go-to-market-strategy

Go-to-Market Strategy

End-to-end GTM playbook: motion selection, positioning, channel strategy, phased launch execution, launch marketing, and technical product launches.

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Core Philosophy

A launch is a campaign, not an event. Build momentum before launch, peak at launch, sustain after. The best companies don't launch once — they launch again and again.

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GTM Motion Selection

Motion	Best For	Key Lever
PLG	SMB, developers, low ACV (<$5K)	Free → paid conversion
PLG + Sales-Assist	Mid-market, $5K-$25K ACV	PQL → SQL routing
Sales-Led	Enterprise, complex product, >$25K ACV	Relationship, champion
Community-Led	Developer tools, OSS	Community adoption
Partner-Led	Geographic expansion, enterprise	Partner incentives

Quick decision:

ACV < $5K and self-serve possible? → PLG
Buyer technical? → Developer/community-led
Everything else? → Sales-led

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5-Phase GTM Strategy

Phase 1: Market Positioning

Define ICP, positioning, and messaging using the marketing-strategy skill before executing launch phases.

Validate: target customer defined, differentiation identified, tested with 5+ customers.

Phase 2: Messaging & Content

Message hierarchy:

1. Headline — Core benefit in 5-10 words
2. Sub-headline — How it works or who it's for
3. 3 Key Benefits — Feature → benefit
4. Social Proof — Testimonials, logos, metrics
5. CTA — Clear next step

Content to create: Launch blog post · Product demo video (2-3 min) · Landing page · Email announcement · 5-10 social posts

Phase 3: Channel Strategy (ORB)

Owned (highest ROI — build these first): Email list · Blog/SEO · Branded community

Rented (speed, not stability): Twitter/X · LinkedIn · YouTube · Reddit — use to drive to owned

Borrowed (shortcut to audiences): Guest posts · Podcast interviews · Influencer partnerships · Co-marketing

Strategy: Use rented/borrowed to drive traffic, capture into owned.

Phase 4: Launch Timeline

6-Week Launch Timeline:

• Week -6: Finalize messaging, create content, set metrics
• Week -4: Build waitlist, draft emails, reach out to press/influencers
• Week -2: Tease on social, send "coming soon" emails, final QA
• Week 0 (Launch Day): Publish landing page + blog, post to Product Hunt 12:01 AM PT, send launch email, share on socials, monitor and respond
• Week +1: Share testimonials, post case studies, analyze metrics
• Week +2: Post-launch analysis, plan ongoing marketing

Phase 5: Metrics & Success Criteria

Define BEFORE launch:

• Awareness: Website visitors, social impressions
• Acquisition: Signups, trial starts, purchases
• Activation: Users completing core action
• Revenue: MRR, conversion rate

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Multi-Phase Launch Approach

Phase	Goal	Key Actions
Internal	Validate functionality	Test with friendly users, fix major issues
Alpha	First external validation	Landing page, waitlist, invite individually
Beta	Scale early access + buzz	Work through waitlist, tease problems you solve
Early Access	Validate at scale	Leak details, usage data, PMF survey
Full Launch	Maximum visibility	Open signups, start charging, all channels live

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Product Hunt Launch

Before launch day: Build relationships with supporters, optimize listing (tagline, visuals, demo video), engage in communities.

On launch day: Treat as all-day event. Respond to every comment. Drive traffic back to site to capture signups.

After: Follow up with all who engaged. Convert PH traffic into email signups.

Case study — Reform: studied successful launches, polished visuals, community engagement pre-launch → #1 Product of the Day.

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Launch Marketing Pack

For any major launch, produce these 7 deliverables:

1. Context snapshot — what's launching, who it's for, goal, date, constraints
2. Launch Marketing Brief — message, hook/sizzle, proof points, CTA, audience segments
3. Launch Motion + Channel Plan — sequencing, channel table, asset mapping
4. PR Outreach Kit — exclusive decision, target outlets, pitch + follow-up emails
5. Asset + Internal Readiness Kit — asset checklist, landing page outline, sales talk track, FAQ, objections
6. Measurement + Experiment Plan — metrics, instruments, experiments, what to double down on
7. Risks / Open questions / Next steps

For launch marketing templates: see references/TEMPLATES.md For intake questions to gather launch inputs: see references/INTAKE.md For full workflow guidance: see references/WORKFLOW.md

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Technical Product Launches

For developer tools, APIs, SDKs, and technical infrastructure:

Launch Tiers

Tier	Type	Timeline	Investment
1 — Major	New product/GA	12-16 weeks	High
2 — Standard	New features/integrations	6-8 weeks	Medium
3 — Minor	Updates/patches	2-4 weeks	Low

Developer-First Principles

1. Documentation is non-negotiable — Don't launch without a getting started guide + API reference + 3+ code samples
2. Show, don't tell — Actual code > marketing copy
3. Interactive > passive — Playground > demo video > screenshots
4. Community-first — Answer Stack Overflow, engage GitHub, respond on Hacker News

Primary Developer Channels

Dev docs · GitHub/GitLab · Developer blog · API changelog · Dev.to · Hacker News · Reddit · Discord/Slack · YouTube tutorials

For tier framework details: see references/launch_tiers.md For developer metrics: see references/metrics_frameworks.md

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GTM Execution Checklist

Pre-Launch

• Landing page with clear value proposition and waitlist capture
• Owned channels established (email list, blog)
• 1-2 rented channels with profiles optimized
• Borrowed channel opportunities identified
• Launch assets created (screenshots, demo video, social posts)
• Onboarding flow tested
• Analytics and tracking live

Launch Day

• Announcement email sent
• Blog post published
• Social posts live
• Product Hunt listing active (if using)
• In-app announcement for existing users
• Team ready to engage and respond

Post-Launch

• Onboarding email sequence active
• Comparison pages published
• Roundup email includes announcement
• Feedback collected and triaged
• Next launch moment planned

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Common GTM Mistakes

• Launching without audience — Build email list first
• One-day launch, then silence — Plan 30 days of post-launch activity
• Everything everywhere — Pick 2-3 channels, do them well
• No success metrics — Define goals before launch
• Features not benefits — "You can achieve X" beats "We have feature X"
• Over-promising — Ground claims in real evidence

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Related Skills

• sales-and-revenue-operations — Sales team, RevOps, ICP
• pricing-strategy — Pricing decisions
• marketing-strategy — Product marketing, positioning, and competitive intelligence