GTM: Go-to-Market
3 letters that can make or break company growth and product adoption
What does GTM look like? Each team, company and product is unique, so GTM is unique, but that doesn’t take away the fact that GTM can make or break your company growth and product adoption.
When you have the product market fit and gaining momentum, tapping into GTM can be beneficial to explore new markets or venture into unknown target segments and audiences. This can be scary and exciting at the same time.
When you are thinking product launch, GTM can help guide who, when and where questions for the right audience at the right time. We can resonate with our persona needs and build empathy to speak their language.
Product Launch
If you are the PMM responsible for the product launch or partner with your product manager, this is step one to really pay attention to what you are launching, why now and for whom. It cannot be a one size fits all. Then it becomes difficult to measure success and be accountable for the results.
Start with OKRs - clear defined goals across product, sales and marketing can make sure we are all aligned and working towards the same goals.
Check out 3: Product and Solution Launch in Mastering the art and science of product marketing for the 3 steps to a great product launch.
Step 1: Planning the launch — PMM and PM score the launch and then it’s reviewed by the committee to sign off on the correct launch tier.
Step 2: Collective alignment — Product marketing, product management and the cross functional teams come together to make magic happen.
Step 3: Post launch success — Our launch is only getting started on the day of the announcement. How we measure and define our 30–90–180 day metrics can make or break a launch.
GTM Pre-mortem
Sharing GTM challenges from our Product Marketing Core class with Product Marketing Alliance with our amazing students. You can decide if they make the cut.
Are you ready? Let’s go.
What could go wrong in a go to market launch?
Let's brainstorm some challenges we could prepare for? - premortem GTM/plan B.
Here are the top 3 amongst the 20+ challenges we face before, during and after launch from GTM strategy to execution.
Alignment and Buy-in: Not having the correct and key stakeholders involved and/or at the right time.
Worth exploring to make sure there are clear goals and accountability across all teams from product to sales to marketing.
Clear expectations are needed to sell what is on the truck, as some folks say.
A go/no-go date can help to make sure we are ready for the launch and avoid surprises the day or week before the launch.
Product Readiness: Product is not ready or breaks after the launch.
Setup beta testing or early adopter programs to test and make sure the product is what customers want.
Setup 30-90-180 day metrics to measure progress across all teams post-launch to follow through. Launch is done when we achieve our OKRs/goals.
Resource planning: Not having realistic timelines to limited team resources from budget to people.
With a let’s go launch approach, we can impact the potential true value of the product and lead to a failed launch or less traction.
Take time to understand the buyer persona and the market. Create the right content across the buyer journey to resonate with the market problem and then connect to the user needs and challenges.
Both internal and external teams like partners need to be in lockstep. Communication is key to driving a true collaboration to meet the deadlines.
Are there any you would add to the list?
We all have done a post mortem after the launch. A GTM pre-mortem helps us prepare for the unanticipated things that could go wrong. I like to think this GTM exercise is part therapy as we empathize with each other and feel heard. It’s powerful and comforting in ways I couldn’t describe. Hope this connected with you just as it did for all of our students.
Join us in our April 2023 PMM Talks to explore GTM with our wonderful panel.
Let’s go and create the GTM of our dreams and take down the barriers to make it a success in our own terms. That’s why Product Marketing is here to connect, collaborate and communicate the secret sauce of GTM to the world.