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There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy.
The best go-to-market strategies should always be tailored to the unique nuances of your product, your target audience, and the market you serve. However, that doesn’t mean B2B companies can’t learn from other successful brands who have nailed their GTM proposition.
Examining B2B Go-To-Market strategy examples gives you an opportunity to discover how other organisations have pinpointed their niche audience, addressed their pain points, and positioned themselves as the winning solution, even in a competitive market.
Here are some excellent B2B GTM strategy examples, and what you can learn from them in 2024.
When Stewart Butterfield and his team decided to share their internal communications platform with the world, they knew they were onto a winning solution. The problem they faced was translating the benefits of a new business communication system to companies already tired of dealing with inefficient digital collaboration methods, like email.
The company needed to ensure it didn’t come across as just another complex app employees needed to learn how to use. That’s why it decided to position itself as the “email killer”.
https://www.slideshare.net/BusinessGoesSocial/why-enterprise-social-networks-fail-part-one
The company identified that although email was currently the most common means of communication for digitally evolving companies, it presented major problems for growing teams. Employees were tired of dealing with complex email chains and overflowing inboxes.
By positioning their solution as a convenient, fun, and easy solution that kept communication practices simple, they quickly caught the attention of their audience. Using webinars and outbound marketing strategies, they educated potential customers about the platform’s value, specifically targeting decision makers frustrated with traditional communication methods.
As a result, Slack became one of the highest-value startups in the world, rising in value from $0 to $4 billion in just 4 years.
The Via ridesharing platform was founded in 2012, at a time when Uber was still in the early stages of entering the market. Although Uber has bypassed Via in terms of popularity with everyday consumers, Via managed to carve a niche for itself in the transportation technology space, by working with other transportation companies and public travel networks.
The company was built to address the pain point that consumers had with overcrowded and unavailable public transportation solutions, that offered inflexible routes. These consumers didn’t have the money to leverage solutions like Uber and Lyft for their daily commutes, so they needed a more affordable alternative.
Via created a ridesharing service that could fill the space Lyft and Uber weren’t filling, partnering with transit operators, schools, and public transport agencies to expand their existing operations. This ensures it can provide passengers with more riding options, and give networks the opportunity to deliver more value to their customers. All the while, the GTM strategy ensures the company doesn’t have to worry about competing with brands like Uber.
Microsoft’s Windows operating system has long been considered the leading “OS”, including on tablets, laptops, and computers provided by a range of vendors. When the leading technology giant decided to launch its own range of hardware options for professionals, it needed a differentiator that went beyond its proprietary operating system.
In the Go-To-Market strategy for selling its “Surface” products, Microsoft analysed a common problem experienced by everyday consumers, and companies equipping their employees with valuable mobile resources. While tablets gave customers a convenient way to access the internet and other features, they didn’t offer the full functionality of a laptop.
The third generation of the Surface tablet addressed this concern, providing professionals with a fully functioning computer in the shape of a tablet. This ensured individuals could access a lightweight device, without sacrificing performance.
The line of Surface solutions now offered by Microsoft targets both B2C and B2B companies searching for a specific level of functionality they can’t get from competitors like the Apple iPad.
Upscope, a platform for interactive screen sharing, entered the market as a resource designed for a more technically inclined crowd than competing brands. It wanted to target support teams, onboarding experts, and IT specialists.
The problem the company recognised in the market was that individuals were struggling to share their screens effectively with existing solutions. They often had a hard time actively walking consumers, prospects, and employees through technical subjects.
To address this concern, the team created a solution that would support instant, interactive screen sharing, without the common complexities of existing tools. It gave users the power to rapidly optimise the screen sharing process, and ensure all parties could interact and engage with the content they were seeing.
Upscope elevated its go-to-market efforts with a comprehensive content marketing strategy, which included maintaining an active blog and web presence. It also worked with other software leaders, incorporating integrations with other tools into its solution, to help expand its reach.
TaxJar is a modern tax management and compliance software vendor, serving businesses and organisations. When the company initially launched, the goal was to position its software as a solution “anyone could use”. However, it faced a few challenges. Tax was a notoriously complex topic most business owners would rather avoid, by outsourcing their tasks to external groups.
When plotting its entry into the market, TaxJar found most of the content available on taxation was boring and hard to understand. With that in mind, they decided to create engaging, easy-to-read content about tax, that would establish the company as a thought leader.
The company’s focus on content marketing meant they could address the lack of accessible insights into the industry, and position themselves as a trusted resource. As more business owners discovered the content and found it useful, the company was able to build its authority and trust.
The company built on this by introducing customers to a comprehensive onboarding process, that would guide them through the process of extracting the most possible value from the platform. The strategy led to phenomenal success, even convincing the Stripe payment processing company to purchase the vendor, so they could add its tools to their system.
In some instances, a company’s initial GTM strategy might not deliver the results they expect. Even with extensive research, it’s possible to focus on the wrong features or target the wrong market. However, even an unsuccessful GTM strategy can be saved with an agile approach.
Socrata, initially established as a data aggregation platform that would allow anyone to capture and present data in an engaging format, quickly discovered that their platform was gaining traction among government groups. To capture this unintentional market, they decided to quickly redesign their product, and adjust their business model.
Recognising the potential of the opportunity to sell to government groups, the team added more features that would specifically cater to the public sector and their agencies, including enhanced security solutions. This meant the company could quickly position itself as a trusted partner for the government sector.
The examples above demonstrate that a strong go-to-market strategy relies on a company’s ability to understand its target audience, address its pain points, and deliver clear value. The more you know about your customers and your competitors, the easier it is to position your solution as a clear choice for the buyers you want to reach.
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