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Before we move any further, tell me about your product. (You and I are on the same team, you know?)

As your wellwisher, I have to ask you. Do you know about the next steps? If you have a new pizza recipe, I'll become your sole customer for life. But if not, how do you plan to sell your product? Do you have a plan of action that brings customers and boosts sales? 

Countless products have fallen while trying to find the perfect marketing strategy. Enter B2B Saas Go to Market, your brand builder, your seller!

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A GTM strategy can help you boost leads, reduce cost per lead, and maximize conversions. Well then, what are you waiting for? Let's begin and unlock the full potential of your brand. 

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Decoding the Jargon

Let's begin by answering some questions you may have in mind. What is B2B Saas Go to Market? Imagine you are making a pizza. While your SaaS product is the crust, GTM is the cheese with toppings that give it all the flavor. 

In B2B marketing, GTM helps you pinpoint your target audience, understand their problems, bring them to your product, and convert these visitors into customers. It is almost like pairing Deadpool with Wolverine to create the perfect movie!

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Why GTM? Because your SaaS deserves the best!

Let's talk about Zoom's B2B marketing strategy. (How many meetings have you remotely attended because of Zoom?)

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1. Zoom created a desirable product that helps users connect remotely.
2. Next, they started a freemium model to bring in users and validate their services.
3. Their TAM included schools, universities, corporations, and any online growing business.

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(tip: TAM aka Total Addressable Market, refers to the audience you want to focus on. You can build your TAM using an ICP. Read further to know what that means!)

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Zoom delivered simplicity and convenience to its users. The best part? They capitalized on the remote work culture, allowing people to explore when the world had shut down. 

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Like Zoom, if you want the world to notice your brand, you need a GTM. You have done a great job with product development. Now, you owe it to yourself to make your B2B SaaS shine and bring in people that appreciate it. 

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The B2B SaaS GTM Playbook

Now that you know the meaning and importance of B2B Saas GTM, let's go through a step-wise guide explaining everything you need to do. (Don't worry, I am not here to overwhelm you with information.)

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Step 1: Understanding the Marketing Hourglass

Do you want to mark your territory in the market? Refer to the marketing hourglass by John Web (bless his soul). The idea behind this strategy is simple:

1. Find out ways to attract customer attention. (Paid media, outbound options, product events, blogs, etc. )
2. Build the credibility of your brand to get contacts.
3. Nurture the client to initiate sales.
4. Provide-after support

Your customer is going nowhere if you use the right strategies. Define what works for you and implement it as required!

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Step 2: Defining Clear Goals

Every quest starts with a goal to conquer. For your B2B SaaS, here's what you need to ask yourself:

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What?

What is your goal? What is it that you are trying to achieve with your brand? Your objective may include business expansion, maximum audience reach, original lead generation, or a combination of many.

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How?

Imagine going on a road trip to Ladakh and not having Google Maps or anyone to guide you. (I already feel lost!) Ask yourself about the strategies you can implement to achieve your goals.

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Challenges?

Every journey includes a lot of roadblocks. Identify these challenges with the help of an ROI table. Create a table to write what challenges you may face and possible reasons. Mix and match to find your way!

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Step 3: Market Segmentation

This step allows you to understand the right market for your brand. Answer the following questions, and you will know what you are dealing with. You can use your answers to develop a sales plan.

(Bear with me and my questions, will you?)

1. Who is your customer?
2. How many customers are you catering to? (numerical datasets)
3. What revenue can they bring?
4. What are the Annual Contract Value and yearly sales you are aiming for?
5. Who is your competition?
6. What are your targets and prospects?

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Step 4: Creating an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

To understand your customers, stalk them! (Just kidding)

Now that you know the market segment you want to target, you need the exact data about your customers to develop a strategy that talks to them. Here's what you need to do:

1. Perform demographic research (record name, age, industry, location, etc. )
2. Analyze the problems that your target audience faces. (Ask about goals, challenges, and triggers.)
3. If customers were to implement your B2B Saas product, what would be the output value and experience?
4. What is the buying journey for each customer? What do they look for in a product?
5. Find out the social media channels your customers use. 

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Compile your answers to define your ideal account. This account will be the customer you want to target. 

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The Buying Committee 

The decision-makers, the stakeholders, the buying committee. Do you want to win? Find a way through the buying committee. 

Here’s who you need to know about in the committee

1. Champion: researcher/end-user
2. Decision: approver of the deal
3. Influencer: indirectly involves, influences
4. Blocker: the uninterested bottleneck 

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Work on every aspect to create a B2B SaaS Go to Market.

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Step 5: Positioning and Unique Value Proposition

The market has an infinite supply of every B2B SaaS commodity. If you can prove your product is unique, you are one step ahead of others.

Positioning is how your user perceives your product. It is how they view your competitors and where you stand among them.

A UVP in B2B SaaS Go to market makes your product noticeable. You need your customers to realize why they should buy from you. Your positioning comes into play with your UVP, resulting in a final purchase.  

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Let's take the example of Zoom.

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Let's make a list of what you need to do at this stage.

1. Define your niche. (Eg: Upthrust elevating B2B SaaS and D2C Horizons)
2. Pick one vertical, specialize, and rule the market!
3. Solve a problem in the industry. Check how relevant your product is to the problem.
4. Provide the best user experience and gain credibility.
5. Build unique marketing strategies. (Eg: Zomato with their memes)

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Step 6: Customer-Centric Marketing

Your customer defines how much you grow. Building a strategy around them gets you what you want!

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Mapping 

The best way to start your B2B SaaS Go to market journey is to understand what interests your customer. Map your customers along with relevant information.

1. Refer to your customer interviews. (Ideal Customer Profile)
2. Check posts, events, and communities near you with maximum engagement.
3. Perform further research on a user’s buyer journey. 

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Read this case study to understand the importance of Multi-Channel Marketing. Every audience responds to a different marketing format.

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Marketing

The next step is to create content.

1. Analyse and segregate usable content that you already have from different channels and research.
2. Add missing content that creates impact.
3. Queue everything and start marketing.

If you want to know more about Content Marketing through data, follow along here.

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Step 7: Showdown!

We are almost at the end of this playbook. After following all the steps above, you need a game plan. This plan can make you the superhero B2B SaaS company your ideal customer wants!

1. Define your goals. Make sure that your plans, finances, and audience align.

2. Create an achievable timeline for everything.
3. Check where you stand in the market and compare it with other B2B SaaS brands in your niche.
4. Create a budget including expenses and revenue.
5. Specify marketing channels and activities to generate leads.

Improve, align, and update.

Remember to focus on your customers. Come up with original ideas, experiment, and treat customers as the star of the show.

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GTM Strategy and Trends

Did you know?

58% of organizations plan to adjust their GTM strategies and 11% say they want to work on a complete overhaul, says Gartner's Peer Community.

39% of people find personalization to be the key factor. (If the buyer can customize their pizza toppings, why can't they want a personalized solution)

The data reflects that customers today want tailored interactions with the brands they deal with. Influencing the buying process is not an option anymore, it's straight up the only game left.

Here are 4 key areas to focus:

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Are companies missing a comprehensive GTM Playbook?

There are only a few who have been optimizing their GTM strategies. While executing research, you need an understanding of the market and your competition to identify opportunities and differentiation.

70% of new products fail due to poor product-market fit. The reason is clear. They do not understand what their customers want and how they want it.

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Do we have a GTM strategy team?

Your business may have plenty of teams for product development, sales, and revenue. But, where is the team that will drive your growth by executing GTM strategies?

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Is your GTM evolving with the ever-changing customers and trends?

70% of buyers prefer self-directed research before engaging with the sales team today.In addition to that, 37% of businesses prefer personalization and customization to meet customer expectations.

You need to ask yourself if your business knows how to personalize and understand customer-centricity. I am not saying these trends will remain the same. That's why you need to be updated and edit your GTM plan with the same.

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Making the best use of Technology

The market is complex and competitive. With this, the importance of GTM tools also grows significantly.Today can find an intelligent platform (AI and non-AI-based) for almost anything. Why not use this opportunity and make use of tools that can help us reach the right customer, build the perfect strategy, and send out the ideal email?

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Wrapping Up

It's been a blast sharing insights on B2B SaaS Go to Market with you. (Please tell me you didn't get bored and will treat me to pizza later!) The best way to a successful B2B strategy is to figure out those pesky bottlenecks (broad targeting, unrealistic goals and timelines, etc. )

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Take a moment, list your goals, and be as specific as a shooter with a target! Set a goal about landing 5 accounts in the next quarter instead of saying, "I'll grow my business." Your SaaS product is the ship, and you are a captain. Know how to engage an audience, build a clientele, and stay alert. 

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Do you want to know more about creating a successful B2B SaaS company? Subscribe to the Upthrust newsletter for the latest updates and marketing tricks. Share this piece with your B2B SaaS friends to help them take their business to reach new heights!