing and enhancing the product to meet market demands and stay ahead of the competition.
Includes product positioning, pricing, distribution channels, sales strategy, and customer support.	Involves elements like advertising, public relations, social media, content marketing, and influencer collaborations.	Encompasses product roadmap, feature development, innovation, technology upgrades, and user experience improvements.
Typically aligned with the product launch timeline and focuses on getting the product to market efficiently	Ongoing, adapting to market trends and consumer behavior to sustain and grow brand presence.	Long-term, with a focus on the product’s lifecycle, ensuring its relevance, competitiveness, and evolution over time
Determining the right distribution channels, setting competitive pricing, and establishing an effective sales strategy.	Running social media campaigns, creating content, optimizing SEO, and participating in events to build brand awareness.	Deciding on feature prioritization, technology investments, and user experience enhancements based on market trends and customer feedback.

How to build a go to market strategy?

• Market Research:– Conduct thorough research to understand your target market, including customer needs, preferences, and pain points. Analyze competitor strategies to identify opportunities and potential challenges.
• Define Value Proposition:– Clearly articulate the unique value your product or service offers. Focus on how it addresses customer pain points and distinguishes itself from competitors, forming a compelling value proposition.
• Segmentation and Targeting:– Identify and segment your target customer base based on demographics, behaviors, and psychographics. Tailor your marketing and messaging strategies to effectively resonate with each specific customer segment.
• Channel Selection:- Choose the most effective distribution channels to reach your target audience. Consider a mix of direct sales, online platforms, partnerships, or other channels that align with your product and market dynamics.
• Sales and Marketing Alignment:- Ensure close collaboration between your sales and marketing teams. Develop cohesive messaging, campaigns, and sales enablement tools to support a unified go to market strategy, enhancing overall effectiveness.

Make sure you have product-market fit before planning a big Product launch:

• Make sure you’ve achieved product-market fit before you begin developing your launch strategy.
• When a product meets the needs of a sufficient number of consumers who are willing to pay for, utilize, and recommend it to others, a business is said to have achieved product-market fit. With a product like this, scaling is simple because you can count on receiving positive feedback from potential clients.
• A poorly matched product to the market can hinder your launch and lower your chances of success. To determine how close you are to reaching product-market fit, use product market fit surveys prior to launching that new product.

SaaS Go to Market Best Practices:

Step 1: Define your target audience.

The first thing to do is identify the right user persona or target audience. Your audience will determine every other part of your SaaS go to market strategy. Focusing on one market at a time makes it easier to identify and track the right metrics. A lot of SaaS companies fail when they don’t stick to one geographical region and market.

Step 2: Decide on your value proposition and core brand message.

After you’ve identified your target audience, the next step is to develop a value matrix that will help you create your unique value proposition. This value proposition will highlight user problems and position your product as the best solution.

Step 3: Choose your pricing strategy.

Choosing the appropriate pricing strategy for your B2B SaaS business is one of the important parts of your go to market strategy.

SaaS Go to Market Best Practices

Below are the pricing models used by SaaS companies:

1. Freemium SaaS pricing model: this works for B2B SaaS businesses whose products may need a longer period to understand or grasp value from. You can use a free plan with limited features to give new customers a long time to explore the product and also increase their chances of upgrading to a paid plan.
2. Flat rate SaaS pricing model: this involves offering your product and all its features to users at a fixed rate each month. No pricing plans based on features, they get everything at one price.
3. User-based SaaS pricing model: this pricing model involves charging your customers based on how many users they have or how many of them will be using the product. It makes things much simpler for your customers because they can pick and choose a plan most suitable for their company size and change it if it increases or decreases.
4. Tiered SaaS pricing model: most SaaS businesses use this pricing strategy because it allows you to target different types of customers since there’s a plan for everyone. It involves using multiple packages with various features and prices to attract customers.
5. Pay-as-you-go SaaS pricing model: this pricing strategy is most commonly used by infrastructure software companies and it involves charging users based on how they use the product. The more time customers spend using your product, the higher their subscription fee is.

Conclusion: Go to Market Strategy in Product Management

A product launch that is successful depends on its go to market strategy. Make sure your market strategy is both thorough and straightforward. It should outline your target market, their problems, and the most effective way to reach them with your offering. Additionally, Userpilot assists you in learning more about your customers and how your product benefits them as your customer base grows, generating a feedback loop that enhances your go-to-market strategy even more. To find out more about how Userpilot can help you increase both customer acquisition and retention, schedule a demo.

FAQs of Product Go-to-Market Strategy:

Q. What is a go to market strategy?

A go to market strategy is a comprehensive plan outlining how a company will introduce, promote, and sell its products or services. It encompasses key elements such as target audience, value proposition, distribution channels, pricing, and marketing activities.

Q. Why is a go to market strategy important?

A well-defined go to market strategy is crucial for ensuring a successful product or service launch. It helps in reaching the right audience, differentiating from competitors, optimizing sales efforts, and adapting to market dynamics.

Q. Who is responsible for a go to market strategy?

A small group or pod of senior stakeholders from your business’s sales, marketing, and product departments should be responsible for your B2B SaaS go to market strategy. Compared to larger GTM teams, this structure allows stakeholders to bypass long feedback loops, iterate on the GTM strategy, and develop your product.

Q. What does freemium mean in SaaS pricing?

In the freemium model, you offer a free trial and try to upsell the solution to users. Lead generation platforms, for example, may cap this trial to a number of monthly credits, hoping the details prospects find are enough to convert some into paid customers.

Q. What is a channel strategy in go to market?

A channel strategy is a good go to market strategy for startups. It decides where and how you’ll reach your customers and encourage them to purchase. The channel strategy includes your SaaS marketing and sales functions, leveraging:

1. Online channels – Google ads, blogs, social media, user-generated content, influencers.
2. Offline channels – TV, billboards, flyers.
3. Outbound – Your sales team cold calls relevant personas to generate leads or prospects.
4. Referrals – Partner companies point new business your way.