Ezekiel J. Rudick
For a term tossed around in every boardroom, Slack channel, and strategy deck, “go-to-market” remains one of the most misunderstood concepts in SaaS. Everyone thinks they know what it means—until you ask them to define it.
Product leaders call GTM a launch plan.
CMOs describe it in terms of campaigns and ad spend.
CROs see it as pipeline.
And they’re all… kind of right. But also wrong.
The truth? Go-to-market (GTM) isn’t a single function. A cross-functional effort—a system—determines whether your product gets traction or dies on arrival. When teams don’t align on what GTM means, they default to siloed tactics that never converge on momentum.
And momentum, friends, is the currency of growth.
Why the Confusion Around GTM Is So Dangerous
“Go-to-market” sounds simple. It’s how you bring your product to the people who need it, right?
Sure. But that definition is so vague it’s practically useless. It gives you nothing concrete to build from, and nothing to rally a team around.
Worse, it creates internal chaos.
According to McKinsey, over 60% of failed GTM efforts stem not from market conditions or competition, but from internal misalignment. That’s right—the biggest growth killer isn’t your product, pricing, or positioning. It’s the fact that your product, marketing, sales, and CS teams are rowing in opposite directions.
A few symptoms of GTM misalignment:
Sales launching before the product is ready
Marketing creating demand for a solution that doesn’t exist yet
CS being left out of onboarding flows or upsell strategy
Product assuming “if we build it, they will come”
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. But you can fix it.
My Go-To Definition (The One I Use With Clients)
Here’s how I frame it during client onboarding:
👉 Go-to-Market is how you bring your product to the people who need it—on purpose.
It’s not a launch. It’s not a campaign. It’s a system.
A system that aligns five core components to create momentum, demand, and conversion across the entire buyer journey.
Let’s break it down.
The 5 Pillars of a Successful GTM Strategy
If you’re missing even one of these, your go-to-market effort is already leaking revenue.
1. Product Readiness
You can’t sell what you can’t deliver. GTM starts with making sure the thing you’re bringing to market solves a real problem for a real customer. That means having:
A clear value prop
A validated feature set
Documentation, onboarding flows, and pricing that make sense
No amount of demand gen can save a half-baked product.
2. Audience Clarity
Who are you for? Who are you not for?
A good GTM strategy defines a tight Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), digs into user motivations and pain points, and segments messaging accordingly. If you’re trying to be everything to everyone, you’ll resonate with no one.
3. Channel Strategy
Where does your audience live—and how do they prefer to buy?
This is where distribution comes in. Your channel mix (paid, owned, earned) needs to align with how your buyers discover, evaluate, and adopt new solutions. Some buyers want content. Some want community. Some want to talk to sales on Day 1. Your GTM strategy needs to meet them where they are.
4. Message-Market Fit
Most teams have product-market fit. Few have message-market fit.
Your value prop isn’t what you think it is—it’s what your audience feels when they encounter your brand. Clear messaging means
Knowing what job you help your customer do
Speaking in their language, not yours
Framing your product in the context of their world
This is where brand strategy meets revenue. Ignore it, and you’ll end up with a technically strong product that no one understands—or buys.
5. Conversion Path
This is the part most teams skip.
What happens after someone says “I’m interested”?
You need a well-designed conversion path that removes friction, builds confidence, and accelerates action. That could mean:
A no-BS landing page with one CTA
A trial that doesn’t need a sales call to get started
A nurturing flow that educates and qualifies leads
Your funnel isn’t just a visual. It’s an experience. One that should feel like a slide, not a maze.
GTM ≠ Growth Hacking
One more thing: Go-to-market is not the same as “growth hacking.”
Growth hacking is tactical. It’s about finding short-term ways to juice the funnel—useful, sure, but not sustainable on its own.
GTM is strategic. It’s about creating the conditions for sustainable growth. A good GTM strategy is boring in the best way—it’s structured, repeatable, and scalable. It’s how brands like Notion, Figma, and Gong built momentum before pouring gas on the fire.
Why This Matters Now
In today’s market, alignment is your unfair advantage.
Budgets are tighter. Buyers are skeptical. Attention spans are microscopic. You don’t get second chances.
That’s why nailing your GTM strategy isn’t optional—it’s the difference between a launch that fizzles and a brand that scales.
And if you’re a founder, CMO, or growth lead trying to figure out why your funnel isn’t converting or your campaigns aren’t landing… it’s probably not your ads. It’s probably your GTM.
TL;DR: The Takeaways
Go-to-market is how you bring your product to the people who need it—on purpose
It’s not a tactic, it’s a system
Align your product, audience, channels, message, and conversion path
Misalignment, not market conditions, kills most GTM efforts
Fix the system, and growth becomes inevitable