Advanced Techniques for Optimizing Your GTM Strategy

As markets evolve and customer expectations rise, marketing leaders and strategists must continuously adapt and refine their approaches.

Speaking of customer expectations … they are higher now than ever before. Consider these two data points:

• “80% of organizations expect to compete mainly based on customer experience (CX)” (Gartner)
• “73% of all people point to customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions. Yet only 49% of U.S. consumers say companies provide a good customer experience today” (PwC).

One key to rising customer expectations (and the evolving marketplace)? An optimized, advanced GTM strategy.

While the foundational elements of a traditional GTM strategy — market research, customer segmentation, positioning, sales enablement, and so on — are essential, relying solely on basic strategies will limit a company’s growth potential.

Advanced GTM strategies incorporate deeper integrations, sophisticated technologies, and data-driven decision-making processes. 

An advanced GTM approach helps better align with current market demands, enhance customer engagement, and drive more efficient and effective sales processes.

This article will explore advanced GTM techniques, highlighting the importance of data-driven decision-making, the benefits of leveraging automation, and the necessity of integrating Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Account-Based Experience (ABX).

We will, of course, share how Demandbase is the ideal partner as you move from a basic to an advanced GTM strategy.

Data-driven decision-making in GTM: Why it’s essential

According to Statista, the world created 97 zettabytes of data in 2022. This number is projected to nearly double (181 zettabytes) by 2025.

Nothing indicates this pace of data creation will slow anytime soon.

Much of this data is called “big data” — large volumes of complex, rapidly generated data that require advanced tools for analysis and management.

In short, there is plenty of data to help guide and inform your GTM decisions.

Relying on intuition or outdated methods is no longer sufficient. To stay ahead, businesses must leverage data-driven decision-making processes that provide actionable insights and drive strategic decisions.

And that all starts with reviewing analytics and insights derived from that data.

The (critical) role of analytics and insights in an advanced GTM strategy

Companies can make informed decisions that align with their business objectives and market conditions by analyzing customer behavior, market trends, and sales performance.

Data-driven decisions help to:

Identify high-value accounts by reviewing engagement levels, recent interactions, and demographic information. Specifically,

• Examine past sales data to identify patterns and characteristics of successful accounts.
• Use advanced algorithms to forecast which accounts will most likely convert based on current trends and historical patterns.
• Implement an account scoring system that ranks potential leads based on their likelihood to convert and their potential value to your business (see Step #3 here).

Optimize marketing campaigns to target the right audience with the right message at the right time. Specifically,

• Divide the audience into segments based on shared characteristics and behaviors for more personalized and relevant marketing messages.
• Use data insights to craft messages that resonate with each segment’s pain points, needs, and preferences.
• Analyze data to determine the best times to reach your audience and the most effective channels (e.g., email, social media, webinars)
• Continuously test different versions of your campaigns to see which performs best. Use data to iterate and refine.

Improve customer experience by understanding their preferences and pain points. Specifically,

• Use data to map the typical customer journey, identifying key touchpoints and potential pain points.
• Tailor interactions based on individual customer data. Example: if a customer has shown interest in a particular product feature, ensure that future communications highlight that feature.
• Implement systems to collect and analyze customer feedback regularly (feedback loop). Then, use this data to make informed decisions about product improvements, customer service enhancements, and more.
• Use predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and address issues before they become problems. For example, if data indicates that customers often struggle with a particular feature, write a blog post about it!

So how is it done?

Data-driven decision-making in GTM: How to execute (with real-world examples)

Implementing data-driven decision-making in your GTM strategy requires a systematic approach and the right tools.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

The first step is to invest in advanced analytics tools to gather and analyze customer behavior, market trends, and sales performance data. These tools should provide comprehensive insights that help you make informed decisions.

It is important to monitor key metrics regularly using that analytics platform, preferably one that provides AI-driven marketing and sales solutions to help B2B companies target, engage, and convert key accounts.

Tracking important key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial for understanding how well your GTM strategy is performing and identifying areas for improvement. Focus on metrics such as lead conversion rates, customer engagement levels, and campaign performance.

Learn how Adobe used Demandbase to see a 3x increase in visitor-to-lead conversion rates.

Next, integrate all data sources. Combining data from various sources provides a holistic view of your customers and market, allowing for more accurate insights and predictions. This integration helps identify trends and patterns that would otherwise be missed if data were siloed.

As Vikram Nair, Director of Operations & Business Development at Equilar, said, “As far as a seamless integration and the flexibility to get innovative with scoring models or even syncing in various data sources, I haven’t found a product that can do that like Demandbase, which is great!”

Read more about how Equilar “de-fragged its data” and boosted engagement and retention.

A “systematic approach and the right tools” will surely help to optimize your GTM strategy. Next level: Automation.

Leveraging automation to further optimize GTM processes

“B2B automation helps align marketing and sales efforts, creating a seamless experience for potential clients.” — Ann Handley, renowned author, speaker, and Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs.

Incorporating automation into an advanced GTM strategy can significantly enhance efficiency, streamline operations, and ensure more consistent execution of marketing and sales campaigns and outreach.

Automation offers several key advantages for B2B SaaS companies, including:

• Increased efficiency: Automation reduces the time and effort required for repetitive tasks, allowing your team to focus on more strategic activities.
• Consistency: Automated processes ensure that tasks are completed consistently and accurately, reducing the risk of human error.
• Scalability: Automation enables your business to scale operations without a corresponding resource increase.
• Real-time insights: Automated systems can provide real-time data and insights, allowing for quicker decision-making and more responsive strategies.

Automation comes in many flavors — from marketing automation to sales automation to customer relationship management automation. Oh, and let’s not forget AI to automate customer interactions and to “find and engage the accounts and buying groups most likely to purchase.”

Read what Jon Miller has to say about AI and GTM.

Automation on its own — or infused with AI — can serve as a means to enhance an advanced GTM strategy. Here are a few examples:

Automate lead nurturing — When a lead fills out a form, they automatically receive a follow-up email with a related case study after three days, followed by an invitation to a webinar after one week.

Automate sales tasks — Leads are automatically scored based on their interactions with the company’s website and content. High-scoring leads trigger an alert for the sales team to follow up immediately.

Bonus: Check out Demandbase’s Engagement Minute system.

Automate customer support — A customer visits the support page and is greeted by a chatbot that offers solutions based on their query. If the issue is complex, the chatbot collects relevant information and schedules a call with an SDR.

For automation to optimize your GTM strategy, be sure to:

• Define clear objectives: Establish clear goals for what you want to achieve with automation — increased lead conversion rates? Improved sales productivity? Higher customer satisfaction scores?
• Start small: Begin with automating simple, repetitive tasks before moving on to more complex processes. Learn from early trial and error.
• Customize workflows: Tailor automation workflows to fit your specific business needs and customer journey. Avoid using generic templates that may not align with your strategy.
• Monitor and optimize: Regularly review automated processes and make adjustments as needed. Use data and feedback to continuously improve and refine your workflows.
• Provide training and support: Ensure your team is well-trained on the new automation tools and provide ongoing support to address any issues or questions.

Learn how Hexagon leveraged Demandbase to infuse Account Intelligence into all their decisions and to automate their workflow.

To put the cherry on top of GTM optimization, it’s time to add Account Based Experience (ABX).

Integrating Account-Based Experience (ABX) with GTM

Before we go into ABX, let’s step back to define the acronym and show how it’s evolved from ABM.

As we shared here, Account-Based Marketing is a GTM strategy for finding the right fit accounts that represent significantly higher expansion or growth opportunities and targeting them with tailored marketing and sales support.

In that same article, we defined ABX as a “go-to-market strategy that uses data and insights to orchestrate relevant, trusted marketing and sales actions throughout the B2B customer journey.

ABX is a customer-centric approach to ABM, focused on delivering the right message at the right stage in the customer’s journey.

Integrating ABX with GTM is crucial for several reasons:

ABX ensures you are focusing efforts on high-value accounts, those most likely to convert.

ABX emphasizes personalized sales and marketing efforts tailored to individual accounts’ specific needs and pain points.

ABX fosters closer alignment between sales and marketing teams, ensuring that both are working towards the same goals and objectives.

ABX can significantly improve sales and marketing campaigns’ return on investment (ROI).

Here’s what it looks like in practice:

First, identify target accounts using data and analytics to find accounts that align with your ideal customer profile (ICP).

Next, align sales and marketing teams for true collaboration. Establish shared goals, metrics, and communication channels to facilitate this coordination.

Then, create personalized content and messaging — emails, case studies, social media posts, and webinars.

Finally, engage target accounts across multiple channels, including email, social media, and events. Then continuously measure the performance of your ABX efforts and optimize based on the results.

It’s time to incorporate advanced GTM strategies

Market research.

Customer segmentation.

Sales enablement.

All are essential in building out your GTM strategy, but they are insufficient on their own. An advanced GTM approach — incorporating data-driven decision-making, leveraging automation, and integrating ABX — is critical to better align with current market demands, enhance customer engagement, and drive more efficient and effective sales processes.

Adopting these advanced GTM strategies—while leveraging the right tools— will get you ahead of the competition.