What is a go-to-market strategy in B2B sales?
A go-to-market (GTM) strategy in B2B is a structured plan for validating and scaling sales in a new market. It combines commercial analysis, Ideal Customer Profile definition, and hands-on sales execution to generate measurable pipeline before you commit to full-scale expansion. For companies in Tech, Finance, and Professional Services entering new European markets, a structured GTM process is the difference between a validated commercial opportunity and an expensive assumption.
This guide covers what a GTM strategy is, why most GTM efforts fall short, the three-phase process used by B2B sales specialists, and how to evaluate whether your GTM effort is delivering the results it should.
- What is a go-to-market strategy in B2B?
- Why most GTM efforts fail
- The three phases: Prepare, Execute, Transfer
- What to prepare before entering a new market
- What execution looks like in practice
- GTM specialist versus internal capacity
- How to measure GTM success
What is a go-to-market (GTM) strategy?
A go-to-market strategy is a plan that guides how a company enters a new market or scales sales within an existing one. In B2B, it connects market analysis, sales execution, and commercial positioning into a single, coordinated approach - designed to generate real pipeline, not just hypotheses.
A GTM strategy in B2B is not a marketing plan. It defines how you identify and reach the right buyers, communicate commercial value, and convert interest into revenue. It must be grounded in your product's unique value proposition, the competitive landscape of the target market, and a clear definition of which customer segments you are targeting and why.
At its core, a well-structured GTM strategy answers five questions: Who is the ideal customer? What problem do you solve for them that competitors do not? Which channels and activities will generate qualified pipeline? What does the sales process look like from first contact to close? And how will you measure progress and adapt?
To build that foundation, most B2B GTM strategies require a structured market analysis covering competitors, customer buying behaviour, local market conditions, and regulatory considerations - particularly when entering new geographies. See our guide on how to conduct a competitor analysis for a practical starting point.
Hør vores afsnit om internationalt B2B-salg fra podcasten Oplev Salg
Her deler Vice President i Queue-it Mie Elmkvist, og CEO af Radiant Joakim Steenfos, deres oplevelser og erfaringer med at tage salg til nye markeder. Samtalen handler om markedsanalyse, investering og valg af salgsmodel - og hvornår det giver mening at gå til udlandet.
Vigtige elementer i en go-to-market plan
A McKinsey study on go-to-market reinvention found that companies with centralised commercial processes, an agile omnichannel approach, AI-supported automation, and trained sales teams generate significantly higher returns from their GTM efforts. These four elements form the structural backbone of any effective GTM plan.
Beyond those four, every B2B go-to-market plan should address the following elements:
- Segmentation and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Who is the target customer, what characterises them, and why are they likely to buy?
- Customer buying journey: Which touchpoints influence the decision-making process, and who is involved in the buying committee?
- Value proposition: How does your offering differentiate itself from alternatives, and what specific commercial value does it deliver?
- Sales and distribution channels: What are the most effective routes to reach and convert the target customer in this specific market?
- KPIs and success measures: What metrics will you track to evaluate progress and adapt the strategy over time?
Each element is necessary. The weighting will vary by market and business model, but omitting any of them increases the risk that your GTM effort generates activity without generating revenue.
6 tips for your go-to-market strategy
These six principles come from direct experience running GTM processes for B2B companies in Tech, Finance, and Professional Services across European markets.
1. Analyse the new market before you commit
A strong GTM effort begins with understanding the market you are entering. Map the competitive landscape, the target audience, regulatory requirements, and the typical buying process in that geography. Assumptions that held in your home market will not necessarily transfer.
2. Create a fresh segmentation for the new market
There is no guarantee that the same stakeholders who buy in your current market will be the right targets in a new one. Organisational structures, decision-making processes, and department responsibilities differ significantly across European markets - even within similar industries. Build a new segmentation from the ground up rather than copying your existing target list. Our guide on using existing clients to sharpen your B2B segmentation covers how past client data can accelerate this process.
3. Validate your unique advantages in context
Your USPs in one market may not translate directly to another. Competitors in the new market may already occupy the same positioning, or buyers may prioritise different value drivers. Before committing to a full sales motion, validate that your differentiation is commercially relevant to the target segment in the new geography.
4. Bring in specialists with market experience
When entering a new market, working with people who already operate there reduces both the time and the risk. Relevant sources of expertise include trade representatives, established networks of B2B companies in the target country, and sales specialists with active pipelines in the market. At Radiant, our GTM specialists bring direct experience from the markets we cover across Europe, combined with commercial insight grounded in actual sales activity.
5. Ensure language and localisation are production-ready
Product documentation, sales materials, and your website must be fully localised before sales begin. A poor localisation experience undermines credibility from the first touchpoint. For physical products, manuals and guides need particular attention - errors here affect the customer experience at its most practical level.
6. Warm up the market before sales outreach begins
Running targeted advertising in a new market before your sales team starts outreach serves two purposes: it provides early signal on which messages resonate with the target audience, and it creates initial brand familiarity that makes sales conversations easier to open. Testing with paid ads is significantly cheaper than testing with sales hours.
Which GTM strategy should you go with?
The right GTM approach depends on the market, the offering, the competitive environment, and your internal capacity. There is no single model that fits all situations - but the following three orientations are worth considering as starting points. For specific guidance on which approach fits your situation, contact us directly.
Product or service innovation
If your offering represents a genuinely new capability in the target market, that differentiation can anchor your GTM strategy. The risk is that educating a market on a new category takes time and investment. GTM timelines will typically be longer, and the sales process will require more commercial explanation and validation before buyers commit.
Price and value positioning
A strong price-to-value position is one of the most commercially direct GTM angles available. If you can deliver comparable or superior outcomes at a lower cost than existing alternatives, that is a clear entry point. The challenge is sustaining that advantage as incumbents respond and as the market matures.
Digital and content-led market entry
For markets where your target buyers actively research online, a content and digital marketing approach can build pipeline ahead of direct sales outreach. Capturing relevant search demand in the new market generates inbound interest that sales can convert. This works best in combination with outbound - not as a standalone GTM motion in B2B.
How to get started with your GTM strategy
Implementing a GTM strategy requires coordinated preparation across sales, marketing, and where relevant, customer service. Before outreach begins, everyone involved needs to be aligned on the target customer, the value proposition, and the commercial goal - and sales materials, CRM setup, and reporting structures need to be in place.
Gathering real market signal early is critical. Early-stage customer conversations, pilot sales meetings, and initial pipeline data provide the feedback needed to sharpen your ICP, refine your messaging, and adjust your approach before you scale investment. A GTM strategy that launches without a feedback loop will drift from the market rather than adapt to it.
Ongoing management is not optional. A dedicated GTM lead or team should be tracking progress against defined KPIs on a regular cadence, identifying where the process is generating results and where it is not. The goal is to generate a validated commercial signal - real pipeline and closed deals - that justifies scaling the effort further.
4 trin til at måle på og optimere sin GTM-strategi
At måle effekten af din GTM-strategi er afgørende for at forstå, om I gør fremskridt mod jeres kommercielle mål. Effektiv måling giver jer det datagrundlag, I skal bruge til at evaluere, justere og skalere indsatsen.
1. Definér klare mål
Før I kan begynde at måle, skal I definere jeres specifikke målsætninger for GTM-indsatsen. Det kan inkludere at øge antallet af kvalificerede leads, forbedre konverteringsraten fra møde til tilbud, reducere omkostningerne ved kundetilgang, eller øge markedsandelen i et specifikt segment.
2. Identificér relevante KPI'er
Når målene er fastsat, skal I vælge de KPI'er, der bedst reflekterer, om I lykkes. I en B2B GTM-kontekst er de mest relevante typisk: antal kvalificerede møder booket, konverteringsrate fra møde til tilbud, gennemsnitlig deal-størrelse, salgscyklus-længde, og customer acquisition cost (CAC) sammenlignet med customer lifetime value (CLV).
3. Brug salgsdata til løbende evaluering
Data fra CRM-systemet, salgsmøder og pipeline-opfølgning er jeres primære evalueringsgrundlag. Supplér med feedback fra potentielle kunder om hvorfor de siger ja eller nej - det er den mest direkte kilde til indsigt om, hvad der virker i det specifikke marked.
4. Justér løbende og gentag cyklussen
GTM er en iterativ proces. Evaluer jeres KPI'er på faste intervaller og foretag justeringer i ICP, pitch, kanalmix eller prioritering baseret på det, data viser. En GTM-indsats, der ikke tilpasser sig, vil sjældent nå sit fulde potentiale.
The three-phase B2B GTM process: Prepare, Execute, Transfer
A structured B2B go-to-market process follows three defined phases. Each phase has a specific commercial purpose, a set of activities, and concrete outputs - designed so that the result of each phase informs the next. The full process runs over 24 weeks from initial preparation to transfer.
| Phase | Duration | Primary activities | Key outputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare | 4 weeks | Market, customer and competitor analysis. Define Ideal Target Market and ICP. Map differentiation and sales activities. | Clear ICP and segmentation in CRM. Tailored pitch model. Frictionless sales process setup. |
| Execute | 16 weeks | Build GTM sales team with market know-how. Prospect and qualify ICP targets. Drive outbound sales and attend meetings. Manage pipeline and review progress. | 200-1,000 ICP targets contacted. 20-100 sales meetings or demos. 2-10 deals closed. Live pipeline with validated commercial data. |
| Transfer | 4 weeks | Final ICP and sales playbook delivered in CRM. Hit-rate, win-rate and CAC analysis. Structured client feedback and competitor map. | Top 5 GTM recommendations. Full sales playbook. Performance comparison and scaling decision basis. |
Results across the Execute phase vary depending on business model, offering, market, sales cycle length, and pricing. A GTM effort should at minimum generate a 1:1 return within your average sales cycle plus three months. If it does not, the process has generated validated data on why - which is itself commercially valuable for the decision on whether and how to scale.
For a case study of this process in practice, see how Lunar built and validated a new B2B sales channel using a structured GTM approach - generating 1,545 Sales Qualified Leads and 294 clients won.
Optimize your product launch with Radiant
Radiant is a team of B2B Sales Specialists who execute sales and improve how sales is done. For companies entering new markets in Europe, our Sales Go-To-Market service combines commercial insight with hands-on execution - running the full three-phase GTM process with specialists who already operate in your target market.
We work with companies in Tech, Finance, and Professional Services across 7 markets, and our GTM specialists bring direct sales experience from the markets they cover. The result is faster validation, less risk, and a structured pipeline that gives you a real decision basis for scaling.
See more in our full guide on B2B go-to-market strategy for the Nordics and Europe, or speak with one of our Partners about your specific market entry situation.
Talk with a Partner to discuss your next market and what a structured GTM process could look like for your business.
Mød én af vores Go-To-Market eksperter
Christoffer Tofte
Christoffer has deep experience in B2B sales across Finance, Professional Services, Tech and SaaS. He leads Go-To-Market engagements for companies entering the Nordics and DACH region through our Sales Go-To-Market service - combining market analysis, ICP development, and hands-on sales execution from the first week of the Execute phase.
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