Key Components of a GTM Strategy

"Your GTM Isn’t a Strategy—It’s a System" a $7M CEO asked me: "what’s the best go-to-market strategy for our stage of growth?" my response? "you don’t need a strategy. you need a system." most companies treat gtm like a series of disconnected tactics— 📌 launch a new outbound sequence 📌 tweak paid ads to drive pipeline 📌 invest in brand, content, or demand gen but the best b2b companies don’t run tactics. they run GTM systems. GTM is not a one-time initiative—it’s an operating system. if your growth is dependent on heroic sales reps or one-off marketing plays, you don’t have a system—you have a patchwork of tactics. if your sales and marketing teams operate in silos, you don’t have a system—you have a misalignment problem. if you’re adding pipeline but not improving efficiency, you don’t have a system—you have a leaky funnel. when GTM is a system, it runs on predictable inputs and scalable outputs. what does a gtm system look like? 1️⃣ predictable demand generation → how do we consistently create pipeline? ✅ content, brand, paid, outbound all work together (not separately) ✅ marketing & sales agree on icp, lead quality, and follow-up timing ✅ metrics track revenue impact, not just MQLa 🚀 example: Snowflake → multi-channel demand engine that created urgency around data cloud migration. Gong → blended inbound, outbound, and category creation to dominate sales tech. 2️⃣ seamless pipeline conversion → how do we ensure pipeline turns into revenue? ✅ sales process is mapped to buyer journey (not internal quotas) ✅ deal velocity, conversion rates, and forecast accuracy are measured weekly ✅ marketing doesn’t just generate leads—it owns pipeline acceleration 🚀 example: HubSpot → inbound marketing aligned with a structured sales handoff for faster close rates. Stripe → self-serve and sales-led motions work together to maximize growth. 3️⃣ revenue retention & expansion → how do we grow customers beyond their first purchase? ✅ net revenue retention (nrr) > new arr focus ✅ cs and sales align on customer expansion playbooks ✅ partnerships, integrations, and upsells create ongoing growth 🚀 example: Datadog → started with monitoring, expanded into full observability & security. Shopify → moved from a website builder into a full commerce ecosystem with payments, banking, and financing. final thoughts 📌 if your gtm motion isn’t predictable, scalable, and repeatable, you don’t have a system—you have tactics. 📌 if your teams operate in silos, you don’t have a system—you have friction. 📌 if you can’t measure efficiency, you don’t have a system—you have guesswork. GTM isn’t about launching a strategy. it’s about building a system. so i’ll ask you: is your gtm running on tactics, or are you building a system? let’s discuss 👇 love, sangram p.s. follow Sangram Vajre to learn how to fix your broken GTM with GTM O.S. #gotomarket #gtm #growth #b2b #sales #marketing

"We need to be everywhere at once!" A CEO told me when I asked him about his GTM model. And while I loved the “everything, everywhere all at once” movie, you can’t apply it to cybersecurity GTM unless you are Palo Alto, Crowdstrike or Fortinet. This startup was burning cash across 7 different GTM channels back in December of 2024. 5 months later, they cut to just 2 GTM motions and doubled their pipeline. 🧵 Here's my step by step guide to building a multi-channel GTM strategy in cybersecurity from scratch: Step 1: Channel Audit - List ALL current channels (direct, partners, marketplaces, PLG, etc.) - Calculate true CAC for each (include ALL costs) - Identify which channels produce your BEST customers (not just any customers) Step 2: Persona Mapping - Create detailed buyer personas for each - Map their ACTUAL buying journey (not the one you wish they'd take) - Align channels to specific personas and buying stages Step 3: Resource Allocation - Assign clear ownership for each channel - Create channel-specific KPIs (not just revenue) - Set realistic timelines for channel maturity This is critical. You can’t measure everything with sales numbers because a channel-led approach is going to generate zero revenue in the first month. Step 4 and 5: Integration & Optimization This includes regular reviews and experimentation. The most successful cyber companies aren't on every channel, they are excellent at the RIGHT channels at the right time. Don’t do everything everywhere all at once. You are not Michelle Yeoh.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. In #insurance, growth doesn’t come from hype—it comes from clarity. Before you spend on sales teams, channels, or partnerships, you need to nail the five pillars of your #GTM foundation: ✅ Who exactly is your ideal customer? ✅ What problem do you solve—and what outcome do you deliver? ✅ How will you reach buyers? ✅ How will you price and package your solution? ✅ What channels will you use? In Episode 3 of my new video series, “The InsurTech GTM Playbook,” I break down each pillar and share why getting them right early matters so much in this industry. And here’s the thing—this doesn’t just apply to #startups. Mature organizations often think they have these nailed, but the market shifts fast. Revisiting your 𝐆𝐓𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 is just as important for them, too. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 — 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡. #GTMstrategy #InsurTech #B2Bgrowth #InsuranceInnovation #StartupPlaybook #SalesLeadership

I can diagnose your entire GTM strategy in 120 seconds by looking at your website alone. Here's my 7-point checklist that separates the strong from the weak: 1. ICP Understanding & Targeting What I check: Clear communication of who you're for (and who you're not). Why it matters: Trying to be for everyone means you're for no one. Without a laser focus on your ideal customer, your GTM strategy will suffer every time. 2. Messaging & Positioning What I check: Crisp articulation of what you do, how you're different, and why it matters. Why it matters: Clarity beats clever every time. If visitors can't quickly grasp your capabilities and value, they're gone. 3. Pricing & Packaging What I check: A transparent presentation of the offering, ROI, and pricing (even if it's just "starting at"). Why it matters: Showing prices builds trust and communicates competency. No one wants to buy from someone who hides details about what they're selling. 4. Social Proof What I check: Relevant, detailed customer testimonials and case studies for each core offering. Why it matters: Your claims mean nothing without evidence. Let your happy customers do the talking to attract more just like them. 5. Call-to-Actions (CTAs) What I check: Clear next steps for visitors at every stage. Why it matters: Strong CTAs reveal your understanding of the buyer's journey. 6. Traffic What I check: Evidence of driving relevant traffic from chosen channels. Why it matters: The best website is useless if no one sees it. The quality and volume of your traffic often reveal the strength of your marketing execution. 7. Brand Identity What I check: Distinct personality in copy and visuals, clear mission/vision. Why it matters: In a sea of sameness, strong brands are memorable. It also communicates your depth of maturity and self-awareness as a company. --- Are there exceptions—companies with strong GTM but weak websites or vice versa? Sure, but they're rare. Here's why: Creating a powerful website forces your team to align on core GTM foundations. Want to uncover your GTM weaknesses? Take a hard look at your website. It's all there in plain sight. --- P.S. Want a third-party opinion? Drop the link to your website in the comments. I'll take a look and DM you a few recommendations for how to improve it. I'll do this for everyone who comments––not just a select few. (Just be patient with me.)

I've helped 12 companies break the $1M+ ARR barrier (and counting), 5 companies break the $3M ARR barrier, and this is in addition to my own companies. The key to winning in AI and SaaS continues to be Distribution. Here are 6 steps you can follow to build your Go-To-Market Plan for 2025: Step 1: Define Your Market The first step in your GTM plan is to clearly define the market you are entering. Understanding your market is crucial as it sets the foundation for all subsequent steps. Start by identifying the urgent and important problem that your product addresses. Whether you've built a CRM tool, an email marketing solution, or an AI application, pinpointing the specific problem you solve is essential. Step 2: Understand the 'Why' Once you've defined your market, the next step is to understand why this market exists and why the problem you're solving is urgent. This involves exploring macro trends that impact your potential customers. Step 3: Positioning Your Product Positioning is about determining how you will introduce your product into the market and to which specific segments. Markets can be segmented into various categories, such as small businesses, mid-market companies, and enterprises. Understanding your target audience in detail is critical as it informs your sales approach. Step 4: Analyze Your Competition Once you've established your position in the market, it's essential to analyze your competition. There are usually competitors for any SaaS product, ranging from established companies to simple alternatives like spreadsheets. Identifying who your competitors are will help you understand the landscape and find potential white space—areas with unmet needs that you can target. Step 5: Craft Your Messaging With a solid understanding of your market, your positioning, and your competition, the next step is to develop your messaging. This includes creating a clear value proposition that succinctly communicates the problem you solve and why customers should choose your product. Your messaging should be compelling enough to resonate with your target audience and encourage them to act. Step 6: Execute Your Plan Now comes the execution phase of your GTM plan. This is where you put your messaging into action through various marketing and sales strategies. You can choose to focus on inbound marketing—using social media, content marketing, and ads to attract customers—or outbound efforts, such as cold outreach and partnerships. Final Thoughts If you're a SaaS Founder and you'd like to learn more on how to implement these steps, then grab a complimentary copy of my 5-Point SaaS Growth Strategy Guide (link in the comments below) 👇

The CEO must own GTM, but perhaps not in the way one might think. Staying accountable for the Company's GTM Strategy and the metrics it achieves delivers CEO agency. This visual can help everyone decide who owns what. Ultimately, everyone is responsible for GTM metrics; however, defining who owns which metrics is crucial for the effective orchestration of results. 1️⃣ Top Layer: The Company’s GTM Strategy This is the “north star” for the entire GTM organization. These outcomes are the result of coordinated efforts across product, marketing, sales, and customer success. Unified business goals that reflect the impact of all GTM functions (product, marketing, sales, customer success). Examples Include Revenue growth, market share, customer lifetime value, net retention, and profitability. 2️⃣ Second Layer: GTM Alignment and Macroperformance This layer tracks the effectiveness of high-level GTM strategies. It measures how well the GTM team is executing on strategic initiatives that drive business outcomes. Measures the effectiveness of cross-functional GTM strategies (e.g., product launches, market expansion, pricing, customer journey alignment). Examples: Pipeline velocity, win rates, product adoption, expansion revenue, cross-sell/upsell rates. 3️⃣ Third Layer: GTM Planning and Execution Here, the focus is on the operational health across GTM teams. Metrics in this layer help identify where execution is strong or where it needs improvement. Tracks operational health and execution across GTM teams. Examples: Lead conversion rates, sales cycle length, onboarding success, churn rates, NPS, product usage. 4️⃣ Fourth Layer: GTM Tactical Levers and Optimization Day-to-day, granular metrics for continuous improvement in all GTM functions. Metrics here are highly actionable and support continuous improvement, such as campaign performance, SDR activity, product usage analytics, and customer engagement. The CEO's GTM Partner, John P.S. DM me if you want a free GTM Assessment

Contrary to popular belief, having a GTM team offsite will not fix your go-to-market problem. Neither will a pipeline meeting on Wednesdays. Neither will a CMO-CRO bi-weekly coffee meeting. Neither will firing your CMO and trying to hire a unicorn marketing leader. It’s a Band-Aid. It might make it easier for people to work together. It might patch up the problem for a while that will come back to you in 3 months when you’re missing your pipeline for Q4. It’s a Band-Aid. The real solution? Redesign your GTM (aka the Factory that produces your revenue) - Starting with Financial Planning, Modeling, and Budgeting, and then working across the rest of GTM team to Sales, Marketing, Sales Dev, Ops, Post-Sale, etc. 1. Build a Unified View of GTM with Financial Data & GTM Data that measures both performance (effectiveness) and unit economics (efficiency) 2. Align the entire GTM leadership team on a core KPI stack that has *nothing* to do with attribution by department or channel 3. Categorize and evaluate GTM investment portfolio allocation by customer lifecycle stage, NOT DEPARTMENT. 4. Methodically break down compound metrics to isolate the biggest issues / risks / opportunities by customer lifecycle stage 5. Build and align on cross-functional initiatives to solve the biggest issues in your Revenue Factory 6. Monitor and evaluate impact against the core KPI stack that has nothing to do with attribution by department or channel. #finance #gtm #b2b #sales #marketing p.s. Just to drive home the message - you should be able to *clearly* understand how your GTM is performing and isolate the biggest issues/opportunities without ever discussing or using attribution by channel or department 🙂

Startup go-to-market goes through 3 major phases. Failure to recognize which phase you’re in will cause pain, frustration — and often, failure. 🔴 Phase 1 — Market Experimentation This phase is all about learning. But it’s not “research.” The fastest way to find a viable market is by selling. The keys to this phase are speed and volume — you’re trying to get in front of as many potential customers as you can. You’ll start with your network, but should also be creating content, cold DMing prospects, attending meetups, etc. The goal isn’t to hit $1M ARR. It’s to figure out who cares most about the problem you’re solving. Once you know that, you can focus your efforts. 💢 A word of caution: This phase is messy. You’ll face rejection. A lot. But keep going and remember, this is temporary. You’ll know you’re ready for the next phase when you have a gut feeling that you could sell a lot of your product to a specific market. 🔵 Phase 2 — Beachhead Growth This phase is about building systems. The name of the game here is “repeatability.” 👉 To create effective systems, you MUST narrow your focus. You need to solve one use case for one specific group of people. This focus is your competitive advantage for breaking into the market. Without it, you’ll feel like you’re boiling the ocean, and your GTM efforts won’t be effective. Tactically, this phase is about setting up the “plumbing” for how prospects find, evaluate, buy, and use your product. This often involves: • Building marketing and sales assets (homepages, sales decks, email campaigns, etc.) • Developing top-of-funnel content (blogs, social posts, webinars) • Setting up tools to track leads and prospects (CRM) • Creating onboarding materials The goal? Dominate this segment. This should get you to at least $1M ARR. 🟢 Phase 3 — Expansion Growth By this point, you should have a repeatable GTM program that’s generating revenue and earning you some name recognition as a rising player. Now, it’s time to reinvest that revenue and grow. You have 2 main options to consider: • Enter adjacent markets with the same use case (horizontal) • Solve new use cases for your current market (vertical) Which route you take depends on the type of business you want to build, who you want to serve, and your market’s appetite. 💢 But don’t make the classic mistake of going after multiple markets all at once. Expansion is like restarting phase 2—new segments require new systems. The smartest move? Take it one segment at a time. (Sequencing) ——— Remember: Building GTM programs is just like building a product. Mindset is key. There’s a time for learning. There’s a time for building something small (but viable). And there’s a time to scale. Know what phase you’re in, and you’ll have a much smoother time growing your startup. #startups #gotomarketstrategy #growth

As many B2B marketing organizations start hitting the accelerator again this spring and beyond, success and greater more predicable results cannot be sustained on just more media budget, events and greater agency spend. In all of the B2B GTM programs we've seen and worked with over the past year, those with the healthiest pipelines and sustained revenue impact have prioritized these five areas of program health: 1️⃣ Marketing Orchestration This includes sales/marketing operational health as well as the core elements of the planning-to-execution discipline, with a special focus on process testing and iteration 2️⃣ Accountability & Optimization Rhythm A systematic process for continual campaign and program review, improvement and testing cadences 3️⃣ Customer Activation & Evangelism  Customer experience, customer-led growth initiatives and Voice-of-Customer programs ensuring a customer-centric approach to drive sustainable growth 4️⃣ Owned Land  Audience stickiness programs including content/research/insights, community, events and media strategies 5️⃣ Ecosystems Full-funnel partner and alliance programs, co-marketing and MDP programs, industry association/group alignment The right mix and maturity of these programs will vary based on your current GTM strategy and near-future market opportunity. The common thread amongst these is that they are all program commitments, not campaigns. They each imply cross-functional disciplines that often require culture change, not just budget and resource (re)-allocation.

🚀 B2B Revenue Creation Canvas — Don’t go to market without defining TAM/SAM/SOM 🧐 Consider This This may be the biggest driver of underperformance in SaaS companies — the lack of alignment on the target market across GTM functions. This gap manifests itself in many ways; here is a real-life example: - Sales hires AEs in the Middle East as they believe there are untapped opportunities. - Marketing has no plans to market in the region or develop the necessary materials to sell there successfully. - While they have CSMs in the time zone, they are unfamiliar with the region's business norms and culture. We all know how the story ends — friction, finger-pointing, and limited success. ✅ A Few Definitions - TAM (Total Available Market) – The market's total size at maturity if everyone who could buy your product did. This is often a vanity metric for investors, boards, and CEOs - SAM (Serviceable Available Market) – This is the market that can be served by your product’s capabilities and GTM resources. It’s your TAM constrained by industries, company size, product use cases, geography, or other relevant attributes. - SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) – The subset of SAM you can obtain with your current GTM resources and investments. It is the center of gravity for the GTM strategy. 💡 TAM/SAM/SOM Unlock GTM Alignment - Defining the TAM, and ultimately SAM/SOM, allows sales and marketing teams to craft an effective go-to-market plan and agree on realistic targets. - Understanding where they are most likely to win and where whitespace opportunities lie allows marketers to prioritize investments and campaigns. - SAM/SOM provides a measure against which you can demonstrate progress in penetrating your market. 🏆 Pro Tip #1 – Counts v. Value Knowing both the count and the value of your available market is helpful. Value estimates will require averaging the selling price across the various segments within the market. 🏆 Pro Tip #2 – ABM & ICPs If you run an ABM motion, your ICP(s) will be a subset of the SOM. SOM is the base segment of ABM campaigns that uses profile fit (Strong or moderate), buying stage scores, and other attributes. 🏆 Pro Tip #3 – Accounts in Your CRM Your CRM most likely contains accounts in your SOM, accounts not in your SOM, and not all your SOM accounts. Ideally, your entire target market (SOM) is available in your CRM. This lets you understand the penetration level better and support ongoing marketing and sales programs. Erik Huddleston wrote a great article on this earlier this year. 🎤 Let's Discuss - Do you roll your eyes when someone says, “Our TAM is $X billion?” - Have you defined SAM and SOM and used them to create better GTM alignment? What challenges did you have? - Have you used other methods, such as aggregating competitors' revenue and estimating the under-penetrated portion?” ——— 👍 Like this? 🤔 Share your thoughts ♻ Repost #abm #b2bmarketing #saasgtm #gtmstrategy #b2b #tam #gtmalignment #pointbreakgtm