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A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is what marketers use to communicate with your audience about their product or service. For example, if you are selling shoes, then marketing strategies for winter footwear could be telling people how to layer up warmly so they can enjoy snowboarding this season!
Alternatively, if you are trying to find new ways to organize your books, then GTM strategies could include bringing products into the workplace, developing an argument for why employees should purchase the product, and creating fun contests or incentives to get others to use the product.
A GTM strategy does not necessarily have to relate directly to the product or service that it supports, but it helps in defining the product’s target market, encouraging word of mouth advertising, and giving momentum to the launch event.
The marketing strategy process typically has three steps: defining, determining and executing. These are influenced by the market you’re targeting, your product or service, and how you can enhance or improve them.
The first step in the process is to define what stage of the life cycle of your brand you find yourself at currently. This is done through something we call the “marketing roadmap.”
A good way to do this is to make a list of all the products and services you have ever seen, heard about, or used from your own experience as a customer. You can also talk with other brands to see what they did and why it worked for them.
By doing both, you will know what types of strategies work for others in your space and what changes need to be made to stay competitive.
Once you have determined which stages your company is at, then determine if there are gaps in the current marketing strategy.
A marketing strategy is how you will market your product or service. It is also referred to as a marketing mix, which includes determining what messages and messages strategies you will use to reach your audience.
A simple way to think about it is that marketing is using the tools in our toolbox to get people to interact with your company or brand.
Interaction can be for an incentive like buying a product or service, seeking out information about your products and services, or just sharing knowledge and insights with others.
It can be telling your story to the world, putting together advertisements or posters, creating videos and content, etc. All of these interactions add up to create a perception of value among your followers or watchers.
So what is marketing strategy? That’s one of those things that people seem to have different definitions for. Some define it as the overall plan or approach your company uses in promoting its products and services, while others describe it as something more tactical like finding new markets for an existing product.
Yet another definition is the way you position yourself within the marketplace to gain market share. All three of these components are important parts of successful marketing strategies at any time, but they become even more significant when times get tough and companies need to revamp their image and promote new products.
That’s why it’s so crucial for healthcare professionals to have clear goals and objectives for their departments.
Market definition is one of the most fundamental parts of developing a solid go-to-market strategy. Who you are marketing to, what their needs are, and how well you can address those needs determine if your product will succeed or fail.
Too often we get distracted by the flashy features of our product and forget about who would actually use them. It’s easy to focus on building cool new technology instead of thinking about ways to effectively integrate that technology into people’s lives.
That’s why it’s important to do some research ahead of time to define your target audience, know whether they need your product, and be sure that it fits within their lifestyle.
It’s also crucial to figure out how best to position your product in order to maximize its success.
The second part of going market is developing your product. This includes defining your product, determining how to position it, and creating a sales funnel that will get people to try out your product or service.
There are two main reasons why this step is so important. First, if you don’t define your product clearly, then people can’t tell whether what you are offering is actually useful to them.
Second, most entrepreneurs fail at this stage because they don’t seem to be able to develop their product into something that people want to use.
Usually, they start by thinking about an idea for a product but nothing more than that. They might talk about features or functions, but those ideas aren’t fleshed out very much.
At that point, it’s hard to know whether what they have designed really works and if there are ways to make it better.
A go-to-market strategy is always testing out a new product or service. This can be done with if/then statements to determine whether your product works and how you can improve it.
If you have already tested your product and determined that it does not work, then don’t waste more money by investing in marketing materials, advertisements, or supporting services for something that has failed.
Instead, evaluate what needs to be changed about the product and start from there!
This way, you will know what needed to be adjusted and where to focus your resources. It also helps to create a lesson plan or primer on changes that need to be made so that others do not have to!
For example, if your product requires users to upload an account to use it, make sure this is clearly explained and easy to find. The same goes for requiring payment information – very few people are willing to share that kind of personal data online unless they really had to.
After you have created your business, your next step is to create an online presence or “go-to-market” strategy. This means deciding how people will find out about your product and services!
You can choose from three main strategies: SEO (search engine optimization), social media marketing, and paid advertising. There are some other less common ones like influencer marketing and word of mouth marketing but these aren’t necessarily free.
SEO: Search engine optimization is creating content that draws attention through the search engines. People look up keywords related to your business and then check out sites with those keywords in their URL or domain name.
This way, when someone types in this keyword into a search bar, they end up looking at your site! This is very important as most of the time, people do not know who you are until they do research for your company.
Social Media: Creating profiles on all major social media platforms is a great way to expose your business. You can use it to connect with others, share information, promote products, etc.
By using resources such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, your business will get exposure. On average, each platform has millions of users so if one of them was to see something yours, they could spread the word and help grow your brand.
Paid Advertising: Buying ads on Google, Facebook, and other popular websites is another way to gain more reach.
After you have determined your market, what services or products you will offer to customers, and how you will position these services or products, it is time to create your go-to-market strategy!
You should now start creating promotional material that aligns with your marketing message and style. These could be flyers, pamphlets, advertisements, etc. That way, when you need to convey your message, you already have them ready!
Your marketing messages may change, so it is important to reevaluate your go-to-market strategies periodically.
For example, if your business offers website design, then your flyer should clearly state “website designer” and include your phone number and email address.
If your business does not provide this service yet, then your brochure or pamphlet can describe what types of websites people can get (such as blogs, social media pages, and landing pages).
This article has discussed some of the most crucial parts of developing a successful go-to-market strategy for your business. Be sure to review our other articles to stay informed of new trends and tips for running your business.
