With today's SaaS competition, having a thorough go-to-market strategy is necessary for success. But a modern SaaS GTM strategy is not just about launching a new product. It's about creating a plan that allows for scaling, growth, and the ability to stand out in a crowded market.
For business leaders, knowing the components of a successful SaaS GTM strategy, key shifts in the SaaS space, and insights on how to adapt to changing dynamics are essential.
Let's review the ins and outs of an effective SaaS GTM strategy.
Go-to-market basics
To effectively support a modern SaaS go-to-market strategy, let’s start with the basics.
What is a go-to-market strategy?
A go-to-market or GTM strategy is the plan a company develops for introducing new products to the market.
It includes identifying target audiences, positioning the product, and choosing the right marketing and distribution channels. A well-planned GTM strategy calls for careful alignment across several teams, including product development, marketing, sales, and customer support.
This sort of collaboration ensures that every step of the product's journey, from the idea to buying experience to customer onboarding, is as seamless as possible.
Why are go-to-market strategies important?
A GTM strategy is a fundamental component of SaaS success for several reasons. It helps companies position their products in the market, target the right customers, and optimize the sales process. Through this framework, SaaS leaders can create a clear path toward revenue growth and scalability opportunities.
Without a well-thought-out GTM strategy, companies risk wasting resources, misalignment with the market and missing their target audience, and failing to gain the traction they need.
While the global SaaS market is projected to grow by nearly 14% each year for the next six years, the percentage of companies that fail remains high, with leading causes for SaaS failures being no demand, poor marketing, and cash flow issues.
Key components of a go-to-market strategy
Developing a clear GTM strategy is a several-step process that can be incredibly involved. Though the working strategy may be different for each company, there are a few key components that thorough GTM strategies should include.
- Target market: Identify your Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs).
- Value poposition: Explain clearly and concisely what makes your product unique.
- Sales and marketing alignment: Ensure seamless collaboration between all involved teams.
- Pricing strategy: Determine the best pricing model based on the needs of your customers.
- Distribution channels: Select the right channels to reach your target audience or customer base.
- KPIs and metrics: Define key metrics to measure the success of your GTM strategy.
Early-stage GTMs vs mature GTMs
There are a few key differences between GTM strategies for early-stage brands versus mature companies because of market conditions, product maturity, and resources.
Early-stage GTM strategies focus on establishing brand, customer acquisition, and moving quickly with fewer resources.
Mature GTM strategies focus on refining strategies, scalability, balancing acquisition and retention, and managing complex sales processes.
Because of this, companies have to ensure their GTM strategy aligns their maturity with market maturity, product, customers, sales, marketing, and resources.
Market maturity
Early-stage: SaaS companies in early markets may have little competition, but will have to focus on:
- Defining and creating demand in a new product category
- Educating the market since prospects may not be solution or problem-aware
- Working towards achieving product-market fit
Mature-stage: Brands in mature markets on the other hand have to navigate:
- Standing out in crowded markets with established brands and clear customer expectations
- Competing for market share and navigating slower growth rates
- Differentiating based on features or innovation
Product
Early-stage: early-stage SaaS companies typically need to:
- validate core features and functionality that solve customer needs
- Use agile product development and iterate quickly based on user feedback
Mature-stage: mature companies will focus on:
- Expanding features, capabilities, and use cases
- Innovating and incrementally improving the product to maintain differentiation and customer satisfaction
Customers
Early-stage: early-stage companies will typically focus on:
- Prioritizing customer acquisition
- Education, awareness building, and message testing
Mature-stage: mature companies on the other hand:
- Balance acquisition, retention, and expansion
- Focus on refining messaging and positioning
- Leverage customer data to improve usage rates and retention, and find upsell/cross-sell opportunities
Sales
Early-stage: early-stage SaaS brands typically use product-led growth (PLG) to drive acquisition and sign-ups. This typically involves:
- Free trials, freemium model, and short sales cycles
- Focusing on U/X and intuitive, low-touch onboarding
- Simple products that are straightforward to use and have few features
Mature-stage: mature SaaS companies often go with a hybrid GTM motion that combines product-led and sales-led growth. This involves:
- Maintaining self-serve options for individual or small accounts
- Building out, refining, and scaling sales teams and strategies for complex deals and enterprise accounts
- Long sales cycles, custom demos, and custom pricing packaging for large accounts
Marketing
Early-stage: early-stage marketing tactics and strategies usually involve:
- Prioritizing brand awareness campaigns
- Working with limited marketing budgets
- Testing multiple channels with small bets or making a big bet on one channel
Mature-stage: mature stage marketing focuses on:
- Multi-channel marketing campaigns
- Account-based marketing for enterprise prospects
- Leveraging data and bigger budgets to optimize marketing efforts
Team and resources
Early-stage: early-stage SaaS bands have limited budget and resources, and therefore:
- Have small, agile teams that wear multiple hats or are in generalist roles
- Prioritize adaptability, agility, and lean operations
- Rely on third-party tools
Mature-stage: mature SaaS brands on the other hand:
- Have specialized teams for functions like sales, marketing, and customer success
- Can leverage custom-built tools and systems to support operations
- Have well-defined processes that enable scalability and growth
As brands mature and evolve, so too will their go-to-market strategy.
Take, for example, Dropbox and Salesforce. In its earlier stages, Dropbox used product-led growth in the form of freemium models in order to expand quickly. As a mature company, Dropbox now focuses on customer retention and enterprise sales.
Salesforce’s GTM evolved from an earlier focus on direct enterprise sales to a more hybrid model that included both product-led and customer-led growth.
How have SaaS GTM strategies changed and why?
GTM strategies have evolved significantly in recent years. SaaS companies that once prioritized rapid growth and immediate acquisition have changed gears.
The shift away from "growth at all costs"
As of late, the "growth at all costs" mentality that used to drive SaaS businesses has changed. Companies are now paying close attention to harnessing sustainable growth. Many leaders are looking toward shifting to more efficient resource allocation and long-term relationship building with customers. This growth method is gradually taking the place of the aggressive customer acquisition tactics of the recent past.
Impact on CAC and win Rates
As the SaaS market has become more crowded, increased competition has driven up customer acquisition costs (CAC), but win rates have declined. In response to this challenge, many companies have moved resources toward customer retention, upselling, and cross-selling existing customers in an effort to drive revenue growth.
Customer retention over acquisition
As mentioned, the SaaS market has shifted toward focusing on customer retention over acquisition alone. Securing new customers can cost five times as much as retaining existing customers. Therefore, companies are focusing on keeping and developing their existing customer base, or depending on their GTM, optimizing for both acquisition and retention..
From PLG to hybrid
Product-led growth (PLG) has been successful for many SaaS companies, but it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. Enterprise SaaS companies with more complex products and services have realized that a hybrid model (one that combines PLG with sales-led strategies) is often more effective. This is because PLG alone may not fully showcase a product's value in more involved use cases.
Market trends in SaaS selling
Post-COVID and the end of the ZIRP era have brought on new trends and challenges. What we’re hearing from GTM leaders is that:
- Winning in B2B SaaS is harder than ever.
- Revenue leaders are under intense pressure to perform, while simultaneously needing to do more with less.
- Buyer expectations are higher than ever, forcing teams to meet them on their terms and deliver exceptional and personalized buying experiences.
To cope with these challenges, GTM leaders are now focusing on:
- Profitable revenue growth: Efficient, scalable strategies are critical.
- Differentiation: Standing out in crowded markets with clear value propositions.
- Trust building: Accelerating pipeline velocity by quickly building trust with prospects.
- Proof of value: Showcasing product value early and consistently through product demos and trials.
These changes reflect a meaningful shift towards a more modern-day GTM that focuses on being:
- Dynamic: to account for evolutions in the SaaS market, GTM strategies need to be adaptable and responsive to market changes and customer feedback
- Customer-centric: focus on customer needs across the entire buyer journey and customer lifecycle, with an emphasis on personalization and meeting buyers where they’re at.
- Data-driven: collecting feedback and data lets SaaS brands optimize every stage of the buyer journey. These insights help with things like forecasting churn, understanding customer needs, personalizing marketing, and improving onboarding and support.
- Multi-channel: leveraging a mix of channels, strategies, and tactics to reach target audiences where they’re the most active and will meaningfully engage.
Developing a modern GTM strategy for success
To build a GTM strategy in today’s competitive landscape, it’s important to balance the more foundational elements with personalized and nuanced insights. By following established best practices along with real-time, data-driven adjustments, businesses can better shape a strategy that's robust and flexible enough to weather market changes.
For example, your team should:
Define ICPs
Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) are the foundation of an effective GTM Strategy. Modern SaaS companies follow a data-driven approach to find their ICPs, as they focus on not just customer demographics, but also firmographics, technographics, and psychographics.
Develop a unique value prop
Value propositions should showcase why your product is the best solution for your target customers. SaaS companies of today need to differentiate themselves in a competitive market by highlighting both their product features and the specific benefits these features deliver.
Choose the right pricing model(s)
The right pricing model is a must, otherwise the entire GTM process suffers. Whether you're offering subscription-based, pay-as-you-go, or usage-based pricing, your model needs to match what your customers expect. You don't want to overcharge or present plan options that don't make sense, so experimenting with pricing is key to finding the right fit.
Align sales and marketing
Aligning your sales and marketing team is critical in the SaaS environment and can help improve sales efficiency. A well-planned and executed GTM strategy ensures that both of your teams are getting their cues from the same playbook. They need to be targeting the same ICPs and delivering consistent messaging throughout the customer's entire journey.
Choose distribution and marketing channels
SaaS companies need to have a diverse mix of advertising channels. Whether they aim for direct sales, channel partnerships, or PLG motions, choosing the right distribution channels helps ensure that your product is reaching the right audience at the right time.
Define metrics and KPIs for success
Modern SaaS companies track a range of different metrics, from customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (CLV) to net revenue retention (NRR) and pipeline velocity. Defining clear KPIs allows you and your teams to measure the effectiveness of your GTM strategy and adjust as needed.
Product market fit and go-to-market fit
Product-market fit (PMF) is another important element of a successful GTM strategy. Without it, a GTM strategy is unlikely to make any headway. However, once PMF is achieved, companies need to focus on building out their GTM in order to scale effectively. This transition involves refining brand messaging, reevaluating pricing models, and making sure each distribution channel is serving the company as it should.
Product-led growth vs sales-led growth
When planning a GTM strategy, companies usually choose between two approaches: product-led growth (PLG) and sales-led growth (SLG). Each GTM motion has its own benefits and challenges, and the right option depends on the product, target audience, and business model.
Product-led growth (PLG)
Product-led growth, as the name suggests, focuses on the product in sales and marketing efforts. This approach encourages customers to interact with the product directly before reaching out to the sales team. Examples include free trials, freemium models, and self-service options.
Best for:
- Companies with simple, easy-to-adopt products
- Products that deliver immediate value
- Startups and early-stage SaaS companies focused on user acquisition
- Ideal customer profiles (ICPs) who prefer to explore products on their own
For more on the challenges of PLG, explore this resource: The Problems with PLG.
Sales-led growth (SLG)
Sales-led growth follows a more traditional model, where a sales team is actively involved in identifying and converting leads. The company tends to walk customers through the purchasing and use process rather than having them explore on their own.
Best for:
- Complex, enterprise-level products requiring more detailed explanations
- Companies targeting larger organizations
- Industries with longer sales cycles
- Businesses with a need for personalized customer support
- ICPs that face complex buying decisions
An emerging option: customer-led growth
Customer-led growth (CLG) is an approach where the customer helps shape the product and sales strategies. Rather than focusing on product features or sales tactics, CLG emphasizes listening to customers, gathering feedback, and using insights for decision-making.
Best for:
- Businesses that want to foster strong customer loyalty and advocacy
- Companies with products that can continuously improve based on user feedback
- Brands with a customer base that values personalized engagement
- Ideal customer profiles (ICPs) who have unique needs
For more info on go-to-market motions, how they stack up against each other, and how to choose the right one, read our in-depth GTM motions guide.
Common GTM strategy mistakes and pitfalls
While coming up with a GTM that works perfectly from the very beginning is ideal, many businesses run into problems along the way. Some of the most common include:
- Failing to keep sales, marketing, and product teams aligned. Without unified communications and shared goals, companies may end up delivering fragmented or inaccurate messages that confuse potential customers.
- Overlooking the product's ICP. When companies fail to rigorously qualify their leads, they may end up wasting important and limited resources on deals that will never close.
- Trying a product-led growth (PLG) approach for complex products. In some situations, customer success and sales-led efforts might be more effective and aligned.
- Underinvesting in proof-of-value methods, which help customers experience the product's benefits.
- Fail to pivot their GTM strategies in response to feedback, evolving market conditions, or product pivot. For example, let's say a business continues pursuing customer acquisition as the main focus, but the teams involved fair to work on customer retention or upselling opportunities as well.
- Underestimating the value of differentiation. In highly competitive markets, businesses need to highlight their unique features and effectively communicate how their product stands out.
- Poor product and demo experiences. Buyers want to have seamless, intuitive experiences that showcase the product's value right away. If a demo presentation is too complex or lacks customization, potential buyers tend to disengage early in favor of a product that's more user-friendly. Leverage tools like TestBox to help automate and improve demos, create sales POCs, and enable your team to close more deals.
Modern GTM strategies, done right
While every SaaS company’s go-to-market strategy will differ based on the product, market, and customer base, some elements are consistent among successful companies. Brands with excellent GTM strategies tend to follow a few key principles:
- Complete understanding of the ICP: Not only is a thorough ICP a must, it's also important that all of the teams involved fully understand each component of the profile.
- Strong value proposition
- Cross-functional teamwork: Everyone involved in developing and/or adapting the GTM strategy should be on the same page.
- Prioritizing the customer experience
- Agility and willingness to iterate: Pay attention to customer reception and feedback so that it can guide efforts to pivot or expand.
As we’ve seen, a well-developed GTM strategy is more than just a launch roadmap. It’s a full framework that guides product positioning, customer engagement, and market differentiation.
By aligning the strategy with both core GTM points and recent industry shifts, SaaS companies can ensure they’re setting the stage for sustainable growth and customer loyalty.
