Common Misconceptions About GO-To-Market Strategy

The term 'GTM' is often misused in product marketing. Many confuse a Go-To-Market strategy with a product launch, but they are different. A product launch is a specific type of GTM strategy. It’s a process to introduce new features and products to the market to generate awareness, sales, and adoption. Typically owned by the PMM team, a successful product launch can be built into a repeatable motion. On the other hand, a GTM strategy is a comprehensive plan a business uses to reach its target market through selling products and services. It happens at the company level and requires alignment across marketing, product, sales, operations, and engineering to achieve business goals. Here is an example: If you're entering a new market to expand from one region to another, marketing promotions alone won't suffice. You need to understand the regional market and customer dynamics, create region-specific messaging and positioning, ensure product delivery can be met, comply with local laws, and localize pricing and marketing tactics. This process involves the entire organization, from the CEO to individual employees. I've been coaching many new PMM leads for growth-stage startups, and I've learned that the most successful PMM functions focus on holistic GTM strategies, not just individual product launches. A strong GTM focus drives impact across the entire business and enables PMMs to deliver transformational results. Check out the illustration below that maps out the differences and overlaps between GTM strategies and product launches. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences! #productmarketing #strategy #gtm #saas #coaching

Using TAM/SAM/SOM to build your go-to-market strategy is a mistake. (especially for horizontal markets) 💢 Because B2B markets are incredibly fragmented. (especially for horizontal products) Sure, those 3 circles with generic definitions might have helped you raise money… But those definitions are nowhere near good enough to develop efficient marketing programs. Check out the image to see what Calendly’s market actually looks like. ⚫️ Investor Market Breakdown (Left image) 3 basic definitions of who might buy a meeting booking tool. This is a drastic oversimplification of what the market looks like. 🟣 GTM Breakdown (Right image) This is a more accurate depiction of a market — a complex collection of sub-markets (and could actually have a lot more detail). It factors in the nuances that drive different customer behavior: → different industries → different company types → different teams → different situations → different needs ———— 🔥🔥 So, what does a more realistic view of markets mean for startup founders? 1️⃣ Build better GTM strategies No more blindly following a TAM/SAM/SOM as your market map. Instead, your sales and marketing motions will be rooted in something closer to reality — resulting in campaigns that are: → more targeted → more effective → more predictable 2️⃣ Identify more growth opportunities Even in saturated markets, there will always be underserved segments. You just have to be willing to look for them — and then get specific with your message to reach them. 3️⃣ Less likely to prematurely scale When founders raise money, they feel that they are on their way to becoming a large company. So they start doing “big company things”: ⛔️ Broad ambitious marketing campaigns ⛔️ Moving up-market to chase enterprise deals ⛔️ Starting to build new products Embracing the reality of complex markets will give founders some pause before making these mistakes. ——— So, when planning your GTM strategy… Ditch the TAM/SAM/SOM slide from your pitch deck. And lean into the fragmentation of B2B markets. #startups #gtmstrategy #b2bmarketing

Is your startup making this GTM mistake? I discovered it while working with a startup founder recently who had done everything "right" but was still struggling. They'd done everything by the book: → Built detailed ICPs → Created positioning docs → Updated pricing strategy → Mapped acquisition channels But nothing was working. Here's what I found: Each foundation was built in isolation––like trying to build a house with perfect materials but no blueprint connecting them. Their ICP? A confusing mashup of 5-6 different customer segments. Their positioning? Generic because it wasn't tied to a clear customer profile. Their pricing? Based on competitor research instead of actual customer value. Their acquisition strategy? Following industry "best practices" instead of targeting where their best customers actually hang out. After our first audience workshop, the CEO messaged me: "These discussions among our team members should have happened months ago. I hired the right guy!" Here's the truth about go-to-market strategy: You can nail every individual piece and still fail if they're disconnected. Success isn't about checking boxes. It's about weaving your GTM foundations together into one cohesive strategy. #B2BMarketing #GTMStrategy

“Our competitors got results overnight” → You're only seeing their tip of the iceberg. Their "instant success" was built on months (or years) of groundwork you didn’t see. Leads, sales, website traffic, brand recognition... these are all lagging indicators. Here is what takes place below the 'surface'. (Foundation Work) Customer Research: ↳ Understand your audience’s pain points and needs before creating any campaigns. Designing Offers That Resonate: ↳ Tailor product or service offers to align with what your ideal customers truly want. Crafting Clear Positioning: ↳ Define what makes you different from competitors and why it matters to your audience. Developing Authentic Messaging: ↳ Test and refine messaging that speaks directly to your customer’s challenges with your unique positioning. Creating Strategic Content: ↳ Content is a long game. Developing your content pillars, testing new content formats, measuring what works and doesn't. Distributing with Purpose: ↳ Use the right channels and cadence. Organic content needs time to build authority. Starting out, we've been caught in this common misconception ourselves. We found it was best to shift our expectations... We built our systems before expecting resutls: ↳ Invest in the systems that deliver long-term growth vs. expecting quick wins. We Set Realistic Timelines: ↳ Not all marketing channels work at the same speed. Plan accordingly. For us, Linkedin is our focus. GTM success is the result of past strategic investments, not a reaction to today’s urgency.

In 2015 I created a restaurant app and failed miserably… Why? We launched a product I was proud of. It worked. It solved a real problem. We had users test it and even got some early praise. But when we opened it up to the world… — Nothing happened. — No traction. — No buzz. — No meaningful usage. And here’s where I went wrong in our GTM: I treated GTM like a launch event, not a strategy. I thought “go-to-market” meant writing a good launch social media post, posting on forums, and sending a few emails. What I should’ve done: Treat GTM like a system—with phases, goals, and messaging refined over time. I didn’t obsess over distribution. We had no channel strategy. I assumed if we put it out there, people would find it. Spoiler: they didn’t. What I should’ve done: Pick 1–2 channels. Go deep. Work backward from where users hang out, not where I’m comfortable. Looking back, I’m grateful it happened early. Because it taught me this: > You don’t fail because the product is bad. > You fail because not enough people care—and they never get to see it. Now, every time I build something, I ask myself: * Who is this for? * How will they discover it? * Why should they care today? If you’re building something right now: Don’t wait until launch day to think about go-to-market. It’s not a line on your checklist—it’s the engine of your startup. #GTM #FounderLessons #LaunchMistakes HonestAI - Building AI Powered Apps & Agentifying Companies GrayCyan AI Consultants & Developers