business
Go-to-Market Plan
Write go-to-market plans with positioning, target segments, channel strategy, pricing context, launch timeline, and success metrics — connecting product value to market execution.
go-to-marketlaunchpositioningchannelsmarketingstrategy
Works well with agents
Works well with skills
go-to-market-plan/
SKILL.md
Markdown| 1 | |
| 2 | # Go-to-Market Plan |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ## Before you start |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Gather the following from the user. If anything is missing, ask before proceeding: |
| 7 | |
| 8 | 1. **What are you launching?** (New product, feature, pricing change, market expansion) |
| 9 | 2. **Who is the target customer?** (Persona, company size, industry, current alternatives) |
| 10 | 3. **What problem does it solve?** (Pain point in the customer's words, not your feature list) |
| 11 | 4. **What is the competitive landscape?** (Direct competitors, indirect alternatives, status quo) |
| 12 | 5. **What is the pricing model?** (Free, freemium, paid tiers, enterprise — even if tentative) |
| 13 | 6. **What is the launch timeline?** (Hard date, flexible window, phased rollout) |
| 14 | 7. **What resources are available?** (Budget, team size, existing channels) |
| 15 | |
| 16 | If the user says "we just need to get the word out," push back: getting the word out without positioning, segments, and channels defined is noise, not strategy. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ## Go-to-market plan template |
| 19 | |
| 20 | ### 1. Positioning Statement |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Write the positioning in this format. If you cannot fill every field, the positioning is not ready. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ``` |
| 25 | For [target customer] |
| 26 | who [need or pain point], |
| 27 | [Product name] is a [category] |
| 28 | that [key benefit]. |
| 29 | Unlike [primary alternative], |
| 30 | we [key differentiator]. |
| 31 | ``` |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Test the positioning by asking: could a competitor copy this statement word-for-word? If yes, the differentiator is too generic. Sharpen it until it describes only your product. |
| 34 | |
| 35 | ### 2. Target Segments |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Define 2-3 segments ranked by priority. Do not launch to everyone at once. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | ``` |
| 40 | | Priority | Segment | Size Estimate | Why First? | |
| 41 | |----------|-----------------------|---------------|------------------------------------| |
| 42 | | P0 | DevOps teams (50-200) | ~8,000 cos | Highest pain, shortest sales cycle | |
| 43 | | P1 | Platform engineers | ~3,000 cos | High ACV, strong word-of-mouth | |
| 44 | | P2 | Freelance developers | ~50,000 ind | Volume play, lower priority | |
| 45 | ``` |
| 46 | |
| 47 | For each segment: How do they discover tools? What do they evaluate? Who signs the check? |
| 48 | |
| 49 | ### 3. Channel Strategy |
| 50 | |
| 51 | Map channels to segments. Not every channel works for every segment. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | ``` |
| 54 | | Channel | Segment | Goal | Tactic | Budget | |
| 55 | |----------------------|---------|-------------|---------------------------------|---------| |
| 56 | | Content marketing | P0, P1 | Awareness | Technical posts, comparison guides| $5K/mo| |
| 57 | | Developer communities| P0 | Adoption | HN, Reddit, Discord engagement | Time | |
| 58 | | Outbound sales | P1 | Pipeline | Targeted outreach to leads | $15K/mo | |
| 59 | | Product Hunt | P0, P2 | Launch spike| Coordinated launch day | $2K | |
| 60 | ``` |
| 61 | |
| 62 | For each channel, define: content/action, owner, expected volume, and success measure. |
| 63 | |
| 64 | ### 4. Pricing Context |
| 65 | |
| 66 | Summarize the pricing approach and how it connects to the GTM motion. Full pricing analysis is a separate skill — here you need enough to align the launch. |
| 67 | |
| 68 | ``` |
| 69 | Model: Freemium with usage-based upgrade triggers |
| 70 | Free tier: Up to 3 projects, 1 user, community support |
| 71 | Paid tier: $49/user/month — unlimited projects, team features |
| 72 | Enterprise: Custom — SSO, audit logs, dedicated support, SLAs |
| 73 | Competitive anchor: Competitor A at $65/user, Competitor B open-source + paid cloud |
| 74 | ``` |
| 75 | |
| 76 | ### 5. Launch Timeline |
| 77 | |
| 78 | Break the launch into phases with owners and milestones. |
| 79 | |
| 80 | ``` |
| 81 | | Phase | Dates | Key Activities | Owner | Milestone | |
| 82 | |--------------|------------|------------------------------------------------|-----------|------------------------| |
| 83 | | Pre-launch | Weeks 1-4 | Positioning, landing page, beta onboarding | Marketing | 500 waitlist signups | |
| 84 | | Soft launch | Weeks 5-6 | Open waitlist, gather feedback, fix issues | Product | 100 active, NPS > 30 | |
| 85 | | Public launch| Week 7 | PH, blog, email, social, outbound to P1 | Marketing | 1,000 signups in week 1| |
| 86 | | Post-launch | Weeks 8-12 | Content cadence, sales ramp, funnel iteration | Sales | 50 SQLs, 10% conversion| |
| 87 | ``` |
| 88 | |
| 89 | ### 6. Success Metrics |
| 90 | |
| 91 | Define metrics for each launch phase. Separate leading indicators (activity) from lagging indicators (outcomes). |
| 92 | |
| 93 | ``` |
| 94 | | Metric | Phase | Target | Measured By | |
| 95 | |---------------------------|-------------|------------------|-----------------| |
| 96 | | Waitlist signups | Pre-launch | 500 | Landing page | |
| 97 | | Activation rate | Soft launch | 60% complete setup| Product analytics| |
| 98 | | Week-1 signups | Public launch| 1,000 | Analytics | |
| 99 | | Free-to-paid conversion | Post-launch | 10% within 30 days| Billing data | |
| 100 | | Sales qualified leads | Post-launch | 50 in first month| CRM | |
| 101 | | Customer acquisition cost | Post-launch | < $150 | Finance | |
| 102 | ``` |
| 103 | |
| 104 | Review metrics weekly during launch, monthly afterward. If activation rate is below target, fix onboarding before spending more on acquisition — pouring users into a leaky funnel wastes budget. |
| 105 | |
| 106 | ## Quality checklist |
| 107 | |
| 108 | Before delivering a go-to-market plan, verify: |
| 109 | |
| 110 | - [ ] Positioning is specific enough that a competitor cannot reuse it verbatim |
| 111 | - [ ] Target segments are prioritized with clear reasons for ranking |
| 112 | - [ ] Channel strategy maps channels to segments with owners and budgets |
| 113 | - [ ] Pricing context is included so the launch plan is internally consistent |
| 114 | - [ ] Launch timeline has phases, owners, and measurable milestones |
| 115 | - [ ] Success metrics separate leading indicators from lagging outcomes |
| 116 | - [ ] Every channel and phase has a named owner — a person, not a team |
| 117 | - [ ] The plan addresses what happens if early metrics miss targets |
| 118 | |
| 119 | ## Common mistakes to avoid |
| 120 | |
| 121 | - **Positioning by feature list.** "We have SSO, audit logs, and a CLI" is not positioning. Positioning answers why a customer should choose you — features are evidence, not the argument. |
| 122 | - **Targeting everyone.** A GTM plan for "all developers" will reach no one. Narrow the initial segment until it feels uncomfortably small. |
| 123 | - **Channel strategy without capacity.** Listing 8 channels with a 2-person team guarantees all 8 done poorly. Pick 2-3, execute well, then expand. |
| 124 | - **Skipping pre-launch validation.** Launching without beta feedback means debugging product-market fit in public. |
| 125 | - **Metrics without action triggers.** Define what number is good, what is bad, and what changes if you hit the bad number. |
| 126 | - **Confusing launch with growth.** A launch plan covers weeks 1-12. Growth is what happens after. Plan the transition to steady-state channels. |
| 127 |