Ever felt like your go-to-market (GTM) campaign plan was set in stone, only to realize that it needs to be as dynamic as the market itself? If so, this episode of the Marketing Smarts Live Show is a must-watch.

Featured guest Pam Didner talks with host George B. Thomas about the intricacies of building a successful GTM campaign plan.

Let's dive in!

A Living, Breathing GTM Plan

Pam Didner compares planning a GTM campaign to writing a book. Just as a book consists of chapters that describe the progression of the plot, a marketing plan should be structured similarly—as a "living" entity that changes and develops continuously, affected by your research and audience monitoring.

In short, planning a GTM campaign is not for the short-sighted. It's a dynamic process that requires constant updates and flexibility.

The Scope is Always Changing

Pam emphasizes that a six-month GTM plan can look entirely different by the end of the six months. Why? Because the product is still being developed, and its features are constantly changing.

Action Item: Keep an eye on product development and be ready to adapt your GTM plan accordingly.

It's Not Done Just Because You've Started "Plotting"

Pam says the plan has to be a living thing. It's not set in stone the moment you start "plotting" it out.

Action Item: Regularly update your GTM plan based on new research and audience feedback.

The Importance of Positioning and Messaging

Changes in product features will influence the positioning and messaging of your GTM plan. Pam stresses the need for flexibility here.

Action Item: Revisit your positioning and messaging strategies whenever there are changes in product features.

Next Steps

Pam Didner's insights provide a road map for anyone looking to build a successful GTM campaign plan.

Your next steps:

• Watch the full episode, below, for a deeper understanding.
• Implement the action items listed above to make your GTM plan more dynamic.

So, are you ready to make your GTM campaign plan a living, breathing entity? Get plotting!

Make sure you don't miss any future episodes: Subscribe to the Marketing Smarts Live Show on YouTube. And to catch up on all previous episodes, check out the full playlist on YouTube.

Episode Details, Guest Information, and Referenced Links

Episode No. 52

• Live date: October 9, 2023
• Episode link: youtube.com/live/eSX77Mh3GNA
• Original podcast episode: How to Build a Successful Go-to-Market Campaign Plan: Pam Didner on Marketing Smarts [Podcast]

Guest's social media profiles:

• Twitter: @PamDidner
• LinkedIn: Pam Didner

MarketingProfs resources referenced in the show:

• How to Avoid Six Common Pitfalls of the Launch Process
• How to Craft 'Compelling Reason to Buy' Messaging

"In B2B News" article referenced in the show:

• How Marketers Are Rewriting Their B2B Playbooks to Win Over a New Generation of Decision-Makers

"From the #mpb2b Community" links referenced in the show:

• Tweet by @atdata

Want access to exclusive training and education resources?

Get started with a MarketingProfs PRO membership!

Transcript: How to Build a Successful Go-to-Market Campaign Plan: Pam Didner

Hello to all my Marketing Smarts Live viewers today. I'm super excited to bring you episode 52 of the Marketing Smarts Live show.

This week's topic is all about How to Build a Successful Go-to-Market Campaign Plan.

So, if you're ready to get your learn on, buckle up and let's get ready to rock and roll.

Hey, I'm your boy George B. Thomas, speaker, trainer, catalyst, and host of this here show, the Marketing Smarts Live show, as well as the Marketing Smarts podcast found on your favorite podcast app.

Our guest clips today are brought to you by none other than Pam Didner.

Pam Didner, a B2B marketer, speaker, author, and podcaster.

Her expertise is in strategic planning, B2B marketing, Sales and Marketing alignment, content marketing, Sales enablement, and more.

Pam has written three books: Effective Sales Enablement, The Modern AI Marketer, and Global Content Marketing. She also has a podcast and YouTube channel, B2B Marketing and More.

Now, remember the clips of Pam Didner today are pulled from the full Marketing Smarts podcast episode, and if you want to listen to the full interview with Pam Didner and myself, make sure to tune into the Marketing Smarts podcast; link to the full show will be in the description below after the live show ends.

Now, in this episode, again, I'm talking with Pam Didner about How to Build a Successful Go-to-Market Campaign Plan.

In this episode of the Live show, I'm doing things a bit differently!

Listen, building a go-to-market campaign plan can be difficult so today, I'm starting with the hurdle question!

That's right, I asked Pan what hurdles she has seen get in the way of marketers in the past.

Here's what she had to share.

Pam: There are several because it does take six to eight months to build a go-to-market plan in general. Let's assume you are a small team, you don't have a lot of budget, and you create it in a very short period of time. That can happen, too. In general, one of the hurdles tends to be time. Do you give yourself enough time to actually put the plan together? That's number one.

Number two is lack of budget. I know a lot of management folks will say, "Marketing, we need to launch this product. We need to do go-to-market," but they say it without actually giving additional budget for the marketing people to actually do that. For anyone creating a go-to-market plan, here's my number one advice. If you have one takeaway from this, don't do a go-to-market plan unless you have budget, you're going to fail. I hate saying that.

There's only so much you can do organically. There's only so much you can do with your small team. There's only so much you can do to reach out to influencers to give you freebies. No budget, no go-to-market, it's that simple. I'm not trying to be cynical. I'm just stating the fact. Lack of budget, go fight for your budget. This is very critical. B2B marketers are all nice people, we don't like to fight, but you have to go present it and appeal, and get your budget. That's number one.

Number two is because you have six to eight months and then you're working through your go-to-market plan, but in the meantime the product is still being developed, the product is not finalized. Some features are added, some features are not added. There's a constant changing of the features that will impact the positioning and messaging of your go-to-market plan. That frustrates the heck out of many go-to-market marketing managers. They just hate that. I need to change that again? Did we just say that we are going to have that as our key features and key talking points? Then three weeks later, it has changed. That's one thing.

In addition to that changing, another thing that changes all the time is the dates. They pull in, they push out. The push out, I worry less. It's the pulling in. You're like the launch date is in October. No, wait, the launch date is the first week of September. Ugh.

Are you giving yourself the right time to get your plan together?

Do you have the budget? Or are you lacking the budget?

Listen, I don't think Pam was being cynical. I agree fighting for your budget is a crucial step.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is only so much you can do! So, make sure you are setting yourself and the company up for success.

Marketing Smarts Live viewer, have you fallen prey to any of these go-to-market hurdles?

Put the answer to that in the chat pane or let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #mpb2b and, of course, tag me using @georgebthomas.

We'll get back to Pam Didner and her thoughts on How to Build a Successful Go-to-Market Campaign Plan. But first, I have to ask...

Are you part of the MarketingProfs community? If not, become part of the MarketingProfs community by heading to mprofs.com/mptoday - That's mprofs.com/mptoday.

Now, it's time for one of my favorite sections...

In The B2B News. Where we talk about breaking B2B news or essential tips we find on the Google news tab related to you and your B2B business. This week, the title is...

How Marketers Are Rewriting Their B2B Playbooks to Win Over a New Generation of Decision-Makers, found on digiday.com

"The need for B2B companies to differentiate themselves in the eyes of prospects and clients has never been greater, and the data-driven marketing tools to do so have never been more robust. However, legacy B2B mindsets, protocols and practices can take a lot of work to break, resulting in a sea of sameness regarding messaging and tactics within many B2B categories.

"As a new generation of decision-makers takes the helm, B2B organizations must fundamentally rewrite their marketing playbooks, starting with the data that powers them.

"The B2B organizations that thrive in the near future will be the ones that innovate around company structure, preferred channels, and how they communicate with buyers."

Want to keep learning more? Then, follow the link in the description after the live show ends.

So, let's get back to Pam Didner and her Marketing Smarts podcast episode.

Now that we know the hurdles most have faced or could face, I wanted to see what success looks like.

So, I asked Pam, how do we know we have reached a go-to-market plan that equals success?

Here is what Pam had to say on that question.

Pam: It actually depends on your go-to-market plan objectives. It's very much objective-driven. In some cases, if it's a big enterprise, they launch a product with a massive product launch playing around the world. It's not necessarily right away the sales. It's the indication of the press coverage, the analyst pickup. For SaaS, the product launch or go-to-market has to do with a number of trial runs they can pick up or the number of free trials they can pick up. In some cases, you do a soft launch, which is you launch existing products with additional features. That can be sales inquiries that people would like to upgrade.

So, it really depends on your go-to-market objectives. My recommendation on that specifically is have a very in-depth conversation with your management and also your sales team. Ultimately, your go-to-market plan needs to impact sales somehow. Have a conversation with your management. Understand what kind of success metrics they envision and have in mind, and that you somehow align with that. It may not be 100%, but you need to somehow align with that. That would be my recommendation in terms of have a conversation with your management to determine your go-to-market plan objectives, and then your success metrics should be part of objective-driven measurement.

Like many marketing conversations, I love that Pam's first answer was... It depends!

I love the idea of internal conversations with management and Sales, and I love that Pam gave you some things to think about around that "it depends" answer.

I love knowing the objectives and, out of that, the success metrics.

Do you make sure to have these items in place when you are creating your go-to-market campaigns?

I hope so.

We'll get back to Pam Didner in a few minutes, but first, it's time for some...

Dope B2B Learnings From the Vault of MarketingProfs Articles

That's right, it's time to dig into the treasure trove of valuable information and pull out two pieces of gold to help you be a better B2B marketer.

Article one this week is: How to Avoid Six Common Pitfalls of the Launch Process by J. Mark Carr

"Launching new products, services, or segments is the lifeblood of growth for most organizations.

"Yet, despite its importance, the launch process is often mishandled or assigned inadequate resources.

"Many of the mistakes that companies make are basic—yet frighteningly frequent and consistent across various types of businesses and industries."

Want to learn six common fault lines in the launch process that very company should look out for? Then follow the link after the Live show ends.

Article two this week is: How to Craft 'Compelling Reason to Buy' Messaging by Trisha Winter

"A compelling reason to buy is not an elevator pitch (although it should be): Sales thinks of an elevator pitch as explaining what the product does, whereas a compelling reason to buy explains the benefit that the target audience will realize with your product. And, as the name implies, it is a more compelling way to capture interest.

"The concepts behind a compelling reason to buy can be found in Geoffrey Moore's product development and marketing standard, Crossing the Chasm. I've simplified those concepts to create an easy exercise that I use with clients—whether startups that need go-to-market messaging to enterprises that have lost their focus. The exercise ensures that any messaging I create will help capture the attention of the target audience."

Want to keep learning more? If so, check the links in the description below after the live show to get access to both fantastic MarketingProfs articles.

OK, back to Pam Didner...

Let's dive back into this conversation of How to Build a Successful Go-to-Market Campaign Plan

There is, of course, more than just what we can cover in this short show about go-to-market plans. Pam shared a lot of her thoughts at a very special event that happened recently.

Were you there? Let's take a look.

Pam: I'm doing a workshop and I'm also doing a session. I'm doing both. Like you indicated, I'm doing a go-to-market plan workshop. I will share the detail templates that you can use. I also will share some of the know-how, specifically in terms of how you can address the questions of getting additional budget. I will answer any questions you have about go-to-market plans, and I'm not kidding.

Another thing I would like to talk about is how do we create service-oriented go-to-market plans. Services tend to be a category that's overlooked in terms of how to create a go-to-market plan. I want to have a point of view and share that as well. In addition to that, I have a session, and that is talking about how you can quantify marketing ROI. If you are interested in that topic, please do come to Boston and attend B2B Forum.

So, if B2B Forum already happened, why am I sharing this?

Well, if you head over to MarketingProfs and sign up for a PRO account, you can get access to a webinar series on...

How to Build a Successful GTM Marketing Plan Presented by: Pam Didner

With sessions like: Your Product and Distribution, What to Prioritize in Marketing, Enable Sales to Close the Deal, and Putting Your GTM Plan Together.

So, head over and sign up for that MarketingProfs pro account to keep learning more from Pam!

We'll get some words of wisdom from Pam Didner here in a few minutes, but right now, it's time to turn the spotlight on you, the MarketingProfs community. Yep, time for...

From The #MPB2B Community

We searched far and wide in the #MPB2B universe to find amazing information and conversation to bring to the masses.

So, first, make sure you are using the hashtag, and second, make sure you have fun and add value to the community.

Then, we'll spotlight you or your crew on the show. This week, it's...

@atdata on Twitter and, it goes something like this!

It's been an amazing couple of days for Jeff Martin and Troy Romano at the

@MProfsEvents B2B Forum in Boston!

They've had the opportunity to meet with lots of great people, attend insightful sessions, and gain lots of valuable knowledge. #MPB2B

The B2B forum was amazing, and if you have never been, you need to try and join us next year!

Marketing Smarts viewer, are you going to be next to get the spotlight?

Remember, community, use the hashtag #mpb2b on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter and get the light shined on your awesomeness in the next episode or a future episode of the Marketing Smarts Live show!

Pro-tip: it won't hurt if you tag me in your post as well I'm @georgebthomas on LinkedIn and Twitter.

OK, let's kick it back to Pam Didner and some words of wisdom around this topic of How to Build a Successful Go-to-Market Campaign Plan.

Here is what Pam Didner wanted to leave us with...

Pam: If you are frustrated with your go-to-market plan, you are frustrated with your management constantly changing direction, you are frustrated with your product team that aren't able to give you clear answers in terms of your value propositions of the new product, I would like to let you know that you are not alone. A lot of times, we B2B marketers work so hard, we are inside the company, and we don't necessarily have that support from our peers unless we attend a conference. Sometimes, in the moment, you are so frustrated that you feel like you're the only one having that problem. No. That's not true.

I want to let everybody know that the problem that you have, we all have it. From time to time, it's okay, just pat yourself on the back and say, "You know what? It's okay. This happens to everybody. Not just me." You have to tell yourself that. Otherwise, you get deflated very quickly. Especially doing marketing. It's never easy in the world of digital and the modern era. Take a break. Drink a lot of tea. Just keep it at arm's length sometimes. Do the best you can. Don't feel that you are the only struggling. You are not. I struggle all the time, by the way.

Are you frustrated?

Guess what, you are not alone!

Those words can sometimes help us get by and not feel alone!

I love how Pam says, you have to take a break and say, it's OK!

Have you enjoyed today's journey? Let us know, use that hashtag #mpb2b on whatever platform you are joining us on.