Building A successful GTM strategy for AI-based products

The global AI market is booming, projected to grow from $184 billion in 2024 to over $826 billion by 2030. A recent survey found that 83% of companies are prioritizing AI in their business plans, leveraging it to enhance efficiency and productivity across a wide spectrum of tasks.

Innovative companies are launching more and more AI-based products faster than ever, which means businesses must adapt quickly to stay competitive. With an agile and innovative mindset, there are many opportunities for those who can effectively leverage AI capabilities, bringing new AI-based solutions to tech-savvy consumers.

Clearly define the problem

Before you bring an AI product to market, you need to clearly define the problem and market challenges. This precise diagnosis sets the foundation for your entire strategy.

This process involves identifying specific challenges you’ll encounter in market entry and product adoption. Firstly, understand the market maturity, which significantly influences consumer behavior and your approach. Mature markets typically show more specific brand searches, while large volumes of generic search terms indicate a less mature market.

Understanding your audience’s AI familiarity is crucial, as it guides your strategy and impacts adoption rates. All too often, companies rush to market without grasping these underlying challenges, a mistake that can affect even the most innovative products.

Next, assess your market position. Are you a pioneer or entering a space with existing competitors? Being first offers the advantage of setting industry standards but comes with the challenge of educating potential customers. In a more established market, you can analyze the competitive landscape and identify gaps that your product can fill.

Ensure your entire company, from stakeholders to team members, aligns with this problem definition from day one. This shared understanding is vital for a cohesive GTM strategy. Consider Google’s launch of its AI-based Google Assistant. Their extensive market research analyzed user behavior and user interactions with virtual assistants, identifying the most requested tasks. This data-driven research allowed them to fine-tune the product’s language processing capabilities and tailor its functionalities to meet real-world needs across diverse regions. They optimized the Assistant for a broad user base by gathering feedback from extensive beta testing, contributing to its successful adoption.

By thoroughly defining these GTM challenges, you set the stage for a strategy that effectively introduces your AI product to the market, regardless of its technological maturity or the competitive landscape.

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Guidelines, resources, and approach

Once you have a clear understanding of the market, you can develop a strategic approach to address your defined problem. This approach acts as the bridge between understanding the problem and taking action, providing the direction that guides your decisions and resources.

Now you can create a detailed plan, which includes:

• Assessing your available resources: Including budget, human resources, and technological capabilities.
• Choosing marketing channels: Identify which channels (e.g., social media, email marketing, influencer partnerships) you will use to reach your target audience.
• Strategic positioning: Decide on your approach based on your market analysis and resource availability.

Your strategic positioning can either be aggressive or conservative, depending on your product, market research, and business goals. An aggressive strategy aims for rapid market entry, higher risk, and significant resource investment to quickly gain market share. A conservative approach involves gradual expansion, lower risk, and careful resource allocation for sustainable growth.

Your approach will depend on factors gathered from your research, such as market conditions, competition, resource availability, product readiness, company culture, and business goals. Align your positioning with your product strengths, market opportunities, and overall objective to determine the most suitable approach for your AI product launch.

Build an action plan

Your chosen approach directly impacts your tactics. Simply put, you’ve assessed what you need to do to make it happen, and now you can make a detailed execution plan.

• Define metrics for success: Establish clear, measurable KPIs aligned with your goals. Set benchmarks and targets for each metric and plan regular review points to measure progress at different stages.
• Develop tactics for execution: Create actionable steps designed to achieve your defined metrics. Set tactics for each channel. These include social media marketing campaigns, partnerships with influencers, affiliate marketing, content strategies, and more. Allocate budget and resources based on potential impact on key metrics.
• Implement and track: Launch and be prepared to pivot and reallocate sources based on what works and what doesn’t.

Prepare for challenges

Life throws curveballs at us all the time, and even if you’ve created the most bullet-proof GTM strategy, you should leave room for challenges that might come up.

One challenge outside of your control is potential resistance to the new technology. Early adopters will embrace the potential for enhanced efficiency and creativity, while others may resist due to concerns about job displacement, data privacy, or ethical issues.

The market can shift at any time, so you need to be ready to adapt your strategy based on market feedback and changing consumer attitudes towards AI. Continuous monitoring and flexibility are crucial here. Being prepared to address these concerns and explain the technology’s value can help. From experience, if you are not prepared you might be surprised by the pushback.

Embrace your organization’s agility by anticipating and planning for internal feedback. Make sure you allow enough buffer time for collaborative discussions on messaging, design, and product features. By encouraging open dialogue and clear communication about decisions, you’ll build a more cohesive team, ready and willing to adapt faster.

Research, agility, and user focus

A well-structured GTM strategy is essential for successfully launching AI products. As we’ve explored, this success hinges on three key factors: really understanding the market, being smart with your resources, and staying agile when challenges pop up. Your strategy needs to be as adaptable and innovative as the AI product you’re bringing to market. So be ready to pivot when the market throws those inevitable curveballs. However, don’t lose sight of what truly matters, which is how well you understand and meet your users’ needs. If you get that right, you’re on the right track.

As you move forward with your AI product launch, keep your finger on the pulse of both technological advancements and user expectations. Refine your approach, but always keep the end-user at the center of your strategy. By doing so, you’ll be able to navigate the AI market but also position your product to make a real, valuable impact in your users’ lives.

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