In today’s business landscape, it is crucial to have a clearly defined go-to-market (GTM) strategy if you want to bring your product or service to market successfully. Whether you are a startup launching your first offering or a company that has been around for years looking to penetrate new markets, your GTM strategy directs how you reach customers, create demand, and consummate the sale.
Selecting and implementing the right GTM strategy for your business is not a small task. This guide breaks it all down for you, offering practical and powerful examples and step-by-step methods for accomplishing some of the most popular and successful GTM strategies.
What is a GTM Motion?
Go-to-market (GTM) motions are the coordinated actions your commercial/revenue teams take to get customers to use your product or service and generate revenue. This is just a fancier way of saying that a GTM motion is the way in which all of your teams are communicating with your audience and selling the product or service.
It is an important part of every SaaS business as this helps everyone in your company to be consistent. And when it comes to clear communication, consistency is key. If your teams speak the same language to your customers, they will have an easier time selling. Otherwise, they will just try to convince confused users who don’t really understand what your product does or what it promises.
Key Components of a GTM Motion
- Target Audience: Clearly defined customer personas and market segments.
- Sales Process: The methodology for converting leads into paying customers.
- Pricing Strategy: How your pricing aligns with perceived customer value.
- Marketing Channels: The platforms and methods used to create awareness and drive leads.
However, not all GTM motions are built the same. Choosing the right one depends on your industry, the product complexity, buyer behavior, etc.
Types of GTM Motions with Practical Examples
Product-Led growth (PLG)
A Product-Led Growth strategy centers on using the product to acquire, retain, and expand customers. The strategy leans heavily on delivering value by way of a self-service or freemium model and allows customers to experience the product meaningfully before they convert to a paid plan.
Example: Slack
Its user experience is so smooth that it almost defies description. Users sign up for free, experience the benefits immediately, and they can upgrade their plans to fit their needs without any friction. And the product is built around the idea of virality as new users are naturally inviting their team members to join.
Implementation tips
- Simplify the signup process to reduce friction.
- Use in-app tutorials to guide users to value quickly.
- Include viral hooks like team invites or collaborative features.
Sales-Led growth
When a company pursues its go-to-market strategy using sales-led growth, it is directing focus, effort, and resources toward building a strong sales team that can engage potential customers, articulate the value of the product, and close a sale.
This model works well for companies with products that either need a lot of explanation or that tend to get customized quite a bit.
Example: Salesforce
When a company pursues its go-to-market strategy using sales-led growth, it is directing focus, effort, and resources toward building a strong sales team that can engage potential customers, articulate the value of the product, and close a sale.
This model works well for companies with products that either need a lot of explanation or that tend to get customized quite a bit.
Implementation Tips:
- Train your sales team to understand customer pain points and use cases.
- Develop ROI-focused sales materials to validate your value proposition.
- Use CRM tools to track pipeline progress and streamline follow-ups.
Channel Partnerships
In this model you rely on third party partners to distribute your product or service. With this approach you reach their customers and get new clients. This way you can build trust and get into new markets without the burden of direct selling.
Example: Microsoft
Microsoft’s partner ecosystem makes it easy for resellers and consultants to offer its services to their customers. The partners benefit from co-marketing resources and training, while Microsoft is expanding its reach without managing customer relationships directly.
Implementation Tips:
- Select partners whose strengths and goals complement and align with yours.
- Set up attractive incentive and commission structures
- Involve your partners in a way that makes their participation worthwhile and enhances the likelihood that they will serve your common customers well.
Hybrid GTM Motions
You can also combine elements from several motions to create a hybrid one. This will offer you the flexibility to target different audience segments or various use cases.
Example: HubSpot
HubSpot offers a freemium model to attract small businesses, while its sales teams are actively targeting mid-level and enterprise customers. All while the marketing team supports both efforts with inbound strategies.
Implementation Tips:
- Leverage data from your product to inform sales outreach and upselling.
- Ensure alignment between self-serve, marketing, and sales teams.
- Customize your messaging for distinct customer segments.
How to Choose the Right GTM Motion for Your Business
The right go-to-market strategy depends on your goals, resources, and your audience. Here are some pointers to help you decide which one works best for you.
Assess Your Industry and Market Dynamics
PLG functions nicely with SaaS tools where there are low barriers to entry and where the items have a great deal of built-in virality. A sales approach is better for highly complex B2B solutions that require a lot of one-on-one selling. Partnerships are best when the product exists in a space where there is an established ecosystem (think of hardware or enterprise software).
Understand Your Customers
Identify how your customers wish to purchase. Do they prefer to self-serve, or do they need guidance from the sales staff? Conduct interviews and analyze customer journey data for profound insights into your customers.
Evaluate Your Resources
Small companies may not have the budget for big sales teams, so they can start with PLG or partner channels. Large companies with more capital may look for hybrid channel strategies to continue to scale.
Test and Iterate
Start with a pilot program for the go-to-market (GTM) motion you have selected. Then, use customer feedback and performance metrics (conversion rates, churn rate, etc.) to refine the program. To maximize the chances of success, try to align your GTM motion with specific goals.
Steps to Implementing GTM Motions
Define Clear Objectives
Set measurable goals for your GTM motion. Are you going for customer acquisition? Revenue growth? Market penetration? After you have an answer to this question, you should align the motion with it.
Build Customer Personas
Develop your customer personas based on market research, surveys, or your own CRM data. Try to make them as detailed as possible including demographic or firmographic data, the pain points, and the buying behavior.
Develop Your Value Proposition
Craft a value proposition that aligns with your audience. Then, put the spotlight on how what you offer is a better fix for their situation than any solutions your competitors might have.
Align Teams Across Departments
Cross-functional collaboration is crucial for your GTM motion’s success. Sales, marketing, and product teams in your company need to share the same vision and have the same message. Otherwise, you risk confusing your leads with inconsistent messaging.
Measure and Optimize
Think of a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that will tell you if your efforts are bringing you closer to the goal you have set.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much does it cost to acquire a customer?
Lifetime Value (LTV): What’s the long-term value of a customer?
Conversion Rates: How effectively are leads moving through the bowtie funnel?
Then, use these insights to change your GTM motion to make it more effective.
Things to avoid for your GTM motion
Misaligned Teams
When there is no coordination among the sales, marketing, and product teams, even the best strategy can be derailed. Ensure that everyone has shared tools and uses communication channels that keep them in touch and in sync.
Choosing the Wrong Motion
If a GTM motion is chosen that does not align with the product or the audience, valuable resources can be wasted. Be sure to validate your choice through customer feedback and small-scale tests before committing to using it across a larger swath of the organization.
Underestimating Metrics
If you don’t track and analyze the data, you will not be able to assess whether your motion is getting the results you want. So, try measuring as many data points as possible. This will help you identify shifts in the outcomes and the overall progress.
Ignoring Customer Feedback
Your GTM motion needs to evolve based on user behavior. If you are not regularly gathering feedback from customers, you are missing a huge opportunity to improve iteration quality and speed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between product-led and sales-led GTM motions?
With product-led motions, conversions are driven by self-service and the inherent value of the product. By contrast, with sales-led strategies, a dedicated team is required to guide customers through the conversion process.
Can small businesses use channel partnerships effectively?
Absolutely! Small companies can partner with local resellers and businesses that are complementary to theirs. With this, they can greatly expand their reach, without needing significant upfront investment.
How can I measure the success of my GTM motion?
The effectiveness and ROI of a GTM motion can be measured by examining certain key metrics: customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value of the customer (LTV), and churn rate.
Can a business switch GTM motions later?
Absolutely. Many businesses evolve their GTM strategies as they scale or adapt to changing market conditions. However, in the early stages of business, such a switch will decrease your growth rate. So it is important to try and get it right the first time.
Conclusion
A well-executed GTM motion is critical for achieving growth and market success. The main thing is to understand your business and your customers. Then, regardless if you go for a Product-Led Growth, Sales-Led Growth, Channel Partnerships, or a Hybrid approach, choose the GTM strategy that best serves both those masters.
