When you are about to launch a new product or service, you should do your best to ensure it is a success. The best way to make that happen is by developing a go-to-market strategy. Creating a comprehensive strategy can help you mitigate potential risks and optimize the success of your new products. If you are still on the fence, here are 5 compelling reasons to consider a go-to-market strategy for your business.

WHAT IS A GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY?

Before we explore why you should implement a go-to-market strategy for your business, let’s first explain what GTM is. There are many similarities between a GTM strategy and other traditional marketing approaches. A marketing strategy is typically concerned with long-term plans and tries to pair them with overall business objectives – unrelated to any particular product. An excellent example of this would be small businesses trying to use marketing to improve their branding and develop a unique identity. On the other hand, a GTM strategy focuses on maximizing a new product launch.

A go-to-market strategy will detail the steps you should take before launching a product, entering a new marketplace, or starting a business with a new client. A GTM can include a marketing plan; however, the scope is much narrower, usually dealing with only one product. Due to its narrow focus, a GTM strategy can be used as an internal documentto help bring employees up to speed on the new product or service.

5 COMPELLING REASONS TO CONSIDER GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

1.     OUTLINE GOALS

When putting together a marketing strategy, you should always take a moment to review your company’s mission and vision. Take steps to ensure your product aligns with your company values and brand identity. You can clarify the reasons for the new product launch and what you plan to achieve. Every product or service should solve a problem for your customers. Therefore, you can ask yourself: what problem are you trying to solve? It can also help to know which customers you will target with the new product. How do those new customers overlap with your existing target demographics? Answering these questions can help you set the framework for your GTM strategy and give you a better understanding of what your company is trying to achieve as a whole.

2.     IDENTIFY POTENTIAL RISKS

Any marketing campaign should include extensive research, and a GTM strategy is no different. However, when conducting research for a go-to-market strategy for your business, you should specifically focus on the risks relating to the new products. Being aware of the potential obstacles can help you prepare to deal with them ahead of time. Here is what you should analyze to know what risks can threaten your product launch.

• Look at your competition. What are your competitors doing, and do they have similar products to what you are about to launch? Have they released similar products in the past, and what can you learn from their strategy?

• Know the current market trends. Research the best time to launch new products, and be aware of other events happening at the same time. You don’t necessarily have to be afraid if there is some overlap. Perhaps you can use those current events as part of your campaign and generate more interest in your products and services.

• Connect with your audience. Don’t wait till after you release the new product to start a discussion around the launch. If you want to build brand affinity, you should focus on your customersand get them involved in the launch of the new product. Post regular updates and start engaging in conversations to gather feedback from your audience.
  

3.     LAUNCH PRODUCTS QUICKLY

One of the most critical reasons to consider a go-to-market strategy for your business is that it can help reduce time-to-market. A GTM strategy can help you prioritize relevant tasks and allocate resources where they are needed. The research you conduct as part of the GTM will also let you prepare your support and sales staff to deal with customer issues. These preparations can save valuable time when you launch your products since the infrastructure you need will already be in place.

Another critical component that can significantly speed up your product launch is outlining the supply and distribution chain. Map out the entire supply chain and know how you will delegate tasks to everyone involved. Due to the recent global disruptions of supply and logistics, it would be best if you used decentralized shipping instead of relying only on one supplier.

4.     INCREASE BRAND AWARENESS

Although it’s essential to maintain a continued interest in your brand for the long-term success of your company, creating interest in your product is most important when they are launching. That initial interest, or conversely – a lack of hype, can make or break a product launch. If your new products fall flat, it can be challenging to bounce back since those new products will quickly become old news.

On the other hand, you can use a GTM strategy to boost brand awareness and create interest in your whole company. By communicating with your audience while your product is still in development, you can guarantee that customers are informed and interested in your products well before they hit the market. One of the best approaches to achieve this is to leverage content marketing in the form of a behind-the-scenes blog.

5.     OUTLINE HOW TO DEVELOP FUTURE PRODUCTS

Since a large part of GTM is devoted to risk prediction and market analysis, you can use those insights when developing your next products and services. By adding to your existing GTM framework, each subsequent product launch will become easier. This can increase your company’s growth potential by streamlining how you develop and launch products and access new markets.

THE BOTTOM LINE

By carefully allocating resources when launching new products, you can mitigate risks and increase your ROI. We’ve given you 5 compelling reasons to consider a go-to-market strategy for your business. Now it’s up to you to find the best way to implement these tactics for your organization. If you want to ensure that all your products are successful – start developing a GTM plan.