7 Successful Tactics Your B2B Go-To-Marketing Strategy Should Include
It's no secret that having a great idea for a business is not enough to succeed. The statistics on startup failure are sobering: more than 90% of all startups fail to make it on the open market, with almost 10% failing within their first year of operation. The difference between success and failure for B2B companies often ties back to strategy or lack thereof. A B2B go-to-market strategy (GTM) is an exercise successful companies focus on and execute.
A go-to-market strategy is a comprehensive plan for launching a product or service into the market. It outlines the steps and activities that ultimately provide your business with purpose, direction, and goals. As a B2B marketing leader, it's essential to understand what a go-to-market strategy is and how it can significantly increase the successful adoption of your new offering that ultimately drives additional revenue.
The primary objective of the GTM is to create a strong first impression with your target audience with as few roadblocks as possible. Once the product or service is launched and the strategy has been implemented, speed, consistency, and accuracy become keys to success. Determining the success or failure of each strategy depends on several factors, including your KPIs and overall growth metrics.
There are dozens if not hundreds of different approaches to developing effective GTM strategies and most of them will work great for your organization. Regardless of the approach you choose, stick with it. B2B companies who follow through on even the most basic plans will see stronger sales than companies who bail on their plans. Learn how to avoid falling off the “plan wagon” to help create a successful launch.
Benefits of a B2B go-to-market strategy
Encourages Team Alignment
Powerful synergies are created when sales, marketing, product, customer service, finance, and other applicable teams work together to create the GTM plan. This helps keep your company stay on the same page and focused on the same outcomes.
Reduce Risk of Failure
By planning every detail that you can ahead of time, you’ll more likely experience fewer mishaps, helping you stay closer to your ideal budget and decreasing the likelihood of costly failures.
Encourages Teams to Think Long-Term
Your go-to-market strategy should not just include short-term goals and objectives. It’s there to support the product for the duration of its existence. When you integrate your long-term goals into your GTM strategy, you’re also establishing a path that will lead to sustainable revenue attribution to that product/service.
Increases Odds of Success
Developing a comprehensive go-to-market strategy is an investment in your business and will help ensure your organization is aligned on the path to success.
Now that you know what a B2B go-to-market strategy is and a sample of the benefits, let’s jump into 7 tactics you should consider as part of your strategy.
1 - Define your target audience
Knowing who your target audience is, their pain points, and their buying behavior is critical to building an effective GTM strategy. This will help you understand how to position your products or services and which channels will be most effective in reaching your target customers.
A few questions to ask the team:
Who is your ideal customer profile (ICP)?
What are their pain points?
What problems are they trying to solve?
Are they the decision maker?
What does the buying committee look like?
2 - Analyze your competition
Understanding your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and marketing strategies will help you differentiate yourself in the market and position your products or services effectively.
A few questions to ask the team:
Who are the top 5 competitors related to this product?
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
How will they ultimately let their customers down?
How are our message and position different than theirs?
Why are they successful?
3 - Define your value proposition
Clearly defining your value proposition and differentiators will help you communicate why your products or services are better than those of your competitors and what sets them apart.
A few questions to ask the team:
What are the first 100 words in the “about us” section of our competitors?
Why have we succeeded or failed in past product launches?
How does this new product specifically solve our ICP’s pain points?
Will this new product help our buyers get promoted?
Will anything negative happen to a prospect if they don’t buy it?
4 - Determine your B2B go-to-market channels
Identifying the channels where your target audience is and the most effective ways to use them.
A few questions to ask the team ;
Is the target audience different than who we currently target?
If so, which of our current channels are most effective – think engagement and demand generation.
Which channels are the least effective?
Do we have existing customers that may find value in this new product?
During the launch, what’s our plan for underperforming channels?
5 - Define your marketing mix
Developing an effective marketing mix is critical to reaching and engaging with your target audience.
A few questions to ask the team:
What steps are involved in the buyer journey?
On average, how many people are on the buying committee?
Does the time of year impact their purchase capabilities?
How are we aligning our message and content to the buyer journey?
How long do we expect the sales cycle to be?
6 - Allocate resources
Determining the resources you need to execute your GTM strategy is crucial, including budget, personnel, and technology.
A few questions to ask the team:
Who is the project lead accountable for the GTM project?
What departments are needed to build a comprehensive plan?
What does the budget allocation by channel look like?
What technology will be used to deploy, manage, and measure?
What partners can help, or do we need to bring in partners to support this?
7 - Establish KPIs, tracking, and communication
Establish what success looks like on a variety of levels and areas across the business, how it will be measured, and who should be updated on the progress and impact of the campaign.
A few questions to ask the team:
What is the revenue goal for this new product by month, quarter, and year?
How will we measure demand generation?
How will we measure lead generation?
How will we monitor lead quality and associated lead progression?
Who needs visibility into our data/insights and how often?
Launching a new product or service is stressful and exciting. Months or even years have been spent obsessing, developing, and refining something to solve a core problem. How that product is introduced to the market can often dictate its success or failure. A GTM strategy is worth the time, every time.