Why Marketing is Essential for Go-To-Market (GTM) Success
What Is Go-to-Market (GTM), Really?
Go-to-market isn’t just a launch plan or sales strategy—it’s how your business brings value to market and drives growth. In their bestselling book Move, authors Sangram Vajre and Bryan Brown define GTM as "a transformational process for accelerating your path to market where high-performing revenue teams (marketing, sales, and customer success) deliver a connected customer experience—and every touchpoint reinforces the brand, values, and vision of your company.”
Simply put: GTM is a dynamic bridge between your business strategy and your customers’ success. It’s not a campaign. It’s not a checklist. It’s an ongoing, cross-functional effort that aligns marketing, sales, product, and customer success to achieve real business outcomes.
Where Marketing Fits In—And Why It’s Non-Negotiable
Whether you define GTM narrowly or broadly, one thing is clear: marketing is a core pillar.
Yet surprisingly, nearly half of startups don’t have a dedicated marketing team. And one in five has just a single marketer on staff.
That’s a risk. You can’t afford to bring in marketing only after the product is built and ready to sell.
For GTM to succeed, marketing must be embedded early—as a strategic partner from the ground up.
What Marketing Brings to GTM
A skilled marketing function provides critical support across your GTM:
- Crafting a compelling brand narrative
- Clarifying your TAM (Total Addressable Market), TRM (Total Relevant Market), and ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
- Conducting market research and competitive analysis
- Building and executing campaigns
- Aligning content and messaging across all touchpoints
- Equipping sales with the right tools and assets
- Driving digital and growth marketing initiatives
In other words, marketing ensures that your GTM strategy is customer-centric, data-informed, and aligned with your business goals.
But What If You Can’t Hire Full-Time?
Hiring a full-time CMO or senior marketer might not be in the budget. That’s where a fractional CMO can make a meaningful impact. By partnering with an experienced marketing leader on a part-time or contract basis, you gain executive-level expertise—without the overhead. A fractional CMO brings clarity, speed, and alignment to your GTM strategy.
Want to learn more? I'm both a fractional CMO and a GTM OS Certified Partner. Let's talk!
