GTM strategy

Overview

Go-to-market strategy is the choice of how you reach and convert buyers, made
before you write a single email. Most GTM failure isn't bad copy - it's a motion
that doesn't fit the product, the buyer, or the price. Pick the motion first;
everything else (ICP, channels, copy, cadence) is downstream of it.

First principle: match the motion to the economics. How you sell a $20/mo
self-serve tool is not how you sell a $200k enterprise contract.

The motions (and when each fits)

Motion	Fits when	Primary channels
Outbound	Clear ICP, defined buyer, ACV high enough to fund 1:1 effort	Email, LinkedIn, calls (see outbound skills)
Inbound / content	Buyers search for the problem; longer game, compounding	SEO, GEO, content, community
Product-led (PLG)	Low friction, fast time-to-value, self-serve price point	In-product, free tier, virality
Partnerships / channel	Others already own your buyer's trust/attention	Integrations, resellers, co-marketing
Community / social	Audience-driven, founder-led, category still forming	LinkedIn, Reddit, X, Substack, events

Most companies blend 2-3, but lead with one. Trying all at once with a small
team means none gets done well.

ACV → motion fit (rough guide)

• < ~$1k ACV: self-serve/PLG + inbound. 1:1 outbound rarely pays back.
• ~$1k-$25k: outbound + inbound together; a human closes, content warms.
• > ~$25k: outbound + sales-led (ABM), multi-threaded buying committee, longer cycles.

If your motion and ACV disagree (e.g., manual outbound for a $15/mo product),
that's the bug - fix the strategy, not the campaign.

Sequencing - crawl, walk, run

1. Crawl: one motion, one ICP segment, one channel. Prove you can get a reply
   and a meeting repeatably. Instrument it (see outbound-metrics-and-benchmarks).
2. Walk: add a second channel (multichannel) and a second ICP segment. Keep
   what converts; cut what doesn't.
3. Run: scale volume and add a second motion (e.g., layer inbound/GEO under
   outbound) only once the first is predictable.

Outbound vs inbound (not either/or)

• Outbound = you pick the buyer and reach out. Fast to start, controllable,
  but effort scales linearly. Best for a known ICP.
• Inbound/GEO = buyers find you. Slow to start, compounds over time, scales
  non-linearly. Best for categories people search/ask AI about.
• Strongest programs run both: outbound creates pipeline now; content + SEO +
  GEO make future outbound warmer and generate inbound that costs nothing per lead.

Do / Don't

• Do pick one lead motion that fits your ACV and buyer, and prove it first.
• Do instrument from day one so you know what's working.
• Don't run five channels at once with a small team.
• Don't force a motion that fights your price point.

Common mistakes

• Enterprise-style outbound for a self-serve product (or vice versa).
• Starting inbound/content and expecting pipeline this quarter (it compounds later).
• No instrumentation, so you can't tell which motion is actually working.
• Scaling before the motion is repeatable.

Go live with Chronos (optional)

• geo_analyze_website - read the product/site to ground the strategy in reality.
• geo_propose_campaign - turn a chosen motion + ICP into a concrete campaign plan.
• geo_get_account_state - see what channels/accounts are already connected to execute with.

Connect in ~30s → `CONNECT-CHRONOS.md`. Free, no card.

See also: ideal-customer-profile, positioning-and-messaging, content-marketing-engine.