Go-to-Market Plan

A go to market plan is a step-by-step roadmap for bringing something to market (product, campaign, theme, new audience, etc.). It is more granular than a strategy, which focuses on overall goals and other high-level information. Because the plan has specific steps, it lends itself well to being put into the form of slides.

Despite the difference between a plan and a strategy, a set of slides like this is sometimes referred to as a go to market strategy slide pitch deck. This collection can be used to pitch the ideas to marketing team members, investors, or anyone else who needs a quick and easy-to-understand presentation to bring them on board.

While a pitch may include slides that are fairly finalized and set up for presentation, not every slide deck has to work this way. Some use them to just “jot down” high-level ideas, strategies, and things to consider. This is more of a strategy-based deck than one with actual plans, and it is a great way to begin discussions within a team.

Once in the planning stage, it’s a good idea to work from a go to market plan template PPT. Using a template makes it easier to think of all of the things that need to be considered, present them in a uniform way, and keep track of what you’ve already covered in prior slides. A go to market strategy template PPT has many of the same benefits, but will be focused on higher-level aspects of the project than the plan template.

If you don’t already have a template and don’t want to develop your own, you still have plenty of options. Grab a go to market strategy template PPT free download from the Terminus Resource Hub or a consulting company like McKinsey. Check the same sources for plan template downloads.

Whether you’re making a strategy pitch deck or one for a plan, it’s important to keep things simple. Put a different aspect of the overall presentation on each go to market strategy slide or go to market plan slide. Then, let people ask questions after each one. This way, everyone will be able to discuss things in an organized way, before information is forgotten.

GTM Plan

There are many places to get information and templates for creating a GTM plan. Along with software providers like Terminus, there are several consulting firms and educational institutions ready to help. Three of the top ones are McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Harvard Business Review (HBR). They all offer slide deck examples, PDFs, articles, blog posts, and other materials to help you succeed.

A go to market strategy McKinsey and a go to market framework McKinsey will look at least a bit different from a go to market strategy BCG, a go to market strategy framework HBR, or one from another source. Because of this, you should make sure to check out the offerings of BCG and HBR as well as a go to market strategy framework McKinsey before you decide which one’s materials to go with. That way, you can be sure that you aren’t missing out on one that would fit your business better.

If you do decide on McKinsey, you’ll be able to access a go to market strategy McKinsey PDF as well as the go to market strategy McKinsey PPT. The availability of multiple formats makes it easy to use the one that matches your team’s working style and your company’s needs.

Keep in mind that there are several options for types of templates, and some will work better for your company than others. Consider the size of your company, industry, the type of product you’re bringing to market, and your usual workflow. Then, choose the template that matches best. This way, your chances of success are better right from the start. You also won’t have to spend as much time customizing the template to fit your situation.

Go-to-Market Plan Example

One of the best ways to get a good feel for how you should complete your template is to look at a fitting go to market plan example. These can be found in the form of case studies, be explained in articles, or even be plainly titled as “examples.”

Instead of reading through countless random examples, you should first consider the facts about your company, team, and product. If you’re a start-up, you don’t need to be looking at examples aimed at Fortune 500 companies. Conversely, if your company is doing $1 billion per year in sales, you don’t need a go to market strategy for startups template.

It is usually much easier to find a go to market strategy for startups because there are more start-ups looking for one. This demand makes it so that companies that offer a go to market strategy for startups PPT will get more traffic. It also makes sense to aim for startups because big, established companies have usually developed their own templates already.

The second thing you need to pay attention to is the industry or product the example or template is meant for. A SaaS go to market strategy template will look much different from one meant for a company that is bringing heavy equipment to market, and both will be different from one aimed for companies that deal in consumer electronics. The closer the template matches your company and product, the less work you’ll have to do on editing it to fit.

Go-to-Market Plan Template

Once you have a strategy in mind and have read plenty of references, it’s time to develop your team’s go to market plan template. While this can be done from scratch, you will likely find that it’s better to download one and then customize it to fit. A go to market strategy example PDF or a go to market strategy template free are both good resources to start from.

Having a set go to market strategy template lets you put all of the relevant elements into a solid form. This allows you, your team members, and other stakeholders to determine things like overall goals, expectations, budget needed, other resources required, and more. When everything is set into a PPT or PDF, it eliminates the vagaries of memory and reduces the chances of misunderstandings. It also can make it easier to find and fix flaws in plans before resources are wasted.

Whether you decide to make your own template from the ground up or start with one from another source, you should be sure to check out a go to market strategy case study (or several) before you start. With a good go to market strategy example to work from, you’ll find it much easier to create a template that perfectly fits your situation. Once this is done, you’ll be able to move on to the execution stages without concerns about whether or not everyone is on the same page.

GTM Plan Template

While most prefer to use a GTM plan template that will work with their marketing or CRM software, this is not always the case. Some prefer a simpler solution, even though these are harder to scale and automate. This preference often arises in very small companies, who do not yet need to handle a lot of accounts at once. Then, it can make sense to start with a simple GTM plan. If the product takes off, the GTM strategy then can be adapted to be used with software that allows for the automation of some or all of the steps involved in its marketing and sales.

In this case, you can still find a useful go to market checklist template. A go to market strategy template Excel needs no special marketing software, instead using the ubiquitous Microsoft spreadsheet program to do what it can.

Sometimes, it is preferable to use both a pitch deck and a spreadsheet. The GTM plan template that creates the pitch deck includes the verbal part of the details, while the spreadsheet is used to crunch the numbers and list out projected budget items. This combination is good for the GTM planning stage of products with complex expense expectations. It can also allow for a pitch to be simplified and presented in a clean way, while the budget information is delivered separately.

Excel-based GTM plans are available at the Terminus Resource Hub as well as at consulting firms like McKinsey. While PPTs and PDFs are more common, these companies know that not everyone needs to start with a complex plan and provide resources accordingly.

Go-to-Market Plan Checklist

Strategy and planning are crucial elements of success, but it’s just as important to keep track of what has been done and what still remains on the to-do list. This is where a go to market plan checklist comes in. While some use the term “checklist” synonymously with “plan” or “playbook,” the list in this case is used in the more traditional sense.

Unlike basic plans, a checklist provides room for you and your team to check off steps as they are completed. Preferably, it will update for all team members and other stakeholders whenever anyone makes a change. This will allow you all to coordinate your efforts to avoid both redundancy and the accidental skipping of go to market strategy steps.

Often, you’ll find that you need multiple templates for your project. The go to market strategy template handles the overview level, while the plan template covers the details. Preferably, your plan template will also have checklist functionality so that everything can be taken care of from one place. However, if it does not, you should be sure to download a go to market strategy framework that is also a true checklist. This will save you from a lot of confusion and possible redundancy as your project moves forward.