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With over 30,000 new products launched every year – and 95% of those failing – it’s never been more important to get market strategy right. Introducing a product or service for the first time will always incur some risk. But that risk can be minimised when correct preparation is in place.
Now more than ever, businesses do not have time or resources to waste. Knowing the market you’re selling to along with having a clear market strategy is essential if your product or service is going to achieve the goals you define. What is required, is a ‘go-to’ market strategy.
GTM Strategy
If you are going to be successful in sales, you need to know the intricate details of who you’re selling to and why. In concise terms, a ‘go-to’ market strategy (or GTM strategy) is a plan of action that defines how an organisation will connect with customers within a previously unexplored target market.
The objective is to gain a competitive edge over contending competitors in the market while establishing a clear and attractive brand identity more widely. These strategies are cultivated in conjunction with sales in order to create a productive working pipeline. They may also focus on product development, pricing and branding in order to reach target audience specifically.
A well-planned and thoroughly researched ‘go-to’ strategy will focus primarily on market penetration, proceeded by a company’s more generalised marketing approach or strategy. In this way, GTM strategy is the key tool within the overall market plan.
Key Takeaways
- GTM strategy is a specific plan to guide the actions of the company in pursuit of sales.
- GTM strategy focuses on penetrating new markets or introducing a new product or service to an already known market.
- The definition of a GTM strategy differs from that of a standard marketing strategy in terms of its specificity.
Target Audience & Value Proposition
Start with researching your target audience. Knowing who you want to sell to is the foundation of what you will build your strategy upon. From there, create your value proposition which is the promise of what value you intend to offer within the service or product you are selling.
Develop specific buyer personas so that you have a target to aim your products or services at. Think of these personas as your living and breathing ideal customers. This is vital information to your strategy and the semi-fictional characters from which you should form your marketing plans.
What are their habits? What are their pain points? What do they need from you, and why? Use the answers to questions like these to inform your team exactly who they’re dealing with. The tone and structure of your action plans are dictated by exactly who your target client is.
Once buyer persona is established, create your value proposition in alignment with their specific needs. For example; if you intend to sell a feminine wellbeing app to young women then craft your value proposition in a way that informs the buyer of how the offering will benefit them.
Key Takeaways
- Research your target audience in order to develop an accurate and effective proposition offer.
- Create buyer personas to clarify who your ideal customer is.
- Structure marketing efforts around buyer personas and your established value proposition.
Brand Position Statements
Once you have identified who you are selling to, you then need to set your brand position. Your key objective is to corner a marketing niche in order to build brand loyalty. You want to be the first company your target market customer thinks of when they seek to solve the problem you solve.
Entering any market, new or old, does not come without risk. There will always be other competitors close by who intend to overtake you, even if they do not sell exactly the same product or service. However, with the right GTM strategy it is possible for your brand to stay forefront in customer consciousness.
What does your audience potentially already know about your brand? What can be refined to ensure successful positive perception? How are your direct or close-by competitors positioning their own brands? Identify your strengths and weaknesses in order to identify what can be improved upon.
Once you have your key brand information gathered, you can move on to writing a brand positioning statement. This is a short caption that concisely summarises what it is you offer, where, and how.
Take an example from Amazon, published in 2001:
“For World Wide Web users who enjoy books, Amazon.com is a retail bookseller that provides instant access to over 1.1 million books. Unlike traditional book retailers, Amazon.com provides a combination of extraordinary convenience, low prices, and comprehensive selection.”
This brand positioning statement not only clarifies what the company offers, it also succinctly details the USP (unique selling point) of the company. This further establishes the value that the brand offers its target customer.
Key Takeaways
- Your brand position will determine how your potential audience will perceive your brand.
- Focus research is vital in order to understand what you can offer beyond your competitors.
- Create a documented brand positioning statement to clarify the value of what you offer.
Logos & Branding
Logo and visual brand design is the ‘voice’ that speaks to your audience. It needs to accurately represent who you are and what you offer. The preparatory steps we have explored will give you the information you need to develop your logo and every other piece of branding needed.
Your brand is the point from which others perceive your organisation as a whole along with the types of products or services you offer. It must encompass company culture, market position, and any personal or sentimental attachments your customers might have with what you do.
Your logo should identify your brand in simple, digestible terms. The ultimate goal is for a buyers to recognise a company without the need for context or written identifiers. The image alone should speak to them. As an emerging company to a new market, brand identify must be built up over time in order to achieve this.
Skilled graphics experts will be able to offer you designs that communicate your identity. Provide designers with your brand positioning statement, value proposition, and buyer personas. From there, they will have the information they need to create the most appropriate logo for your goals.
Key Takeaways
- Your brand is the face of your organisation. It is the cornerstone of how your target customer will perceive your services.
- Your logo should successfully communicate your brand in the most concise terms possible.
- Skilled designers should use the information you have gathered about your organisation and your value proposal in order to create the most fitting design style and format.
Introduction to the market
First impressions are vital. No matter how valuable your product might be, or how useful you understand it to be, you must introduce it to the world in a manner that will draw the right kind of attention from the offset.
Identify the primarily channels for your introduction. For those targeting consumers, social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram might be the best option. For those selling to businesses, LinkedIn might be the best place to launch initially.
Next, establish which format you would like your introduction to take. Use your target customer knowledge to inform your next steps. You may want to use video to gain organic reach, or run a paid advertisement campaign series. Consider what would be most appropriate for your brand.
Soft launches can be a very useful way of refining your offer before it reaches the consciousness of more significant audiences. Consider testing your product or service within a focus group, using the dedicated feedback to strengthen your ongoing approach.
Key Takeaways
- Choose appropriate channels to introduce your product or service to the market.
- Identify the best format for the launch.
- Test your marketing message ahead of a formal launch.
Strategy Development
Post-launch, it is crucial to generate further interest and demand for your offering. This is where your marketing strategy comes into action!
Marketing strategy will vary widely from business to business. Your fundamental marketing approach will be defined by a variety of factors that relate the mission of your organisation as a whole, what exactly you intend to sell, and who you plan to sell to.
You will need a specific and dedicated team of marketing experts and contractors to successfully apply your chosen strategy. Many companies utilise a range of writers, designers, develops and similar professionals in order to implement their plans. Smaller companies may fill gaps in their resources by hiring freelancers to support the core team.
Key Takeaways
- Marketing strategy must be implemented following on from (and in support of) GTM strategy.
- Your marketing strategy should aide you in building a sales pipeline within your target market.
- You will need a set team of employees (or freelancers) to maintain strategy once in place.
Aligning GTM strategy
For a product to be successful, the organisational team must pull together to make it happen. Though many of the key marketing choices might happen at leadership level, the documented strategy itself must accessible and clearly understood by all team members across the wider company.
Once you have defined high-level strategy, it can be very effective to create a PowerPoint presentation or similar in order to provide an engaging visual reference for the wider team. The key is to ensure every member is on board with the ideas so that continuity can be established.
By creating a clear and concise strategy that is well defined and easily understandable, you will maximise staff engagement and the sharing of key goals. This will prevent miscommunication and production delays, saving the company both time and money in the short and long term.
Don’t forget to keep any hired freelancers in the loop also. They are just as integral to the success of effective market strategy as any permanent staff member or employee, regardless of hierarchy or individual position.
Many companies begin with following the template ideas of another company while they work to establish their own. In this way, they may ‘cherry pick’ the most effective strategy approaches in pursuit of finding what works best in the ongoing future. Continual development is key!
Key Takeaways
- The full team must be aligned in pursuit of common goals defined by marketing leadership.
- It is useful to learn from the marketing templates of other comparable companies.
- The fundamental strategy message must remain clear, concise and easy to grasp to ensure continuity and effectivity within the company approach.
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