Guides you through development of a go to market strategy, from choosing the initial team, right through the launch, and post launch action.
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Every beginning is difficult – this also applies to a market launch. After all, initially nobody knows for sure whether the effort of development will be worth it or whether your new product will fail. But if you develop a strong ‘go to market strategy’ and plan, the chances of a successful product launch increase considerably!
Steps in a go to market strategy
1. Put together a team
First, the team for the go to market strategy and market launch is put together. As a team leader, you need a responsible person who controls the product launch process so that the process runs in a coordinated and structured manner.
Ideally, a project is set up here which, for example, is led by the responsible product manager and in which representatives of all departments important for the market launch are involved. These will primarily be sales, marketing communication, the service department and, if necessary, production and purchasing.
2. Develop a market launch concept
The next step in a go to market strategy is the joint development of a market launch concept. In the best case, the conceptual ideas for introducing the product have already been put on paper in the product conception phase. Then they just have to be updated in the team and structured in terms of time.
A market launch concept describes exactly which strategic focus should be selected in the market launch. Here it is determined whether, for example, certain priority target groups should be addressed first, whether the international rollout takes place successively or simultaneously, which pricing policy or which communication measures are effective for the introductory phase.
The following questions should be answered in a market launch concept:
- When is the right time to launch?
- Which target groups should be addressed in the market introduction phase? Define priority target groups (for example, industries) for the market launch so that sales have a sense of achievement with the new product as quickly as possible.
- Who are the innovators or early adopters who should be particularly wooed as part of the market launch?
- What is the particular benefit of the product for the target groups?
- How should the target customers perceive the product (product positioning)?
- Where does the product fill a gap in the range?
- How does it differentiate itself from competing products?
- To what extent should marketing activities be carried out in advance of product availability (external launch)?
- What information should be made known when and how in the company about the new product (internal launch)?
- In which regional markets should the new product be launched in which order?
- What obstacles can prevent the product from diffusing?
- How should the marketing instruments (product, service, price, distribution, communication) be designed specifically for this phase?
- What indicators should be used to measure the success of the new product?
3. Create a go to market strategy and plan
The specific measures for the market launch are derived from the go to market strategy and plan. These measures, such as the implementation of training courses, are presented in the next step in a project plan – the market launch plan. Here, all individual measures, calculated back from the time of the planned market launch, are presented in a chronologically coordinated manner. The measures should be scheduled and agreed with the responsible specialist departments and implemented and controlled using this joint project plan.
Depending on how new the product is, the lead time for building up certain know-how, for example in service or sales, can be relatively long. In some cases, it also takes a very long time until certain documents and permits are available for individual countries. That is why it is not possible to start early enough to plan and schedule the market launch in all individual steps in a team.
4. Go to market strategy template
The information above, and the following steps below, are what is formed into a go to market strategy template. There are many blank templates on the internet you can use, including ones for Excel, Powerpoint and other common tools.
We particularly like this go to market strategy template (PowerPoint version downloads via our link) from Upboard, for its simplicity.
5. Prepare the sales team for the new product
Only an enthusiastic sales team will be able to inspire your target groups. First and foremost, sales need security and trust that the new product will keep what it promises and that there will be no subsequent problems for customers. As the first internal customer, the sales department should understand where the new product closes a gap in the existing portfolio or which trend and which needs of the target groups are covered with this product.
The sales department needs documents and background knowledge in order to be able to adapt the benefit arguments specifically to the target groups and their processes. This is especially true if the product was designed for new target groups. Even with products that achieve their unique position through additional services, it is important to give sales security with regard to the argumentation. You can use the following measures to instill confidence and security in sales.
Put together a launch package
Put together a launch package for sales that summarizes all the important information about the new product, such as benefit arguments, price lists, reference lists, competitor comparisons or customer presentations. In the best case scenario, you should make this information available on the Share-Point so that the sales department can access it at any time and download the relevant presentations for the respective target groups.
Support with tools
Wherever possible, you support sales with tools that facilitate the argumentation of cost savings or cost comparisons with existing solutions directly at the customer. These can be, for example, Excel tables for calculating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) or potential savings in process optimization.
Use sales app
A sales app can be a practical and useful support for sales, in which all information about the products is clearly presented and therefore quickly accessible.
Offer training
Create entertaining and inspiring training courses. Do not give PowerPoint monologues or fire a “feature avalanche”. Let the sales staff play with the products, give them the opportunity to ask questions and design the training with as many activating elements as possible. At the end of the day, sales should know the three to five most important benefit arguments and the most suitable target groups.
Put together reference projects and success stories
Put together reference projects and success stories for sales. Nothing is more motivating than seeing that the new product works and is being used successfully by the customer.
Accompany sales during customer visits
Plan the support of the sales department during customer visits in the first few months in your schedule.
Create short videos about the new product
For the international branches and agencies, short, simply designed videos about the new product and its handling can transport the most important information even to distant regions.
Create FAQ list
Create an FAQ list for all new questions that arise after the introduction that you regularly send to sales and trading partners. That creates security and trust.
6. Build up knowledge of the new product in the market
The newer the product, the higher the investment in building knowledge about your product and its uses. And the longer it takes for the target groups to reduce any skepticism and uncertainty about the new product.
A systematically developed communication concept can be of great service here. In your communication measures, remember to communicate about your product internally in the company at a timed level. The following key questions help to develop a communication concept:
- What goals do you want to achieve with your communication measures on the market?
- What knowledge do you want to build up in the various target groups and markets?
- What exactly should be communicated with whom?
- How can uncertainty among the target groups be reduced?
- Does an advance notice for your new product make sense (depending on the length of the customer’s decision-making process)?
- Are there opinion leaders in the individual target groups and regions? Can you use these opinion leaders in your communication?
- Which new media can you use for customer communication (e.g. YouTube videos or an app)?
6. Check the success of the implementation measures
The last important success factor is not to let up in energy after the launch. Depending on the product and the duration of the customer’s purchase decision process, it can take up to two years before the first sales for the new product can be measured.
During this time, the product manager responsible should have early indicators at his disposal, such as agreed sales visits to his new product, in order to be able to monitor whether the introduction is going as planned. If this is not the case, he should get to the bottom of the cause and take appropriate action.
This requires regular feedback from back office and field staff as well as from the communications department. Only when the product is well established on the market is the product launch a real success.
Define leading indicators that you can use to monitor whether the rollout is going as planned. A key figure could be the number of clicks on the website of the product, or the number of visits agreed to by sales to present the new product. Get regular feedback from back office and field staff Follow up promptly through appropriate measures, such as follow-up training for sales, mailing campaigns, revision of the benefit argumentation, creation of FAQs for sales and service.
