How to Build a Go-to-Market Strategy [Template Included]

Entering new markets is always an adventure, and adventures always involve some risk. Moving beyond your current market is challenging, but a well-informed go-to-market strategy ensures you’ll thrive in your new market environment.

This guide aims to help businesses build a data-driven go-to-market strategy. First, we’ll explore exactly what a go-to-market strategy is and why it’s important. Then, we’ll offer a step-by-step process for developing your own.

What Is a Go-to-Market Strategy?

A go-to-market strategy–also called a GTM strategy–is a blueprint outlining the actions you’ll need to take to get your product to your target audience and ensure it delivers on its unique value proposition.

You’ll consider a variety of key market characteristics when building a go-to-market strategy. These characteristics might include:

• The market’s size, competition levels, and major players
• The audience’s demographics and pain points
• The product-market fit
• Local and international market characteristics
• Common marketing approaches, sales funnels, and pricing strategies

Research is an important part of building your go-to-market strategy. You’ll need to gather data on each of these aspects of your market to inform your decisions.

To gather data, you can look at free industry research (here’s an article listing a bunch of free resources), hire a market research firm, or conduct research with market customers on your own with focus groups or surveys. You can try a market research...