# Go-to-Market Plan: [Product or offering name]

> A go-to-market (GTM) plan that takes a product or major release from
> "built" to "bought": market and segments, ideal customer profile and
> personas, positioning, pricing and packaging, channels and sales motion,
> launch timeline, marketing programs, enablement, budget, funnel targets,
> risks and governance. Based on common B2B and B2C product-marketing
> practice. Replace every `[bracketed]` value and every row marked *Example*.

<!--
Guidance: How to use this template
- Start with sections 2 to 5 (value proposition, market, ICP, positioning).
  Pricing, channels and programs only make sense once these are agreed.
- Make every target a number with a date and an owner. Work the funnel
  backwards from the revenue goal in section 13 and check the arithmetic.
- Keep one plan per product or launch. Reference the messaging framework,
  brand guidelines and launch checklist rather than repeating them.
- Review the plan at each launch gate and record changes in the revision history.
-->

## Document control

<!-- Guidance: Identify the plan, its owner and approvers. Status moves Draft -> In review -> Approved. Most GTM plans are Confidential because they contain pricing and targets. -->

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Document ID | [GTM-2026-003] |
| Product / offering | [Product name and version] |
| Version | [0.1] |
| Status | [Draft / In review / Approved] |
| Owner | [@product-marketing-lead] |
| Contributors | [@pm, @sales-lead, @marketing-ops, @finance] |
| Approvers | [@cmo, @cro, @vp-product] |
| Target launch date | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Classification | [Confidential] |

### Approvals

| Role | Name | Decision | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief marketing officer | [@name] | [Approved / Approved with changes] | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Head of sales / revenue | [@name] | [Decision] | YYYY-MM-DD |
| VP product | [@name] | [Decision] | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Finance | [@name] | [Budget approved] | YYYY-MM-DD |

## Contents

<!-- Guidance: Keep in sync with headings. -->

1. [Executive summary](#1-executive-summary)
2. [Product and value proposition](#2-product-and-value-proposition)
3. [Target market and segments](#3-target-market-and-segments)
4. [Ideal customer profile and personas](#4-ideal-customer-profile-and-personas)
5. [Competitive positioning](#5-competitive-positioning)
6. [Pricing and packaging](#6-pricing-and-packaging)
7. [Channels and sales motion](#7-channels-and-sales-motion)
8. [Launch plan and timeline](#8-launch-plan-and-timeline)
9. [Marketing programs](#9-marketing-programs)
10. [Sales and support enablement](#10-sales-and-support-enablement)
11. [Budget](#11-budget)
12. [KPIs and funnel targets](#12-kpis-and-funnel-targets)
13. [Risks and assumptions](#13-risks-and-assumptions)
14. [Governance and cadence](#14-governance-and-cadence)

## 1. Executive summary

<!-- Guidance: Half a page for executives who read nothing else. What are we launching, to whom, why we will win, how we reach them, what it costs and what it returns. Write it last. -->

[*Example:* We will launch Team Workspaces on YYYY-MM-DD to software
companies with 20 to 200 employees that already use our free editor. The
offer, a per-seat plan at $8 per user per month, solves the version chaos
of shared documentation without forcing a migration. We will lead with a
product-led motion (in-app upgrade and trials), supported by a small
inside-sales team for accounts above 50 seats. The plan needs $180,000 over
two quarters and targets $420,000 in new annual recurring revenue (ARR) in
the first 12 months.]

| Headline | Value |
|---|---|
| Target segment | [Primary segment] |
| Core promise | [One sentence] |
| Primary motion | [Product-led / Sales-led / Partner-led / Hybrid] |
| Launch tier | [Tier 1 major / Tier 2 / Tier 3 minor] |
| Budget | [$N] |
| 12-month revenue target | [$N ARR] |

## 2. Product and value proposition

<!-- Guidance: Describe what is being launched in customer terms, the problem it solves and the value delivered. Separate what ships at launch from what comes later. -->

### 2.1 Offering

[*Example:* Shared workspaces with live co-editing, roles and permissions,
review comments and a revision history for Markdown documents, available in
the web app and the installable desktop app.]

| Capability | Available at launch | Later (date) |
|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Live co-editing | Yes | |
| *Example:* Single sign-on (SAML) | No | YYYY-MM-DD |
| [Capability] | [Yes / No] | [YYYY-MM-DD] |

### 2.2 Value proposition

| Customer problem | Our solution | Measurable value |
|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Teams lose time reconciling copies of documents | One live document with history | *Example:* 2 hours saved per writer per week (beta study, n = 41) |
| *Example:* Tools lock content in proprietary formats | Plain Markdown files, export any time | No migration cost when leaving |
| [Problem] | [Solution] | [Value with evidence] |

Value proposition statement: [*Example:* For engineering teams who keep
documentation in scattered files, Team Workspaces gives one live, private
source of truth in plain Markdown, so writers stop reconciling copies.]

## 3. Target market and segments

<!-- Guidance: Size the market with a stated method and source, then choose segments. Bottom-up sizing (number of accounts x expected price) is more credible than top-down percentages. -->

### 3.1 Market sizing

| Measure | Definition | Value | Method and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TAM | Total addressable market | [$N] | *Example:* 310,000 software firms worldwide x 40 seats x $96 per year |
| SAM | Serviceable addressable market | [$N] | *Example:* firms with 20 to 200 staff in supported languages |
| SOM | Serviceable obtainable market (3 years) | [$N] | *Example:* 2% of SAM based on current free-user penetration |

### 3.2 Segments

| Segment | Size (accounts) | Pain intensity | Ability to pay | Access via | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Software firms 20 to 200 staff | 85,000 | High | Medium | Existing free users | 1 |
| *Example:* Agencies and consultancies | 40,000 | Medium | Medium | Partners | 2 |
| *Example:* Universities | 6,000 | Medium | Low | Education program | 3 |
| [Segment] | [N] | [H / M / L] | [H / M / L] | [Channel] | [N] |

## 4. Ideal customer profile and personas

<!-- Guidance: The ICP describes the account that gets the most value fastest and is cheapest to win. Personas describe the people inside that account who buy, use or block. -->

### 4.1 Ideal customer profile

| Attribute | ICP definition |
|---|---|
| Industry | [*Example:* software and SaaS] |
| Company size | [*Example:* 20 to 200 employees] |
| Geography | [*Example:* North America, EU, Japan] |
| Technographics | [*Example:* uses Git hosting and a chat tool; docs in Markdown] |
| Trigger events | [*Example:* new docs lead hired; compliance audit; tool contract renewal] |
| Disqualifiers | [*Example:* requires on-premise deployment] |

### 4.2 Personas

| Persona | Role in purchase | Goals | Pains | Message that lands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Engineering manager | Economic buyer | Ship docs with releases | Docs always out of date | "One live source of truth, no migration" |
| *Example:* Technical writer | Champion and daily user | Fast writing, clean review | Copy-paste between tools | "Write in Markdown, review in place" |
| *Example:* Security lead | Blocker or approver | Control data exposure | Unknown SaaS storing data | "Local-first, nothing sent without consent" |
| [Persona] | [Role] | [Goals] | [Pains] | [Message] |

## 5. Competitive positioning

<!-- Guidance: Name real alternatives, including "do nothing" and spreadsheets or shared drives. Be honest about where they win. -->

### 5.1 Positioning statement

For [target customer] who [need], [product] is a [category] that
[key benefit]. Unlike [main alternative], we [primary differentiator].

### 5.2 Competitive landscape

| Alternative | Where they win | Where we win | Our response when raised |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Wiki platform | Mature permissions, integrations | Plain files, offline, privacy | "Keep your wiki for intranet; use us for docs that ship with code" |
| *Example:* Shared cloud drive | Already paid for | Markdown-native, review flow | "Files stay files; you gain history and preview" |
| *Example:* Do nothing | No change cost | Hours saved per week | Show time-savings calculator |
| [Competitor] | [Strengths] | [Our advantage] | [Talk track] |

## 6. Pricing and packaging

<!-- Guidance: Show plans, price points, what each includes and the reasoning (value metric, competitor anchors, willingness-to-pay evidence). Note discount rules. -->

| Plan | Price | Value metric | Includes | Target buyer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Free | $0 | per user | Single-user editor, local storage | Individuals |
| *Example:* Team | $8 per user per month (annual) | per seat | Shared workspaces, comments, history | Teams of 3 to 50 |
| *Example:* Business | $14 per user per month (annual) | per seat | SSO, audit log, admin controls | 50+ seats |
| [Plan] | [$N] | [Metric] | [Features] | [Buyer] |

- **Pricing rationale**: [*Example:* survey of 380 users: median willingness to pay $9 per seat; main alternatives at $6 to $15].
- **Discounts**: [*Example:* annual billing 20%; nonprofit and education 50%; sales may discount up to 15% without approval].
- **Trial**: [*Example:* 14-day Team trial, no card required].
- **Migration offer**: [*Example:* first three months at 50% for teams moving from a named competitor].

## 7. Channels and sales motion

<!-- Guidance: Describe how customers discover, evaluate and buy. Assign each channel a role and an owner. Make hand-offs between marketing, product and sales explicit. -->

| Channel | Role in funnel | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* In-product prompts | Convert free users to trials | @growth | Triggered after third shared document |
| *Example:* Website and SEO | Acquire evaluators | @content | Comparison pages, templates library |
| *Example:* Inside sales | Close deals above 50 seats | @sales-lead | Lead routing by seat count |
| *Example:* Partners and integrations | Reach agencies | @partnerships | Referral fee 20% first year |
| [Channel] | [Role] | @name | [Notes] |

- **Motion**: [*Example:* product-led for under 50 seats; sales-assisted above].
- **Lead definitions**: [*Example:* product-qualified lead (PQL) = trial workspace with 3+ active members in 7 days].
- **Hand-off SLA**: [*Example:* sales contacts every PQL above 50 seats within one working day].

## 8. Launch plan and timeline

<!-- Guidance: Phase the launch (readiness, beta, launch, scale) with gates. The chart gives the shape; the table gives gate criteria. Link the detailed launch checklist. -->

The timeline below shows the phases from readiness to scale; adjust dates
to your launch.

```mermaid
gantt
    title GTM timeline
    dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
    section Readiness
    Positioning and messaging     :a1, 2026-01-05, 15d
    Pricing approval              :a2, after a1, 10d
    Enablement content            :a3, after a2, 20d
    section Beta
    Private beta (40 accounts)    :b1, 2026-02-02, 30d
    Case studies                  :b2, after b1, 15d
    section Launch
    Launch week                   :milestone, l1, 2026-03-16, 0d
    Launch campaign               :l2, 2026-03-16, 21d
    section Scale
    Partner program               :s1, 2026-04-06, 45d
    Paid acquisition tests        :s2, 2026-04-06, 60d
```

| Gate | Date | Criteria to pass | Decision owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1 Readiness | YYYY-MM-DD | Messaging approved; pricing approved; billing tested | @cmo |
| G2 Beta exit | YYYY-MM-DD | 30 of 40 beta accounts active weekly; no Sev-1 defects open | @vp-product |
| G3 Launch go/no-go | YYYY-MM-DD | Launch checklist complete; support staffed; sales trained | @cmo + @cro |
| G4 Scale review | YYYY-MM-DD | Funnel within 20% of target for 4 weeks | @cro |

## 9. Marketing programs

<!-- Guidance: List the programs that will create demand, with objective, audience, timing and expected contribution to pipeline. -->

| Program | Objective | Audience | Timing | Expected result | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Launch announcement (blog, email, social) | Awareness among free users | 120,000 free users | Launch week | 6,000 visits to pricing page | @content |
| *Example:* Webinar "Docs as code for teams" | Educate evaluators | Engineering managers | Week 3 | 400 registrants, 60 trials | @events |
| *Example:* Comparison and migration pages | Capture switchers | Competitor users | Launch + ongoing | 150 trials per month | @seo |
| *Example:* Customer stories (3) | Proof | All segments | Week 2 to 6 | Used in sales and ads | @pmm |
| [Program] | [Objective] | [Audience] | [Timing] | [Result] | @name |

## 10. Sales and support enablement

<!-- Guidance: Everything customer-facing teams need before launch, with owners and dates. Untrained teams are the most common cause of a quiet launch. -->

| Asset or activity | Audience | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitch deck and talk track | Sales | @pmm | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Objection-handling guide | Sales, support | @pmm | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Demo environment and script | Sales | @solutions | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Pricing and discount guide | Sales | @finance | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Help-centre articles and macros | Support | @support-lead | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Certification session (60 min) | Sales, support | @enablement | YYYY-MM-DD |

## 11. Budget

<!-- Guidance: Break the budget down by category and phase. Check that rows add up to the total and that the total matches the approved figure in the executive summary. -->

| Category | Readiness | Launch | Scale | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Content and creative | $10,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 | $35,000 |
| *Example:* Paid media | $0 | $30,000 | $45,000 | $75,000 |
| *Example:* Events and webinars | $0 | $8,000 | $12,000 | $20,000 |
| *Example:* Tools and research | $8,000 | $2,000 | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| *Example:* Enablement and partner incentives | $5,000 | $5,000 | $15,000 | $25,000 |
| *Example:* Contingency | $2,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $10,000 |
| **Total** | **$25,000** | **$64,000** | **$91,000** | **$180,000** |

## 12. KPIs and funnel targets

<!-- Guidance: Work backwards from the revenue goal through each conversion stage. State assumptions for every rate and its source (beta data, benchmarks, history). Recheck the maths whenever a rate changes. -->

### 12.1 Funnel model

Required new paying accounts follow from the revenue target $R$, the
average seats per account $s$ and the annual price per seat $p$:

$$
N_{\text{accounts}} = \frac{R}{s \times p}
$$

Each earlier stage divides by its conversion rate $c_i$:

$$
N_{\text{stage}\,k} = \frac{N_{\text{accounts}}}{\prod_{i=k}^{n} c_i}
$$

*Example:* $R = 420{,}000$ (USD), $s = 12$, $p = 96$ (USD per seat per year) gives
$N_{\text{accounts}} = 420{,}000 / 1{,}152 \approx 365$ paying accounts.

| Stage | Conversion to next | Required volume (12 months) | Source of rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Example:* Pricing-page visitors | 8% to trial | 45,625 | Web analytics, last 6 months |
| *Example:* Trials started | 20% to PQL | 3,650 | Beta cohort |
| *Example:* Product-qualified leads | 50% to paid | 730 | Beta cohort |
| Paying accounts | | 365 | Target |

Note: working back, 365 paid / 0.50 = 730 PQLs; 730 / 0.20 = 3,650 trials;
3,650 / 0.08 = 45,625 pricing-page visitors. Replace the example volumes
with your own calculation and keep this note consistent with the table.
The implied trial-to-paid rate is $0.20 \times 0.50 = 10\%$.

### 12.2 KPI dashboard

| KPI | Target | Frequency | Source | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New ARR | [$N by YYYY-MM-DD] | Monthly | Billing | @cro |
| Trials started | [N per month] | Weekly | Product analytics | @growth |
| Trial-to-paid conversion | [N%] | Weekly | Billing + analytics | @growth |
| Customer acquisition cost (CAC) | [Under $N] | Monthly | Finance | @finance |
| CAC payback | [Under N months] | Quarterly | Finance | @finance |
| Net revenue retention | [N%] | Quarterly | Billing | @cs-lead |

CAC payback in months: $\text{payback} = \dfrac{\text{CAC}}{\text{monthly revenue per account} \times \text{gross margin}}$.

## 13. Risks and assumptions

<!-- Guidance: List the assumptions the plan depends on and the risks that would change it. Score likelihood and impact 1 to 5 and review at every gate. -->

| ID | Risk or assumption | Likelihood (1-5) | Impact (1-5) | Score | Mitigation | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTM-R01 | *Example:* Trial-to-paid stays at 7% instead of the modelled 10% | 3 | 5 | 15 | Onboarding experiment backlog; review at G4 | @growth |
| GTM-R02 | *Example:* Competitor cuts price before launch | 2 | 3 | 6 | Lead on privacy, not price; migration offer ready | @pmm |
| GTM-R03 | *Example:* SSO slips, blocking Business plan deals | 3 | 4 | 12 | Sell Team plan with SSO date in contract | @pm |
| GTM-A01 | *Example:* Assumption: 12 seats per paying account | n/a | 4 | | Validate with first 50 accounts | @analyst |

Score = likelihood x impact; review any score of 12 or more weekly.

## 14. Governance and cadence

<!-- Guidance: Who decides what, how often the GTM team meets and what triggers a plan change. -->

| Forum | Cadence | Participants | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| GTM stand-up | Weekly | PMM, PM, growth, sales, support | Track launch tasks and blockers |
| Funnel review | Bi-weekly | PMM, growth, sales, finance | Compare funnel to targets |
| Gate review | At G1 to G4 | Approvers listed above | Go / no-go decisions |
| Executive update | Monthly | CMO, CRO, VP product | Budget and target changes |

Plan change rule: [*Example:* any change to price, target segment or budget
above 10% needs approver sign-off and a new version of this document].

Related documents: [messaging framework], [brand guidelines], [launch checklist], [pricing model].

## Revision history

<!-- Guidance: Record each version, especially changes to targets, pricing or budget. -->

| Version | Date | Author | Change summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@name] | First draft |
| 0.2 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@name] | *Example:* Funnel rates updated from beta data |
| 1.0 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@name] | *Example:* Approved at G1 |

## Standard and licence note

Based on common industry practice for go-to-market and product-marketing
planning (market sizing, ICP, positioning statement, funnel modelling).
Template licence: MIT.