What Is a Go-To-Market Strategy? And How to Create One

A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is a comprehensive plan for launching a new product or service. A strong GTM strategy can generate a deep understanding of your customers and competitors, clarify overall goals and processes, and even help your company go to market faster.

Learn more about the purpose behind a GTM strategy, how it differs from a marketing plan, and how to create one. Afterward, strengthen your marketing skills with the Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate, where you'll learn how to use data to strengthen marketing efforts and improve results.  

What is a go-to-market strategy and why do you need one?

Typically, a product marketing manager prepares a go-to-market strategy before a product release (sometimes called a product launch) in an effort to minimize risk and optimize potential success.

When a company chooses to enter a new marketplace or launch a new product in an existing marketplace, it faces numerous challenges. If a company doesn't understand its major competitors or customer needs, or if it doesn't have clear goals and processes in place, it may lead to poor sales, weak customer relationships, and high costs.

Go-to-market strategies anticipate the challenges of this competitive space by thoroughly defining the competitors and target market, articulating the product’s key value proposition, crafting a marketing plan, and developing a strategy for its sales and distribution channels.

GTM strategy vs. marketing plan 

Although they share similarities, a go-to-market strategy and a marketing plan are ultimately different. As we discussed, a go-to-market strategy is a comprehensive overview of many considerations required to bring a new product to the marketplace. 

A marketing plan, meanwhile, is an action plan outlining the concrete steps required to undertake a marketing strategy. While a GTM can include a marketing plan and be directed by a marketing strategy, neither a marketing plan nor a marketing strategy includes a concrete GTM strategy. 

For ideas on launching a product effectively, watch this video about Go-To-Market Strategy.

How to create a go-to-market strategy

Businesses can create go-to-market strategies for virtually any product launch, whether it is a completely new product, a new iteration of an old one, or simply a rebranding of one that has already been on the market.

A go-to-market strategy compiles several factors to ensure a product enters the market with the best possible chance of success. The following steps outline key elements you should consider and develop throughout the GTM process. 

1. Identify your target market.

The customer is the centerpiece of any marketing strategy. Whether you are bringing a new product to market or refreshing an existing one, it is imperative that you first research and identify the target market that will be most interested in purchasing it. 

A target market (sometimes called target audience) is a group of individuals who share a set of features, such as demographic or psychographic similarities. Segmentation is the process of identifying these shared similarities and researching the kinds of individuals or organizations that would be most likely to purchase your product. 

It can be useful to create buyer personas, which involves gathering data about current and ideal customers. Understanding as many specifics as possible (age, location, occupation, etc.) will help you determine what messages will eventually be most effective and what channels you should use.

As you identify your target market, answer these questions: 

• What kind of demographic, psychographic, or other data do you have to better understand your target market?

• What are the pain points of your target market? What problem will your product solve?

• Is your product being sold to everyday consumers (B2C) or to other businesses (B2B)? 

2. Clarify your value proposition.

A product’s value proposition is the benefit it provides consumers and the problems it solves. In other words, your product’s value proposition articulates why the target market should purchase the product. As you prepare your go-to-market strategy, you should seek to understand your product's value proposition and even conduct a competitor analysis.

The value proposition that you identify should be as much about the target market you are selling to as the product itself. For example, while some products position themselves as a cheaper alternative to another product, others position themselves as the solution to a particular problem that currently has no market solution. 

The exact value proposition that your product or service will provide is dependent on what it is and who its target market is.

To define your product's value proposition, answer the following:

• What pain points does your product remedy?

• How does your product stand out from your competitors?

• What unique features or experience does your product or service provide potential customers?

3. Define your pricing strategy. 

Price is an important factor for any product. You don’t want to sell a product for too much or too little because you’ll risk either not moving enough product or eating too much into your profit margin. A good price is one that fits your business objectives, matches your customer profile, and makes you competitive in the marketplace. 

Now that you have an understanding of your target market and the value your product offers, you have a better understanding of what price a consumer might be willing to pay for your product. 

As you consider your pricing strategy, some questions you might ask yourself include:  

• How much does it cost to manufacture your product or service? 

• What price do you need to meet in order to make a profit?

• How much do your competitors charge for a similar product or service? 

• What is your target marketing willing to pay for your product? 

• Will you use a subscription or transactional model? 

4. Craft your promotion strategy.

Your promotion strategy is your action plan to promote your product to your customers. Here, you should craft a marketing plan that outlines the exact steps you will take to reach your customer base, such as the messages you'll develop to promote your product and the marketing channels that might best reach your target market.

The techniques you use to promote your product will depend entirely on the product or service you are selling. For instance, while one business might use a sales team to pitch their product to other businesses, another might instead focus on social media marketing to raise brand awareness and draw in potential customers organically. 

As you craft your promotion strategy, some questions to consider include: 

• What is the best channel to reach your target audience? Online or offline?

• Does your customer respond better to outbound marketing methods, such as phone calls or radio advertisements, or inbound marketing efforts like SEO? 

• Where does your target audience spend most of their time? What marketing channels penetrate that space?  

• What marketing methods can you realistically implement now considering your current budget? 

Read more: What Is Promotional Marketing? Your Guide to Getting Started

5. Choose your sales and distribution channels.

Sales channels are where consumers can purchase your product, while distribution channels are the ways that your product actually gets to your customer.  Often, sales channels and distribution channels can be the same, such as when a consumer buys directly from a manufacturer. In other instances, distribution channels can be much more complex, such as when a producer sells to a wholesaler, who in turn sells to a retailer who then finally sells their product to a consumer. 

How you decide to sell your product (in-person or online. directly to a consumer or to a wholesaler) will depend on the unique needs of your product. Whatever you pick, the buyer’s journey should be as seamless as possible to reduce friction and increase sales. 

Some points to consider when choosing sales and distribution channels include: 

• What is the nature of your product and does it have any specific sales and distribution requirements? 

• What are the manufacturing needs of your product and how does that impact its sale and distribution? 

• Where does your target market shop or buy products?

• How can you make the sale of your product as seamless as possible? 

6. Set metrics and monitor your performance.

The success of your go-to-market strategy is completely dependent on the goals that you set. In setting these goals, you are also identifying the metrics you will use to measure your success. 

As your GTM strategy goes from idea to reality, it is important to keep track of your metrics and to make any necessary adjustments as you go along. For example, if it turns out that you are paying more to acquire customers than they are paying for your product, then you will need to adjust your strategy to reach a better customer acquisition cost. 

Some common metrics for measuring the success of a go-to-market strategy include: 

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

• Cost per dollar of sales expense

• Closing/conversion rate

• Length of the sales cycle

Go-to-market success story: Apple’s iMac G3

One example of a successful GTM strategy is Apple’s 1998 launch of the iMac G3. Apple targeted three primary consumers: first-time computer buyers, loyal Apple users, and PC owners (which were 85 percent of the market) [1]. In order to reach their goals, Apple needed to convey that the company was now stable, that their product offered an experience unlike their competitors, and to create excitement around the product launch. 

Their strategy began with a presentation from then interim-CEO Steve Jobs. He described the unique value that the iMac G3 could bring consumers by citing its differences from competitors. Unlike other devices, which were slow, had bad displays, and often required a lengthy process to connect online, Jobs noted that the iMac had a much faster 3G chip, possessed a 15-inch display, and had a built-in internet port for a fast connection online.

Afterward, he revealed the physical iMac G3 body itself, which had a unique egg-shaped design, a transparent case that could become illuminated, and featured an eye-catching blue called “Bondi blue.” “This is incredible compared to anything else out there. It looks like it’s from another planet – and a good planet. A planet with better designers,” Jobs joked to the audience of journalists, who responded with a chorus of laughter [2]. 

The presentation was a success and set off a $100 million dollar marketing blitz that reinforced Jobs’ talking points. While large inflatable Macs went up over select stores so customers knew where to buy them, television commercials were rolled out during prime-time shows to attract consumers who weren’t already techies. To reinforce the point that this was a new kind of computer, billboards and print ads read, “Chic. Not geek [1].”

Apple’s success hinged on a go-to-market strategy that thoroughly understood its target market, clearly articulated its computer’s value proposition, featured a detailed marketing plan, and highlighted where consumers could purchase products.

6 benefits of a go-to-market strategy

In addition to helping you launch a product successfully, compiling an effective GTM strategy can benefit your business in several ways, including: 

1. Clarifying the business mission 

Creating any sort of business strategy, including a GTM strategy, is a great opportunity to review your organization’s mission and make sure your product efforts are in alignment. Why does this organization exist? What will it achieve for its employees and customers? What values drive this mission? How do new products support this mission? 

2. Understanding the market 

Compiling a GTM strategy involves gaining a comprehensive understanding of the marketplace, the target market, your competitors, and the proposed product’s place in it. With more insight into customers and the market conditions, your organization will have more tools to thrive in all areas of business, from product launches to introducing a new brand identity to the world.    

3. Reducing costs 

With a solid GTM strategy, you can keep marketing costs down by identifying promotional channels with the highest return on investment (ROI) and developing marketing messaging and content that will resonate with your target market.  

4. Reducing time to market

GTM strategies also help you launch products more quickly in the following ways: 

• Prioritizing tasks that are essential for a product to enter the market

• Troubleshooting product positioning and messaging before going to market 

• Concretely defining the logistics of distribution and sales channels before launch to ensure maximum market impact

Depending on the kind of product you are launching, you might consider the minimum viable product (MVP) approach: making sure the product has enough features to attract early adopters, validating the product, and learning what product updates or improvements could improve customer experience.

5. Building more brand awareness

With the launch and promotion of a new product, you have an opportunity to bring more attention to your brand as a whole, and even attract new niche markets, thereby expanding your customer base. 

6. Increasing growth potential 

Overall, a GTM strategy, when skillfully executed, can increase your organization’s growth potential. With access to new niche markets, organized market data, and an efficient process for launching products, you can seize growth opportunities more easily than without a GTM strategy.  

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