Thinking of creating a Go To Market Strategy? First, you need to think about why you are thinking about creating a new strategy; is it to refresh a new product or service, enter a new market, or create a new product or service entirely? Could it be because you want to grow your market share, improve declining sales, or divest/diversify business assets?
Once you know the why, you can start to create a Go To Market Strategy and start figuring out the how. There are a number of key business questions that need to be answered via detailed analysis to assist:
- What is the total addressable market?
- Who are the key competitors in the space?
- What is the area your brand, product, or service can play in?
- What is the area your brand, product, or service can ‘win’?
- Who is your target audience?
- Are there different segments within that audience?
- How do you reach them based on key lifestyle behaviors?
- What is their average HouseHold Income (HHI)?
- What are the key demographic and psychographics?
- Is this a B2B customer or B2C ?
- If B2B, what are the organization’s objectives?
Answers to the questions above start with ‘good’ data. ‘Good data’ can come in the form of 1st party data (e.g. CRM, product or marketing teams). But it is also really important to think about 2nd and 3rd party data too to give your organization an ‘outside’ perspective on macroeconomic trends, which could inform competitive intelligence and market conditions. 2nd and 3rd party data can come from key partnerships that are already in place or from syndicated sources that provide market conditions by industry.
Once you’ve identified your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party data sources, you can start to develop a total addressable market analysis to get an understanding of market sizing and what the real opportunity is for your product or service, and identify the key players in the space.
This analysis will become critically important as you begin to identify how to enter the market, what needs in the market your product or service will solve for, and what competitors in the space are currently doing.
After you’ve done the Total Addressable Market Analysis, identified opportunities in the market, and begun to pull competitive intelligence, you can really start to understand where your brand can play, steal share from competitors, drive growth, and ‘win’.
At this stage I also like to begin to build out an ideal customer profile and persona so I can paint the picture of who my customer is and understand key lifestyle attributes and behaviors, which will inform a key message and channel strategy later on.
After you’ve done the analyses above, you can start to formulate your initial working draft of a Go To Market Strategy that is grounded in data driven insights. The steps above apply across industries, verticals, and company size – from small businesses to F500 enterprises.
To influence and win favorability on your new found Go To Market Strategy with key stakeholders and c-suite executives, it should read like a storybook. Tell the stakeholders what pain point you are solving for and sequence the most compelling data points immediately following from credible sources. Use a combination of charts, graphs, and iconography to highlight key trends and market dynamics, as well as, competitive threats and opportunities.
Aesthetics are another very important component to the success or failure of how well your Go To Market Strategy is received. Stakeholders often ‘know what they want when they see it’, especially in highly matrixed organizations. By developing visuals that are aesthetically pleasing, it instills credibility, authenticity, and believability, which are equally important as the content of the materials you are delivering.
Readability and addressability are other key points to consider when formulating your plan. Can the audience easily read what is on the page? Is the font size legible? Are you using the appropriate language for the audience (e.g. technical language for technical audience or translating the technical for non-technical audiences)?
Know your audience. This point is especially important so you can read the room, but also understand what each stakeholder’s role is and whether or not they are a decision maker or influencer to the decision maker.
Final word of wisdom: don’t be afraid to make a recommendation even if it’s uncomfortable or controversial. Use the data to lead the audience to the same conclusion you, as the author, came to after analyzing.
