Unleashing the Secret to Market Dominance

Go-To-Market Strategy with the perspective of a product specialist

Working on identifying the right GTM strategies

by Sumana Ghosh & Ganesh Emandi

Go-to-market strategy (GTM strategy) specifies how a brand/product must reach out to its target customers by standing out from its competitors in the market. Its purpose is to sketch an outline for delivering a product/service to end customers. It is very much similar to a business plan. But the later has a wider scope, and it takes a couple of extra factors like funding into consideration.

Types of marketing strategies

There are lots of different approaches when it comes to marketing. Nowadays, we do have social media or content marketing, but the most straightforward way for strategising market growth are these four strategies described below.

• Market Penetration: Working towards a higher market share by fitting into the existing products in existing markets. Amazon markets various products online, such as electronics, clothes, and furniture, regularly in its existing markets. Advertisements, promotions, discounts, and encouraging bulk purchases are often targeted by Amazon. Applications and other functions have been introduced by Amazon to simplify the process. Amazon has acquired many small brands in different markets. This is how Amazon continues to gain market share.
• Market Development: This starts with market research, where subdivision analysis is carried out for the existing market. Those market segments or subdivisions are then shortlisted which need to be covered. In India, Amazon’s website in Hindi was launched to increase its customer base as many Indians are still not fluent in English, which could have made Amazon lose many potential customers. Similar has been done for various other regional markets as well. Many local products that are specific to a particular region are also listed on these regional websites. In this way, Amazon is successful in maintaining its popularity among new markets.
• Product Development: Developing products from scratch or modifying the existing products so that they are considered new and selling them to existing as well as new markets. Amazon started its journey by selling only a single product, i.e., Books. It continued to expand its product portfolio since then, and now it sells everything online, i.e., furniture, clothes, electronics, smartphones, and a lot more. The company has seen a lot of growth concerning its product portfolio. Today the products that it sells have crossed 500 million. The company also allows third-party sellers to sell their products utilising this platform.
• Diversification: Launching a new product or a product line in a new geography or market. Businesses can identify new opportunities, generate profits, shoot up sales revenue, and expand their market share. Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon’s cloud services for its clients to enter the software industry, and Amazon Go retail store that allows customers to buy products from shelves and walk away. The products are automatically scanned as customers lift them from the shelves and the payment is made from the Amazon account of the customers.

Components of the Go-To-Market Strategy

There are some critical components of the Go-To-Market(GTM) strategy described below. They help in identifying the target market and ideal customer group for any product/group. There is always a lot of focus on product messaging, which describes the profits and value of a product/brand to the customers. And also some know-how on distribution channels determining how the products can be sold.

• Market intelligence: Relevant data daily that guides the marketing attempts of a brand/product. This can be used to analyze and make vital decisions by considering the behavior of contemporary products, consumer trends, and other market opportunities. Amazon’s Retail analytics helps advertisers to predict the trends. As a result, they can make quick real-time decisions based on those trends, which help boost successful and profitable decision-making capability.
• Market Segmentation: The process used to break a brand’s potential customers into various sections. This helps the brand in allocating dedicated resources to each section. As a result, this helps in promoting different types of marketing campaigns. Amazon’s market segments are New shoppers and loyal customers who are frequent shoppers: Ones with Prime membership buy at least once a week, and nearly 70% every few weeks and casual (non-Prime) Amazon customers purchase multiple times in a year.
• Product Pricing: Striking a proper balance between setting up prices for your products in such a manner that the brand gives good competition to your contemporaries and generates a good return on the investment. Pricing strategies should be designed in such a manner that it provides customers with competitive pricing maintaining the profitability of the company. For example, during peak shopping seasons, Amazon raises the prices of popular items to match high demand. On the other hand, it sells products by offering heavy discounts to attract customers and increase sales with an expectation that the customers will buy more. Amazon even offers very good discounts on products for a limited time or as a part of a special promotion. It uses the prices that end with “9” or “99” to make the product appear cheaper. Amazon also introduced subscription-based pricing. i.e., Amazon Prime provides customers with free shipping, access to streaming services, and other benefits for a certain amount of yearly fee.
• Product Positioning: By Product positioning, you can always make sure that the marketing techniques and the brand are on a similar level. Product positioning establishes the identity of a product/brand so that customers are aware of it in a certain way. Amazon’s Positioning Strategy is low price, remarkable convenience, speedy access, and extensive selection. Amazon’s main agenda is to present both value and low prices to customers.
• Product Messaging: Defining the product and communicating its importance and sensibleness to the target customers. Your product message should describe your product and discover its target audience. “To help your company stand out in the market, you need to focus on the right audience with an appropriate message. And most importantly, your message has to be in sync with the service/product which is being offered to the target customers by your brand”. It should connect your product with what your customers care about. Being smart with your messaging is the key because the right message paves a path for more leads or sales. Dropbox’s messaging focuses on the convenience of their file-sharing service and also highlights the time-saving benefits with the tagline “Simplify your life.” Twitter’s tagline, “See what’s happening,” effectively captures the essence of real-time information and highlights the platform’s unique value proposition within the constraints of the channel as it has a character limit. Amazon focuses on customers instead of focusing on competitors. It is biased towards the urge to invent, committed towards operational brilliance, and very far-sighted thinking. Amazon’s goal is to be known as Earth’s most customer-centric company, Earth’s best employer, and Earth’s safest place to work.
• Building Customer Loyalty: Market strategy very importantly focuses on earning the target customer’s loyalty. In many cases, the customers speak up against the negative reviews and comments coming your brand’s way. Catching hold of the right occasions to surprise your customers, i.e., birthdays, festivals, special days, etc., are all great occasions to make customers feel special and win them over. Thank you notes for customers also make them appreciative of your gratitude for having them as your buyers. These are some little things that show the customers that you care. Being interactive with your customers on social media is also a terrific example of responding directly to them and being heard. We see that McDonald’s & Starbucks Coffee are very responsive on Twitter.
• Building Brand Awareness: Brand awareness has a vital role in running a successful business & it always starts with knowing your customers(KYC), setting brand awareness KPIs to track how your brand is perceived over a short period, rebranding/Modifying your brand and create targeted campaigns for your business. Therefore, Netflix discovered its early brand image by offering low price points and a very simple set-up, i.e., easy-to-use, affordable, and low-maintenance. By the end of the year 2000, it canceled the single-rental model to proceed with a monthly subscription concept. It focussed on unlimited rentals and flat fees. Netflix generates brand awareness among the audiences through successful social media platform promotions and advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. It advertises and offers good deals to gain high attraction customers and build a very strong customer base.

Social Media Support

What are Marketing collaterals and their importance?

Marketing collateral is a set of marketing digital media or physical material that is used by a brand to promote and support the sale of its products/services.
These can be product brochures, data sheets, website landing pages, and even social media posts with similar purposes, such as :

• Getting target customers’ attention.
• Increase their know-how about the product.
• Encourage the customer and ensure maximum sales.
• Win the customer’s trust and loyalty.

For example, Amazon allows B2B (business-to-business) sellers to upload user manuals, comparison charts, certifications, or even URLs to the seller’s website to help the target buyers understand the technical specification section of their listings. This simply aims to help their product look superior and user-friendly significantly.

Contribution of a Product Evangelist in Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy

In today’s highly competitive business world, effective go-to-market (GTM) strategies are vital for the success of new products. A product evangelist serves as a bridge between the product development team and the target audience, promoting and advocating the product’s value proposition.

• Building Product Awareness: Product evangelists are responsible for developing a deep understanding of the product’s features, benefits, and competitive advantages. They conduct product demonstrations, participate in industry events, and engage themselves in online communities to create more visibility for the brand.
• Driving Customer Engagement: Product evangelists actively seek feedback from early adopters, gather insights, and relay them to the product development team. Through their interactions with the customers, they solve customer concerns, provide them with timely support, and ensure customer satisfaction. This helps in building a very loyal customer base for the brand.
• Market Intelligence and Competitive Analysis: Product Evangelists closely monitor market trends, customer needs, and competitor activities to identify opportunities and threats. By staying informed about the evolving landscape, the evangelist provides critical insights to the product development team, helping them refine the product roadmap and prioritise future enhancements.
• Being a confidant to the Sales and Marketing Teams: By providing in-depth knowledge and insights, the Product evangelist equips the sales team with the necessary tools and information to effectively position and sell the product. They also work with marketing teams to create marketing collateral and impactful content, such as blog posts, case studies, and webinars, that highlight the product’s unique selling points.

Points to remember while building an effective Go-To-Market(GTM) strategy

A well-designed GTM strategy is a roadmap that guides companies in effectively launching and promoting their products to the target market. A strong GTM strategy sets the foundation for long-term growth and enables companies to achieve their business objectives. While working on GTM strategies, it is necessary to keep the following points in mind.

• Understanding the target market and identifying customer needs and pain points are crucial: A deep understanding of the target audience enables companies to tailor their messaging, positioning, and marketing channels to effectively reach and engage potential customers.
• GTM strategy should have clear and compelling product messaging: Articulating the product’s unique value proposition concisely and persuasively is essential for capturing customer attention and generating interest.
• GTM strategy should also include a comprehensive marketing plan that leverages various channels and tactics to reach the target audience: A mixing of digital marketing, content creation, social media engagement, influencer partnerships, and traditional advertising methods. By employing a multi-channel approach, companies can level up their reach and increase the chances of attracting and converting potential customers.
• Collaborating and aligning between different teams within an organisation is vital for a successful GTM strategy: Sales, marketing, product development, and customer support teams must work in harmony, sharing insights and feedback and aligning their efforts towards a common goal. This collaboration ensures a seamless customer experience and enables teams to address customer needs effectively throughout the entire customer journey.
• Regular monitoring and evaluation of the GTM strategy are crucial to gauge its effectiveness and make necessary adjustments: Primary performance indicators (KPIs) should be defined and periodically tracked. By analysing data and customer feedback and reviews, companies can improve, they can optimise their approach, and ensure continuous growth and success.

Conclusion

This article gives us a brief idea on understanding various types of marketing strategies that help potential Business owners identify the best strategies to promote their product/brand. We also emphasised understanding the different components of GTM so that Business owners don’t miss out on any important GTM strategy criteria. The importance of Marketing Collateral was also recognised, which will always be an advantage for both Brand promotions and also collaterals to make products/brands really User friendly.

We also talked about the roles and responsibilities of a Product Owner/Evangelist in shaping up the marketing strategy for their product because they are experts in understanding the functional behaviour of the product from a User’s perspective. The marketing team can always take their advice in showcasing the Product’s product value to lure potential customers. Lastly, we have focussed on all the important points to be considered while creating GTM strategies to make a brand /product a huge success.