With so much planning that goes into setting your business up for success, it can be easy to overlook one important step: preparing your go-to-market strategy. You might be wondering, “Isn’t that the same as a marketing strategy?” Not quite. Your marketing strategy applies to all of the marketing activities that apply to your business. Your go-to-market strategy is for planning for a new product or service that you are launching.
The go-to-market plan focuses heavily on your consumer. The ultimate goal is to improve customer experience while delivering your value proposition to them. This plan helps you identify the target customer for that specific product, allowing you to hone your efforts so that they are more effective. If you have an existing product that needs some new life, you can develop a go-to-market strategy to help drive sales there also.
How does a go-to-market strategy benefit my business?
There are several ways that your business will benefit from having a go-to-market strategy.
- Eliminate waste of time and resources due to a failed product launch
- Provide a better customer experience
- Create a growth path
- Reduce time it takes to get product to market
- Easily adapt to changes
- Clear direction for everyone
- Launch your products successfully
What are the key parts of a go-to-market strategy?
When you are ready to start putting together an effective go-to-market strategy, there are six important pieces that you need.
- What are the markets that you are pursuing?
- Who is your target customer?
- What channels will you use to promote your product? Where are your customers shopping?
- What is the product that you are offering? How does it offer unique value to the customer?
- What is the price point for your product?
- How does your positioning set you apart from the competitors and connect you with your customer?
What steps do I need to take to create my best go-to-market strategy?
When you feel ready to get started, get your team together and start working on these steps.
Step 1: Identify your target market
As much as you love your product, it’s not going to be for everyone. Clearly define who needs this product. This includes demographics like age, race, income, education, marital status, location, likes and dislikes.
Step 2: Be clear about who your ideal customer is
Who is going to benefit the most from this product? How are they going to react to it? How will they use it? What is their experience going to be?
Step 3: Brand positioning
How do you want your target customer to view your brand? This can influence the way they think and feel about your company and products.
Step 4: Define your product offering
Determine your product’s unique value proposition. How do you want the customer to think and feel about it? How will it help them? Why is it different from similar products?
Step 5: Decide on your sales channels
Where will your customer be buying your product? In a store? Online? Through social media sites? How are you going to promote your product? Know where your customers spend their time and you will have a better idea of where you should be advertising and selling for the most success.
Step 6: Pricing model
Decide what the pricing will be for your product. What are comparative products selling for? How much value does your product offer? What is best for your budget?
With all of these together, you can then create a clear marketing plan that fits for each of your target markets, giving you the most effective plan for selling your new product.
If you like reading this blog, please sign up for the newsletter too!