Creating a Go-To-Market Plan for a New Product: A Hands-On Guide

Achieving product-market fit (PMF) is the holy grail for any business. As founders, we often start our journey with a brilliant idea and the illusion that we already know our target audience. Once we get our first customer, we are naturally inclined to believe that we have found our PMF. Yet, this might be a dangerous mistake.

In a world where more than half of startups close before five years, poor product-market fit is a top reason why a company goes out of business. And even if you don’t fail right away, you might still be one of the 72% of startups facing product-market-related issues, which includes no market need or mistiming that cripple your growth.

The median time from idea to PMF is about two years, however. So it’s never too late to change your go-to-market plan and find your market fit.

So, let’s cut to the chase and start with the main question: what is product-market fit?

Understanding product-market fit

Entrepreneur Marc Andreessen defines product-market fit as "being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.” It has (almost) nothing to do with the quality of your product, it is about finding your person, your champion, among the world's 8 billion people. So if you are not the luckiest person in the world, you will need a strategic plan to find your PMF.

At my company, we developed a three-phase go-to-market (GTM) approach to find the PMF that successfully helped us get through our early days. I am happy to share it with you.

A three-phase go-to-market approach

No matter how great your product is, entering a new market is like trying to nail jelly to a wall. It's tricky and messy, and you might end up in a sticky situation without the right approach. Our approach was built around three carefully planned phases:

1. Pre-launch phase, where we lay the groundwork
2. Launch phase, where we are making a splash in the new market
3. Post-launch phase, where we iterate for success

Let’s dig into these phases of our approach so you can start your GTM journey.

Pre-launch phase: Laying the groundwork

This is your time to prepare your ship for a new voyage. It’s all about preparation and setting the stage for a successful launch. Make sure to do your homework and learn what will be in your path and who you will be dealing with.

Comprehensive market research is the foundation of any successful product launch. It is the general research phase where you will understand your go-to market's current and possible future.

• Start by talking with your future users by conducting surveys and interviews to understand their needs and pain points. You can use the Mom Test to get more learning and sales out of the conversations and to determine whether your business is a good idea.

• Get more professional and objective reviews and insights about your GTM by analyzing industry reports. Companies publish white papers or reports about your desired market every other day. Check them out, not skim and scan—actually read them.

• Studying your competitors will give you an idea about the market situation and help you find the window of opportunity. When a competitor lose its momentum, it will be your place to overtake their position. Target at least three key competitors and study their strengths and weaknesses.

Customer segmentation divides future customers into groups based on their shared characteristics or behaviors. You can mix them with customer personas, but don’t. Customer personas are more detailed and semi-fictional representations of your segments. You don’t need fiction in the pre-launch phase; you need facts. Creating three distinct groups helped us to identify and understand our target audience based on their demographics, behavior, and needs. Analyze your target market and their living style.

Value proposition development involves generating a clear, compelling statement demonstrating your product's unique benefits and value. You should know why your customers desperately need your product. This value proposition will be applied to every single marketing material, including your website.

• Creating a value proposition is one way to highlight your competitive advantages over other products on the market. Those will give your customers the reasons to choose you over them.

• Whether you are presenting your value proposition or conducting market research, backing claims with performance test stats will increase your credibility.

A sales strategy outlines how your business will sell its product to achieve its target revenue. It is a critical road map for success and should include your sales goals, processes, target customers, and team responsibilities. When you set your prices, you should know market-appropriate pricing tiers. Your strategy should ensure your pricing is competitive and aligned with the local SaaS spending average.

To start with, focus on local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They tend to be more agile and open to innovation, mostly looking for cost-effective solutions to enhance their operations.

Launch phase: Making a splash in the new market

After you’ve finished the preparations, get ready to attract attention and show the market what you are offering. It’s all about putting all your previous efforts into action.

Digital marketing is a must to promote your company and sell your product through digital channels, like a website, social media, content, email, affiliate, video, SEO, etc. It has helped us create a strong online presence and offers a strong ROI of $5 for every $1 spent.

• You can always start with targeted social media ads. These ads are meant for people who can be potential customers of your product based on their age, gender, interests, and hobbies. Remember your customer segments? Use them here. But don’t go all in on paid promo—in the long run you will still need other channels for organic growth.

• Collaborating with local influencers can reach a broader audience and amplify your message. These influencers, who should have at least 50,000 followers, will promote your product and company to their followers, and help you with their credibility and authenticity. Remember, influencer collaboration doesn't have to involve a payment. You can invite them to your podcast or write for your blog.

Equipping your sales team is essential for preparing them to represent your company confidently. You should give them proper product training and ensure they have the necessary tools and equipment for their work.

• Before you buy any software, you should develop a sales enablement strategy that's based on your goals, available means, and desired outcomes. As a startup, you might not have a big sales team (in fact, you might be the only person actually selling your product for a very long time). Yet, having the right resources and tools at hand will make your work much easier and more efficient.

• Salespeople will have conversations with your potential customers, which means they should be ready to handle customer objections and understand their pain points, needs, and desires. So, you must provide sales training that includes sales techniques, product knowledge, buying psychology, and more to drive positive outcomes.

Establishing feedback channels will allow you to adjust your product roadmap while showing your users that their input is valued and actively used. Direct communication with the customers is necessary to understand how your product is used and identify areas for improvement.

• One way to get your users’ feedback is to integrate in-app forms to make sharing thoughts and ideas more accessible. Aim for a 15% response rate for beneficial feedback. These forms can be used to measure user satisfaction, identify bugs or issues, or suggest new features.

• People use social media to rant about product issues or share suggestions, and you can easily track them by monitoring brand mentions. Social media engagement will create genuine connections between you and your users by showing them you are easily reachable.

Forging strategic partnerships involves creating alliances with other organizations where your products align or can be provided to a similar market. Such alignments can create a win-win situation and open up new growth opportunities.

• As you can collaborate with local influencers, you can also partner with local distributors. They have lots of knowledge about the market and buyers’ behavior, so you can quickly access potential customers and increase market penetration.

• Monitor conversion rates to find out the number of prospects who complete a desired action, such as signing up for a free trial or purchasing. Tracking conversations will show the success of your marketing and sales efforts, and identify any bottlenecks in the customer’s buying journey.
• Measure user engagement to understand how effectively and frequently your users engage with your product. Your target average session duration should be at least five minutes. If you have lower engagement, you should do something to increase it. Engagement analytics also help you uncover ways to improve user experience and boost customer satisfaction.

Post-launch phase: Iterating for success

After your launch, your journey is far from over. It’s all about maintaining momentum, fine-tuning your structure, and continuously improving yourself based on feedback and market dynamics. This is the key to your business's long life.

Continuous product iteration means improving your product based on user feedback and collected data from competitors and the market. It is essential to keep up with the market updates and continually evolve based on market needs.

• You enabled users to give you feedback in the launch phase; now, it’s time to use it. Analyze the feedback gathered through social media, in-app surveys, and customer support integrations to improve user satisfaction and retention and attract new users. But don’t waste time implementing every comment you get; prioritize features based on the number of responses.

• User feedback shouldn’t be the only source of inspiration for your product team. After all, you have the road map you created during the pre-launch phase, so use it. Implementing regular updates that include both new features and bug fixes for your product ensures you stay competitive. Aim for an update every six weeks.

Conversion optimization is a systematic process of increasing the effectiveness of the sales funnel to direct people to become paid users. The aim is to improve the user experience and remove any obstacles.

• Talking with people can be possible in the pre-launch phase, but it is difficult and ineffective post-launch. However, running A/B tests on sales funnel elements can achieve the same outcome and if you change something after the A/B test. Target for at least 15% improvement.

• User onboarding is the first interaction with your product and will occur within seven seconds. Focus on streamlining your user onboarding, reducing drop-off rates, and aiming for a 20% reduction—72% of your customers will spread the word to six or more people if you make a great first impression.

Staying ahead of market trends is essential to be successful or even staying alive in this fast-changing world. You should understand the market's pulse and create relevant, functional, and innovative strategies.

• Engage with industry forums, be an active member, attend meetings and establish contact with people in the same field. This involvement assists in identifying new trends, learning from your counterparts, and creating a perception of authority.

• The concept of strategic adaptation based on emerging trends means being flexible and recognizing new trends in the market. This could mean implementing new technologies, expanding to other markets with different channels, or changing your product profile to meet consumers’ expectations.

Go-to-market tips and tricks for entrepreneurs

Here are essential tips that are suitable for every step of your GTM strategy:

Invest in thorough market understanding

We’ve mentioned this tip in the pre-launch phase, but you need to have a thorough market understanding even after you have launched your product. Market mapping is important before venturing into a given market since it will determine how one operates in that given market.

This means collecting all kinds of data, ranging from customer needs and behavior to your competitors' products and market trends. Having this data will help you identify the attributes of your target consumers, information that is very important as you design your product and marketing strategies.

• Use tools like SurveyMonkey or Typeform to conduct surveys and gather customer insights.
• Analyze competitors with Similarweb or Semrush to understand their strategies.
• Access industry reports from CB Insights, Statista, or Gartner for market trends and data.

Measure, learn, and iterate continuously

When you introduce a new product to the market or enter a new market, its essential to track performance against certain key metrics, like customer acquisition cost, conversion rate, users’ engagement levels, and customer satisfaction.

• Track user behavior with Google Analytics or Mixpanel to see what’s working.
• Run A/B tests using Google Analytics or VWO to optimize your website and marketing campaigns.
• Schedule regular feedback sessions with your team and customers to refine your strategies.

Build and nurture industry partnerships

Networking can be a tool for growth for companies to meet other firms, influencers, or other critical players in the market. It can offer access to new customers, improve your brand image, and open the door to co-promotion and cross-selling opportunities.

• Use LinkedIn or Product Hunt to connect with potential partners and industry influencers.
• Check out Eventbrite for industry events and conferences, and attend them to meet potential collaborators.
• Offer value to partners through joint webinars or co-branded content.

Invest in your team

Investing in your team can range from teaching basic business etiquette or role-specific training to offering cultural awareness and diversity programs. While it may be a large investment, but it can definitely improve your company's performance as you grow.

• Provide targeted training sessions using platforms like Coursera or Udemy.
• Implement a reward system for giving and receiving feedback, such as using the Kudos app for Slack or 15Five, to help team members understand their strengths and areas for improvement.
• Host diversity and inclusion workshops to build a more culturally aware team.

Stay agile and be prepared to pivot

Sustaining agility refers to the ability to change or adjust the various operational and managerial strategies in a company in order to meet the evolving needs of the market or customers. It’s about not having a rigid mindset and not becoming overly committed to any particular plan of action. This makes it easier to seize opportunities when they arise and to shift when necessary.

• Use project management tools like Trello or Asana to stay flexible and organized.
• Monitor market trends with Google Alerts or Feedly to stay ahead of changes.
• Conduct regular strategy reviews to identify when a pivot might be necessary.

Moving forward

Post-launch isn’t the finish line, it’s a new beginning. Stay curious, remain flexible, and never stop learning. I gave you multiple to-dos and tips to apply in your launch journey, but don’t follow them blindly. Embrace each phase with resilience and adaptability.

Go-to-market plan FAQs

About the Author

Post by: Alper Yurder

Alper Yurder is a seasoned sales leader with a professional background that ranges from advising top firms at Bain and Accenture to closing multi-million-dollar deals at General Assembly. As the co-founder of Flowla, he is in charge of revenue operations, combining his diverse sales experience to help teams close deals effortlessly and sharing his expertise through the Sales Therapy podcast.

Company: Flowla
Website: www.flowla.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn and X.