Go-to-market
Also called: GTM, go-to-market strategy, GTM strategy, launch strategy
Definition
Go-to-market (GTM) is the plan for bringing a product to customers: who you sell to, what you say, how you price it, which channels you use to reach buyers, and whether sales, the product or a community does the selling.
Go-to-market (GTM) is how a product meets its buyers. A GTM strategy answers five questions: who exactly are we selling to, what problem do we solve for them, how much does it cost, where will they find us, and who closes the sale.
How it works
The usual components:
- Target customer: your ideal customer profile and the trigger that makes them buy.
- Positioning: the category you compete in, the alternative you replace, and why you are better for this customer.
- Pricing and packaging: plans, free tier or trial, what scales the price.
- Channels: where buyers will hear about you. See acquisition channel.
- Motion: who does the selling.
- Sales-led: reps run demos and close deals. Common for large contracts.
- [Product-led](/glossary/product-led-growth/): self-serve signup, the product proves itself.
- [Community-led](/glossary/community-led-growth/): recommendations and peer help drive adoption.
- [Founder-led](/glossary/founder-led-marketing/): the founder sells and markets directly, common in the first year.
Most companies mix motions, and the mix changes as they grow.
Why it matters
Plenty of good products fail on GTM: the right product for the wrong customer, a great channel with the wrong message, or a sales motion the price cannot support. A written GTM forces those choices into the open, so you can test them one at a time.
It also has to match how people actually buy. Google's 2020 "messy middle" research found buyers loop between exploring and evaluating options across many sources before deciding. A GTM that only plans for "see ad, click, buy" will miss most of that.
How it plays out on Reddit
For early-stage B2B and B2C products, Reddit is often the cheapest GTM test available:
- Customer research: people describe their problem, their current tool and their budget in public.
- Positioning test: see which framing of your product gets a "this is exactly what I needed" and which gets ignored.
- First channel: reply to threads where people ask for what you sell. Founder-led, low cost, fast feedback.
It works under Reddit's rules. Reddit's spam guidance asks people to post in communities where they have a genuine interest and to be thoughtful about how often they link to their own business; for pure promotion it points to Reddit's ad platform. A GTM that treats subreddits as free billboards will get removed. One that treats them as conversations with buyers gets customers and sharper positioning. See the Reddit marketing strategy guide, or Reddit for startups.
Common mistakes
- "Everyone" as the target. No channel or message works for everyone.
- Choosing a motion the price cannot support. A $20/month product cannot fund a field sales team.
- Launching in five channels at once. You cannot tell what worked.
Frequently asked questions
What is a go-to-market strategy?
A plan covering target customer, positioning, pricing, channels and sales motion for bringing a product to market.
What is the difference between GTM and marketing strategy?
GTM is broader. It includes pricing, packaging and who sells, while a marketing strategy focuses on reaching and persuading buyers.
Is Reddit a good go-to-market channel for startups?
It can be, especially early, for customer research and founder-led replies to people asking for what you sell, as long as you follow each subreddit's rules.