Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy for your IoT Solution
Emphasising the role of Customer and Market Insight & the context of the Marketing Mix
- Carl James
- August 5, 2023
- 6:30 am
A marketing focussed approach to IoT Solution Go-To-Market success
As experienced leaders, we’re all too familiar with the hurdles that accompany our ambitions to take innovative products to market. The world of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions is no exception. But the desire of overcoming these challenges and witnessing our vision transforming into reality is what fuels us.
In today’s competitive and dynamic tech landscape, the success of any product hinges on the strength of its go-to-market (GTM) strategy. This is particularly true for a global Internet of Things (IoT) solution, where the market is incredibly diverse, complex, and rapidly evolving. A robust Gtm Strategy serves as the company’s compass, guiding the way to successful product definition, introduction, market penetration, and ultimately, customer satisfaction.
This blog explores a proven process of developing an effective go-to-market (GTM) strategy for your Iot Solution, highlighting potential pitfalls, and how to overcome them. Central to this journey is a deep understanding of your customers and markets, permeating every aspect of the GTM strategy and notably, the 7Ps of your marketing mix.
1. Defining & Understanding your Target Market
Delving into the intricacies of each of the 7Ps, it’s crucial to appreciate why a profound customer and market understanding matters so much. Knowledge about your customer’s needs, pain points, and behaviour, coupled with a comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, competition, and trends, sets the stage for a successful GTM strategy.
The Harvard Business Review published extensive research by Smith et al. (2019), highlighting the crucial role that putting an emphasis on customer satisfaction alongside product innovation plays in fostering long-term growth. By putting all of our efforts into improving the standard, usability, and overall user experience of your offering, you lay a solid foundation upon which future expansion can be built.
Organisations that prioritise their customers outperform their rivals in terms of sales growth by 85%.
Common pitfalls at this stage are:
- Developing a product based on assumptions or internal biases, rather than actual customer and market insights. To overcome this, employ customer development techniques like interviews, surveys, and user testing to understand your customer needs and expectations truly. Keep abreast of market trends and competitor solutions to ensure your product is competitive and relevant. Unfiltered and ongoing feedback between a strong, objective marketing team and a significant, representative sample of customers can avoid costly mistakes.
- Seduced by the tech. Too often, organisations have set out to create a disruptive innovation that’s based on what’s possible rather than what’s needed, mission-critical to business customers, or life-changing to the consumers they serve. This may be the result of a small, senior tech-focussed project team, seduced by the allure of technology, descending into an echo chamber of their own making, their judgments clouded and reinforced by their own feedback. They unwittingly navigate a distorted reality, blind to the consequences of their ill-informed decisions, while technological idealism amplifies their misguided beliefs.
- Trying to target everyone. This is usually counterproductive as it dilutes your value proposition and messaging to the point of uselessness while draining your resources. Segment your market, and create an ideal customer profile (ICP) or detailed buyer personas. There may be several personas to satisfy in a single customer buyer decision. Also, consider other intermediaries and personas that exist in your sales channel or ‘route to market’. Be as specific as possible in their defining needs, pain points, and decision-making processes. The more entities in your sales channel, the more variations you will discover. This focused approach will ensure your marketing efforts and resources are effectively utilised.
- Underestimating the challenges your marketplace may have in building the preceding layers of the IoT Technology Stack upon which your solution sits. For example, if your solution is not end-to-end, it risks falling at the first hurdle if your customers lack the internal know-how, capacity or budget to install or interface IoT device hardware within their building systems, machinery, vehicles, equipment or incumbent software applications.
- Assuming end-to-end solutions are the panacea for every problem. Conversely, opting to develop an end-to-end solution is not always required nor wanted and can result in costly mistakes. Some customers may already have existing systems in place and prefer to integrate IoT capabilities selectively rather than replacing their entire infrastructure. Additionally, some customers might have concerns about data privacy and security, preferring to retain control over specific components of the IoT ecosystem to minimise potential risks.
- Treating this very stage as a project with a time-bound end point. The IoT marketplace and your target marketplace may move almost as quickly as ever-evolving best marketing practices. “The traditional annual planning routine is ripe for extinction, as 69% of our B2B marketing leaders say that conditions change too quickly to keep plans current.” Source: Forrestor Research Inc.
The plan requires extraordinary focus, resources, budget, agility and perfect timing to align your actions with ever-changing dynamics.
Sustained investment in ongoing customer insight, market research and competitor intelligence could be the key to surviving and thriving. Findings should continuously distill into decision-making.
2. Value Proposition and Product Differentiation
Once you have identified your target market, focus on aligning your product development and communication efforts to effectively differentiate your IoT solution from others. Avoid the common pitfall of overly emphasising the technical features of your product while neglecting its business benefits, potential return on investment (ROI), and its ability to address user problems.
Craft a compelling value proposition that speaks directly to the needs, pain points, and personas of your target audience and customers. Clearly demonstrate how your product uniquely and superiorly solves these problems compared to competitors or the existing status quo. Ensure that your marketing messages effectively convey the unique selling points (USPs) of your product, making them easily understandable and engaging.
Validate your value proposition by testing it with a representative group of pilot customers, referring back to the first step. Ideally, engage key decision makers and users, with appropriate non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in place. Keep in mind that pilot customers who receive free or discounted trials may respond differently and have lower expectations compared to prospective customers who pay full price at commercial launch. It is during this phase that the strength of your value proposition is truly put to the test. Therefore, be prepared to reassess your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) criteria based on this feedback.
3. Developing your Marketing Mix (the 7 Ps)
The 7Ps of the marketing mix offer a holistic approach to designing and implementing a go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Each P represents a distinct area of focus that, together, ensures a comprehensive and robust strategy. Here’s how the 7 Ps help cover all bases in a GTM strategy:
3.1 Product Development
The heart of your offering, the ‘Product,’ must be a solution to a real problem(s). Before exploring the many facets of product, its helpful to explore some real life IoT examples.
Through connected car technology, manufacturers can remotely monitor vehicle performance, diagnose issues, and deliver over-the-air (OTA) software updates to enhance functionality and address safety concerns. This IoT solution is instrumental in raising customer satisfaction, reducing the need for physical recalls, and contributing to Tesla’s position as a leader in the electric vehicle market. The rapid evolution of EVs is challenging the traditional vehicle business model of profit on initial sales, being replaced by lifetime earnings that depend on OTA upgrades to increase the vehicle value to consumers.
Netflix analysed user viewing patterns and feedback to identify the need for personalised content recommendations. This led to the creation of their renowned recommendation algorithm, which uses customer data to provide tailored movie and TV show suggestions, enhancing the user experience and driving engagement.
Nest, a subsidiary of Google, gathered customer insights on energy usage patterns and temperature preferences to develop their smart thermostat. By leveraging IoT technology, the thermostat learns users’ behaviour, adjusts temperature settings automatically, and enables remote control, leading to energy savings and enhanced comfort.
One notorious example that broke the mold regarding customer-led insight is the Apple iPhone. Co-founder Steve Jobs notoriously claimed to shun customer research. He once stated: “It isn’t the consumer’s job to know what they want.” That was Apple’s job. Successful examples of this approach are, to the writer’s knowledge unheard of. And, as court documents revealed in Apples’ battle with Samsung, customer research and surveys form an integral part of Apple’s marketing and product development strategies. However, one thing is clear, in developing the iPhone, Apple’s end result was not to manufacture a phone; they reimagined communication, entertainment, and remote information access.
Similarly, your IoT solution should aim to revolutionise your target market’s lives, operations or practices.
In the context of IoT offerings, the ‘Product’ element of the marketing mix encompasses several areas:
- Functionality and Features: The features and capabilities of your IoT solution must align with your target market’s needs. Understanding customer pain points and developing a solution that effectively addresses them is key. This could involve unique functionalities, integrations with systems (e.g. ERP, CRM, MIS), user-configurable dashboards, reports and alerts, real-time data analytics and secure data handling and user-friendly interfaces, among other features.
- Customer Experience: The ‘Product’ also includes the user experience. This refers to the ease of use of your solution, its reliability, the quality of customer support, and any value-added services you provide. A superior customer experience can significantly differentiate your product in the crowded market. In this particular area, identifying labour savings is often key. You may be able to demonstrate to the marketplace a clear ROI but if the solution adds extra workload to capacity constrained companies this could be a stumbling block.
- Product Lifecycle Management: Consider the stages of your product’s lifecycle – from introduction and growth to maturity and decline. Each stage will have different marketing needs. For instance, the introduction phase may require more awareness-building efforts and a significant promotional budget. During the growth and maturity stages, marketing plays a vital role in expanding market share and sustaining customer loyalty. In the decline stage, marketing efforts may focus on exploring possible extensions or replacements, and minimising negative impact on the brand.
- Customisation and Scalability: Given the global nature of the IoT market, your product should be customisable to suit the needs of customers in different industries or regions. This may go beyond language and currency considerations. Also, your product should be scalable to handle increasing data volumes and device connections as your business grows. If certain customers require an end-user facing IoT solution, develop a platform with the flexibility to enable custom-branding. Integrations with those customer’s own CRM, invoicing and payment gateways may also need consideration.
- Compliance and Security: Lastly, in a field like IoT, compliance with various data protection regulations and robust security measures are not optional but essential parts of the product offering. Adequate mitigation of cyber security risks across the whole IoT stack may fall out of the scope of your company’s or product’s scope but could be a show-stopper for some customers. Similarly, IoT devices employed may be compliant with UK or EC Electronic Directives but may require additional, bespoke certifications in certain industries and applications. Data protection regulations such as UK GDPR and EU GDPR require extra measures where international data transfers occur.
3.2 Price Setting
Pricing an IoT solution requires a fine balance between competing products, shareholder expectations, non-recurring engineering (NRE) cost recovery, and customer willingness to pay versus maintaining their status quo.
The NRE costs of creating a new product are often fully paid before any product gets manufactured. If you’ve any doubts about taking short cuts in any preceding stages, let that sink in.
Perhaps the most significant pricing tactic of all is value pricing. This considers how valuable, important, and beneficial your customers consider your IoT Product. Cost recovery and desire for early returns is often at loggerheads with value pricing. Compromises may be reached in a SaaS model in which preferential monthly pricing is offered for longer contract durations.
Naturally, overpricing stifle sales, as the perceived value may not justify the higher price point. It can also lead to negative brand reputation, resulting in a loss of market share and reduced profitability.
On the other hand, underpricing can devalue your product leading to potential revenue losses and missed profit opportunities. It can also result in the perception of lower quality or value, undermining the competitiveness and long-term sustainability of the business.
- Start with the NRE costs: this should cover the initial expenditure on research, design, and development of your IoT product. Once these costs are clear, factor in your ongoing expenses (like maintenance, updates, and customer service) to help you arrive at the minimum price point needed to cover costs and desired profit margins.
- Examine your competitors’ price points and pricing structures. Understanding what similar products are priced at can give you a benchmark for your own pricing.
- Shareholder expectations should also be considered. They may have specific revenue growth and profitability targets that need to be factored into your pricing strategy. Balancing these expectations with the realities of the market and the value of your product is critical.
- Evaluate how much your customer is prepared to pay. Ideally, your initial market research should gauge your customers’ perceived value of your product and their price sensitivity. Your product may deliver incredible value, but if it’s priced beyond what customers are willing or able to pay, it will struggle to succeed in the market. Your offering may be purely SaaS but if it’s dependent on a capital expenditure items such as IoT devices, sensors, gateways or an upgrade of an entire network infrastructure that falls outside of your offering, they may pose a show-stopper and therefore must form part of your considerations. Customers also consider operational downtime when making their purchasing decisions for an IoT implementation, recognising as a cost factor.
- Flexible subscription terms and payment plans to suit your customer’s own purchasing policies and preferences should be considered, blending upfront setup costs and monthly recurring revenue models.
3.3 Place
In the context of the marketing mix, ‘Place’ refers to the distribution channels or platforms where a product or service is made available to the customer. For an IoT SaaS solution, the ‘Place’ is typically digital due to the nature of the product.
IoT solutions can be distributed through one or more of these channels:
- Direct: This could be your company’s website where customers can directly subscribe to and access your service. In the case of B2B IoT offerings, a consultative sales approach is likely required where sales teams reach out to prospective clients with the intent of connecting customers’ specific problems and pain points.
- Cloud Marketplaces: Online destinations such as the Apple Store, Google Play, AWS Marketplace, Google Cloud Platform Marketplace, or Microsoft Azure Marketplace are popular distribution channels for SaaS solutions. They provide a platform where businesses looking for SaaS solutions can discover and purchase your product.
- Partner Reseller Networks: Forging partnerships with other businesses can allow your product to be distributed through their established networks or client base. This could involve reseller agreements in which those resellers may offer complementary hardware or software that can ‘complete’ your solution or be offered as an integrated value add-on to their existing customers. Similarly, where there are specialised IoT device and infrastructure requirements, your target marketplace(s) may have incumbent installation providers that can also take accountability for first-line support. Selecting good installation partners for an IoT solution is of utmost importance as they have a direct impact on your brand, ensuring seamless implementation and enhancing the customer experience, leading to a positive perception of your brand’s reliability and competence.
If you’re not pursuing a direct route to market – extra considerations include multi-layered tiered access/privileges, payment gateways, data protection, terms of sale and warranty procedures (if IoT devices are sold as part of the offering).
One potential pitfall is assuming that all customers behave the same way in different global markets and can be reached through the same channels. This can lead to inefficient use of channel management resources, when it may be the channel itself that is the problem.
Overcome this by starting with the end user and working backward – using market and customer insights to identify the most effective channels for reaching your target audience.
3.4 Promotion
Promotion refers to the strategies and tactics you use to communicate and sell your product to your target audience. The aim is to raise awareness, generate interest, drive purchase decisions and close sales.
Given the digital nature of an IoT solution, ‘Promotion’ often involves digital marketing strategies. Here are some key promotional elements to consider:
- Website: In most instances, your website has the best chance of reaching your potential customers and outlining your offerings in an age where over 90% of customers search the web when researching or making a purchase decision. Building a website for brand awareness and lead generation is not a one-off project because it requires ongoing updates, optimisation, and content addition to keep up with evolving market trends, SEO algorithms, and user behaviour. Moreover, continual analysis of website performance metrics is crucial for refining strategies, improving user engagement, making data-driven decisions, and maintaining a competitive edge in the IoT and broader digital landscape.
- Content Marketing: This involves creating and sharing valuable content (such as blogs and white papers) that helps educate your audience, build trust, and position your brand as a thought leader in your chosen markets. While case studies and videos can be used to showcase your product’s benefits and how it solves customers’ problems.
- Social Media Marketing: To select the right social media channels, identify the preferred platforms of your target market by conducting market research and analysing demographic data. You will inevitably experience different levels of success with platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Using the selected platforms, engage with your audience, share content, and promote your product.
- Email Marketing: This can be a powerful tool for nurturing leads and keeping your product top-of-mind for potential customers. Effectiveness is based on delivering personalised and relevant content at different stages of the buyer’s journey, building trust and guiding them toward conversion. It calls upon market and/or persona segmentation. To achieve this at scale, automated workflows, regular monitoring and optimisation ensures timely and engaging communication and can help move leads closer to making a purchase decision.
- Search engine optimisation (SEO) and Paid Search: SEO and paid search ensures your product appears in search results when potential customers are looking for IoT solutions. Effective SEO takes time to achieve and maintain and a well-rounded approach to on-page, off-page and technical SEO is a necessity. Paid search can achieve immediate results but in the IoT world, there are many big guns with deep pockets. To maximise ROI and avert rising CPC costs, compete using carefully crafted campaigns targeting long-tail relevant search terms.
- SaaS Directories and Review Sites: Websites like G2, Capterra, or SaaS Genius, depending on your target marketplace and solution, often rank high on related search engine enquiries so they can provide an effective way to get discovered. Similar websites may also exist in your specific target markets. Some sites enable users to compare, and review different SaaS solutions, making them another important place where your product should be visible.
- PR and Influencer Outreach: Garnering coverage in industry publications, or getting influencers to talk about your product, can significantly boost visibility and credibility. Building strong relationships with media outlets and influencers is key to success in this area.
- Webinars and Events: These provide an opportunity to showcase your product to a large audience, and allow potential customers to ask questions and get a deeper understanding of your solution. Events play a pivotal role in disruptive products that lack existing online search demand. Leveraging events enables businesses to create a memorable and interactive experience, connecting with their target audience, gathering valuable feedback, and ultimately driving adoption and market penetration for their disruptive products.
- Sales: A consultative sales approach in direct selling IoT products benefits both you and your customers. It allows you to understand the unique needs and pain points of the customer, offer tailored solutions, build trust, and provide meaningful support. For the customer, a consultative sales approach ensures that they receive personalised recommendations, a better understanding of how the IoT product can address their specific challenges, and confidence in making an informed purchasing decision.
The choice of promotional tactics should be guided by the value proposition derived from a deep understanding of your target customers — their behaviour, preferences, and where they consume information. It’s essential to maintain a consistent message across the right promotional channels, reinforcing your product’s value proposition.
A well-planned and executed promotional strategy is business-critical and small, incremental changes in the way you promote and sell your products can often lead to dramatic improvements in your results.
3.5 People
In the context of the marketing mix, ‘People’ refers to both the individuals who deliver a product or service and the customers who use it. In the case of an IoT solution, ‘People’ play a crucial role in ensuring a successful go-to-market (GTM) strategy.
- Internal Team: This includes everyone involved in developing, marketing, selling, and supporting your IoT solution. It’s not just the marketing team. It’s a company-wide collaboration. From the engineers who develop the product to the salespeople who engage directly with customers, to the support staff who help users with issues. The quality of your team can greatly impact customer satisfaction and perceptions of your brand. Ensuring that your team is well-trained, motivated, and customer-focused is key. Furthermore, fostering a company culture that is customer-centric and values innovation can help keep your IoT solution at the forefront of the industry.
When we emphasise the marketing team in this equation, we focus on the crucial role they play in the go-to-market (GTM) strategy. A strong marketing team should collaborate well with sales and customers, and bring their voices into your organisation and the GTM strategy.
The marketing team is responsible for effectively and continuously evaluating and communicating the value of the IoT solution to the target audience. They’re also the bridge between the product and potential customers, tasked with making sure the product resonates with the audience’s needs and wants.
Investing in the right people is key. Beware of bullsh*t! In terms of your marketing team, ensure its led by a role holder that has got skin in the game and a proven track record – not a guru that spouts theory from the safety of a YouTube video. Listen to them and ensure they have the authority and resources they need to make immediate decisions and the means to act quickly. Agility is key.
A common pitfall is to underestimate the diversity in skillset and knowledge required of an effective marketing team. A marketing team should be equipped with a wide array of skills and a proven track record in their application. A high-level summary includes strategic planning, data analysis, digital, creative design, copywriting, data analysis, technical aspects, commercial acumen and competence to use a broad suite of software tools. That’s just scratching the surface. These skills often call upon close collaboration between marketing team members and multiple stakeholders within and outside the organisation. Adequate resourcing enables quality and speed of delivery necessary in the competitive and fast paced IoT marketplace.
Company culture plays a significant role in a go-to-market (GTM) strategy. It reflects in how a company communicates internally, interacts with customers, and resolves issues – all of which influence brand perception. A culture of customer centricity ensures the GTM strategy is tailored to customer needs and wants, leading to higher customer acquisition and satisfaction. In a sector where strong marketers are in demand, a positive, inclusive culture helps attract and retain top talent driving the successful execution of the GTM strategy. Therefore, aligning company culture with GTM strategy is essential for sustainable success.
- Partners, Affiliates and Influencers: These individuals also become part of the ‘People’ in your marketing mix. Ensuring that they understand and represent your product well is important for maintaining a consistent brand image.
- Customers: Last but by no means least – Customers are also a part of the ‘People’ element. Understanding their needs, behaviours, and preferences is vital to shaping your GTM strategy. They not only use your solution, but can also become advocates for your product, providing valuable word-of-mouth marketing.
3.6 Process
In defining appropriate processes within an IoT GTM strategy, it’s helpful to breakdown the whole customer journey from the initial interaction, delivery of the service to after sales support. A breakdown of what ‘Process’ might entail in a GTM strategy for an IoT solution:
- Customer Acquisition: This includes all the steps a business takes to attract and convert potential customers. It involves marketing activities, sales outreach, demos or trials, and the actual sign-up process. The acquisition process should be as seamless and simple as possible to prevent drop-offs. CRM and automation tools can play a particularly important role especially in markets where sales cycles are protracted and multiple customer personas are involved in the purchasing decision.
- Onboarding: Once a customer has signed up, the onboarding process is crucial. It includes setting up the system, integrating it with existing software if required, and training the customer on how to use the solution. A smooth, efficient onboarding process can significantly improve customer satisfaction and retention. With much focus placed on the end users,
- Service Delivery: The actual provision of an IoT SaaS solution is a core part of the process. It’s crucial that the hardware and software performs well and uptime is maximised. Inevitably, there will be occasional bugs, compatibility challenges, or other technical difficulties that need to be addressed promptly. A dedicated support team should be available to respond to customer inquiries, troubleshoot problems and provide timely resolutions.
- Customer Support: This includes addressing queries, resolving problems, and providing ongoing assistance. It could involve a variety of channels, such as email, chat, phone, or self-service portals. Prompt, effective customer support can make a significant difference to the customer experience.
- Customer Retention: Fosters a community of loyal users who can provide valuable feedback, contribute to product development, and act as brand advocates. If your IoT offering is end-to-end, analysing and acting upon usage trends of each feature drives value and boosts retention rates. This leads to increased customer lifetime value (LTV), stable recurring revenue streams, and a deeper understanding of user needs and behaviour. This in turn, can drive the creation of more effective marketing strategies and product improvements. Get this right and acquisition costs plummet as your brand advocates can help fuel your top of funnel activities.
- Billing and Subscription Management: This involves the process of invoicing customers, managing payments, handling subscription upgrades or downgrades, and dealing with cancellations. This may call upon implementing these processes on behalf of your sales channel intermediaries too.
- Continuous Improvement: This includes gathering customer feedback, conducting performance reviews, and making necessary improvements to enhance the customer experience and the product itself.
In essence, the ‘Process’ in a GTM strategy for an IoT solution should focus on ensuring a smooth, positive customer experience at every touchpoint, leading to higher satisfaction, retention, and ultimately, business success.
3.7 Physical Evidence
Physical evidence, in a marketing context, refers to the tangible elements that customers encounter in their interaction with a product or service. For an IoT product, physical evidence takes on additional dimensions because it not only incorporates traditional physical elements, such as actual IoT devices, their packaging, user manuals, and tangible accessories but also the device’s interaction within a physical environment and the object or system in which it is embedded.
These tangible elements play a crucial role in a go-to-market (GTM) strategy, contributing significantly to shaping customer perception, demonstrating product functionality and practicality of installation and integration with the customer’s physical assets.
These physical items can provide excellent props during a marketing presentation, sales pitch or event. with bonus points if you can live demonstrate UI responses to interaction with and outputs from the IoT device. Seeing is believing after all.
- The IoT device itself: The design, form factor, usability, and performance of the actual device can strongly impact the customer’s perception of the product. The product’s aesthetic appeal, its ease of use, the smoothness of its operation, and the quality of its construction can directly influence the customer’s perception of its value. In the crowded IoT market, where many devices offer similar functionalities, the physical design and operation of a device can be the differentiating factor that contributes to a customer’s purchasing decision.
- Accessories: The quality of any accessories such as cables, connectors or adapters, also contributes to the customer’s overall perception of the product. High-quality, durable accessories can enhance the perceived value of the product and strengthen the user’s confidence in the brand.
- Packaging: Another critical aspect of physical evidence, often serves as the customer’s first interaction with the product. Well-designed, high-quality packaging can provide an excellent first impression, signalling a premium, reliable product. The unboxing experience has become an integral part of modern consumer culture, with many people sharing these experiences on social media. Consequently, businesses should pay attention to creating an engaging, enjoyable unboxing experience. Packaging can also carry important branding elements, further enhancing brand identity and awareness.
- User manuals, tech specs and quick start guides: also serve as important physical evidence. Simple quick start guides and comprehensive, easy-to-understand user manuals enhance user experience by ensuring that customers can easily set up and start benefiting earlier from your IoT product. This boosts customer satisfaction, eliminates potential frustrations or negative experiences and reduces support team workload.
Moreover, the interaction of the IoT device with the physical environment and with other devices plays a significant role in a GTM strategy. IoT devices are designed to be a part of an interconnected system. Therefore, demonstrating how your IoT device can seamlessly integrate with other devices and systems in a physical environment can greatly enhance its value proposition. This evidence of compatibility and interoperability not only exhibits the device’s functionality but also shows potential customers the convenience and added benefits they stand to gain by integrating the device into their existing systems.
All the physical elements contributes to shaping the customer’s perception, building the brand identity, and showcasing the product’s real-world functionality. The physical evidence not only affirms the product’s existence and features but also adds a tangible, touchable, and experiential dimension to the abstract concepts of technology and connectivity. In a competitive market like IoT, effectively leveraging physical evidence in a GTM strategy can be the key to standing out and gaining customer trust.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, a deep understanding of your customer and market is a critical underpinning of a successful GTM strategy for your global IoT solution. It allows you to align your product, price, place, and promotion to your customer’s needs and market dynamics, while also ensuring that your people, processes, and physical evidence all contribute to a superior customer experience and a competitive edge.
To achieve this, a multi-disciplined marketing team plays a critical role. This team brings together individuals with diverse skill sets, including market research, data analysis, product management, branding, content creation, and digital marketing, among others.
They collaborate with product managers and developers to ensure that the IoT solution delivers on its promised value proposition. The team also works closely with the sales and customer support departments to streamline processes and provide consistent support throughout the customer journey.
The collective knowledge and expertise of a multi-disciplined marketing team are mission-critical in establishing a profound comprehension of the customer and market, which serves as the cornerstone of an impactful GTM strategy.
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