The simplest GTM messaging is right in front of you.
These three GTM structures work because:
- They speak to our primal mindset
- They leverage known human psychology to induce action
- They appeal to our emotional nature
They work best for consumer brands, but they can work for just about any business model.
Three GTM frameworks that play on human psychology
1) People seek pleasure, they avoid pain
People don’t just avoid pain, they will run away from it as fast as they can.
Right into the arms of your product, if you position it well.
Think about industries that leverage this structure.
Seek pleasure = alcohol
Avoid pain = doctors
2) People seek hope, they avoid fear
The financial services industry leverages this strategy.
Especially retirement planning where they play on your fear of not being able to retire or running out of money in retirement.
Insurance companies also use this strategy.
3) People seek acceptance, the avoid rejection
Our ancestors were psychologically programmed to fear being ostracized from their community.
Because it meant death to be on your own.
Being part of a group was safer and more productive.
I think of the dating app or plastic surgery industries with this one.
But, you don’t have to be in those industries to leverage this approach.
In fact, building communities around a product has become one of the more powerful GTM strategies these days.
You can see it with stickers on cars and laptops.
How people organize around types of music or art.
Communities make us feel safe and accepted.
Real world examples
Let’s look at some real world examples. I’m going to use some of my own businesses as the topic.
I’m in the middle of recording my newest online course - the 30-Day Founder Blueprint. Some of the videos are already published on YouTube.
Check out my Udemy course - Product Marketing Made Easy - for more GTM strategies.
It’s designed to take first-time entrepreneurs from ideation to live business in thirty days.
The course has four sections - ideation, validation, fundraising, and go-to-market. Each section speaks to a different use of the strategies.
Ideation = people love creating new businesses. I’ve seen it first-hand many, many times. This step speaks to the seeking of hope. Hope that they will find a business idea they are excited about and, more importantly, that will make them money.
Validation = nothing screams acceptance like validation. This step is all about the third framework.
Fundraising = this also speaks to the third framework. Being rejected by startup investors is part of the process. I can’t completely remove that fear (the second framework, so we are now hitting multiple). But, I can give them hope that if they do the right things they will eventually find investors.
Go-to-market = both acceptance and pleasure. The right GTM strategies ensure that the market accepts your product and you get to experience the pleasure of sales.
Build your GTM strategies around these frameworks.
Don't just speak to one of those items.
Leverage as many as you can in your messaging and GTM strategies.
To do that, you need to understand your ICP, intimately.
For example, is it enough that your product reduces their pain or do you need to completely remove it to be successful?
Can you eliminate all of their fears? What if its an irrational fear?
What does acceptance look like? Is it enough to wear the same football jersey as your favorite team to feel like you are part of a community? Or, do you need to create local chapters in every major city so that your fans can congregate in-person?
If you can tap into people’s innate psychology with your GTM strategies you are moving deeper, faster, into the customer journey which will increase your speed to revenue.
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