Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\nAttaining a market-fit, validated through substantial favorable response from a large section of the market, is a long and tedious process. One iteration follows another until in hope of attaining that eureka moment. And therein lies the flaw. Product development is thought of as an exigency while market-demand a mere afterthought.<\/p>\n
Hence, an approach that factors in market-demand prior to product development is more sensible. That’s right, the converse of product market fit – market-product-fit. Here you\u2019re basically working from scratch, prying deep into a target market to look for anomalies and customer\u2019s pain-points.<\/p>\n
Validating demand for a given problem is the key in market product fit and that is accomplished either through surveys or by offering consultation to businesses in your area of expertise. Once their concerns have become crystal clear, product development can be undertaken. The resulting product needs no tweaking as the key market demand was identified prior to product development.<\/p>\n
Should You Look To Disrupt Or Create A Market-Demand?<\/h2>\n
Having cleared the air about the right approach to product\/solution launch. It’s time to consider a still more important issue at hand. Should you be a disrupter or make your own market? At first glance, two might sound like one and the same thing. But there’s a difference.<\/p>\n
Disruptions are rare occurrences but with far-reaching and often seismic consequences. Think of Steve Jobs introducing Apple iPhone back in 2007. A spark of innovation and the whole mobile phone industry was revolutionized.<\/p>\n
Then we have Tesla, the archetype of a true disrupter. The auto industry has seen its fair share of changes but for a new player to come and altogether guide it in its own proposed path requires genius. Tesla made it happen with its luxurious electric cars. It has sold more cars than BMW, Audi, Acura and Mercedes in the USA.<\/p>\n
Another famous disrupter is Netflix that changed how people would go on to consume digital media. In fact, there\u2019s a nice backstory to the birth of Netflix. Turns out, its would-be-creator at the time, Reed Hastings, was fined $40 late fee for a movie. Every Netflix user today can thank that movie-rental service for eliciting that powerful response from Hastings.<\/p>\n
Caveat – As inspiring as these disruptors and their respective disruptions might appear, the fact remains you have higher chances of failing in trying to disrupt a market as opposed to finding your own place in it. The success rate of attempted disruptions is a mere 6 percent.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to Market-making. It’s an approach where businesses identify demand in an existing market and contrive a way to establish that their product will be used by the masses. Uber and Amazon are the prime examples of that.<\/p>\n
Internet usage was already proliferating by the start of the 21st century. These businesses identified scope to offer their services, already present in real-world, through the use of the internet. Simply put, they created a market in an existing larger market.<\/p>\n
In comparison to disruption, market making proves to be a less risky proposition carrying a 28% success rate.<\/p>\n
How To Come Through Product Launch With Flying Colors?<\/h2>\n
Following are a few tips to help you market your product successfully and consolidate your position thereon.<\/p>\n
Market, People & Product<\/h3>\n
That’s the exact order you need to follow to stay ahead of the curve. First comes the market. By knowing how your market is behaving and what changes might be lurking on the horizon you can formulate your plans and strategies that give you the best chance to succeed. Next, are the people. You want to know how content they are with your products\/services and look to address their complaints and expectations in a swift and effective manner. Finally, you can spare a thought or two about your product itself. How good it is, how it stacks up against its key competitors and where it has room for improvement.<\/p>\n
That looks to be a simple enough guideline but time and again we see businesses struggle in its application. Their natural tendency to focus first on their products and then its users followed by the market just sets them up for failure in the successive stages.<\/p>\n
Work On Building an Ecosystem<\/h3>\n
Once your product is launched, you should start focusing on creating a well-organized ecosystem to cater to the various needs of your target audience. Apple is a prime example of implementing this strategy. Since the beginning, they had this vision of building an ecosystem so their customers wouldn’t have to look outside Apple for their different needs.<\/p>\n
We see this realized through an impressive line of products\/services such as iPhone, iMac, MacBook, iWatch, ApplePay all seamlessly dovetailed with one another. This way a new user doesn’t simply buy into a single product\/service, he\/she buys into the whole ecosystem. This is a smart approach and becoming widely popular in tech spheres.<\/p>\n
Always Keep Your Eyes On The Global Market<\/h3>\n
The greater part of innovation still takes place in the Western world and unsurprisingly that’s where the majority of the multi-national behemoths are concentrated. The moment they sense an opportunity for growth in new startups, they’re ready to devour them as quickly as possible. If nascent businesses anywhere in the world wish to guard against this familiar fate and carve out their own path, they need to keep global expansion a primary mission from the beginning. This way they won’t stay limited to their local market, waiting for a bigger player to come and acquire them one day but instead, be watchful of the global trends and tap into a growth opportunity as soon as it materializes.<\/p>\n