How to introduce your service to the market? With a solid and well-defined plan, of course. Such a plan is called a go-to-market (GTM) motion.
There are many ways to bring your service or product to the market. Every industry has its routes, and custom product development as a service doesn’t stand apart. So, what are those routes, and how do you choose the best one?
Below, I introduce you to the most popular GTM motions across software development companies.
𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝-𝐋𝐞𝐝
With inbound-led motion, it all starts with content. This motion is based on two major parts – content creation and content distribution through SEO, Paid Traffic, social media networks, listing, and other channels.
It is the playground for your marketing teams. They create and share valuable pieces of content for every stage of the buyer journey to attract and engage your target audience. But it is not content for the sake of content. You should form the right messages for the right people at the right time. If so, then your pipeline will almost fill itself.
Mind that inbound-led GTM is a long-term investment. It takes time (have at least a 12-month strategy in mind) to generate high-quality content and rank in Google. With inbound sales, customers find you.
With outbound-led motion, your inside sales team (Sales Manager, Sales Development Representative, Lead Generator, etc.) proactively reaches out to targeted accounts, pitching your offer directly.
Outbound sales include:
- Email marketing
- Direct message outreach (LinkedIn)
- Search engine advertising
- Social media advertising
- ABM (Account-Based Marketing)
The sales team contacts prospects who fit your ICP (Ideal Customer Persona) and handles lead nurturing and qualification. With outbound sales, you find customers.
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐋𝐞𝐝
Promoter-led growth is a customer-centric strategy that transforms loyal, satisfied clients into brand ambassadors. These individuals, identified through metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS), have already been satisfied with your delivery and willingness to recommend your service.
The promoter-led motion may become the cheapest and the fastest lead gen channel for service businesses, as a recommendation from a trusted connection carries more weight than any ad campaign.
Types of Promoters
Promoters can fall into two categories based on their availability and willingness to promote your service:
Active Promoters
These are highly engaged clients who are eager to advocate for your business. They’ll proactively recommend your services across their networks, join case studies, or even write testimonials.Passive Promoters
While equally satisfied, passive promoters don’t have the time or inclination to promote your brand actively. However, they’re happy for you to reference their name in conversations with potential clients or share their testimonials.
𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞/𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰-𝐋𝐞𝐝
Today’s world is hyper-connected, and many service vendors—software development firms or engineering consultancies—rely on digital communication for lead generation. While cold emails, social media messages, and calls remain staples of outreach, there’s an often-underutilized yet highly effective approach: roadshow-led growth.
This strategy involves setting up face-to-face meetings with decision-makers in your target regions and differentiating your outreach with a personalized touch.
Why Roadshow-Led Growth Works
Human Connection Builds Trust: A handshake, a conversation over coffee, or a visit to a client’s office fosters trust and credibility that digital channels cannot replicate.
Better Conversion Rates: Prospects who agree to a face-to-face meeting are often further along in the decision-making process and more likely to convert.
Tailored Insights: During in-person meetings, you can deeply understand client pain points and tailor your pitch on the spot. This insight helps position your service as the perfect solution.
Networking Opportunities: Combining roadshows with industry events or visits to existing clients, you broaden your network, strengthen relationships, and uncover cross-selling or upselling opportunities.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐋𝐞𝐝
This motion uses targeted events to drive connections. Whether broad-spectrum conferences like Web Summit or niche gatherings like Legal Tech Talks, events offer a rich ground for cultivating relationships. The key to getting results in event-led GTM is to build awareness before the event and post-event follow-ups.
Mega-events like Web Summit, Collision, and Gitex host many companies across various industries and domains. These events allow service providers to connect with a diverse range of potential clients, collaborators, and industry leaders.
For example, if your company specializes in custom software solutions, you might meet:
- Startups needing MVP development.
- Corporates exploring digital transformation.
- Tech leaders scouting for partners for AI, IoT, or blockchain projects.
Broad events often include exhibitor spaces, speaking slots, and networking lounges, enabling your team to showcase expertise to a global audience while understanding cross-industry pain points.
Conversely, niche events like Legal Tech Talks, MedTech Forums, or FinTech Summits enable hyper-focused interactions with a specific segment of your target market. These events are ideal if your service portfolio aligns with a particular domain, such as legal technology platforms or healthcare software solutions.
By zeroing in on a defined audience, you can:
- Tailor your message and offerings to resonate deeply.
- Build more robust, more relevant connections.
- Secure high-quality leads who are already interested in your niche.
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦-𝐋𝐞𝐝
This approach focuses on building a solid presence on freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer, turning them into a sustainable source of leads. However, while these platforms once served as a launchpad for startups and freelancers, the landscape has shifted, presenting new challenges for fresh entrants and explicit preferences for mid-market and enterprise-level firms.
For years, platforms like Upwork were a goldmine for startups and young professionals looking for steady leads. Low entry barriers and an accessible pool of clients meant anyone with a decent profile could build a pipeline of small but consistent projects.
However, as these platforms have grown, so has competition. Breaking through the noise as a fresh starter on these platforms can be daunting. Even with excellent skills, securing the first few projects can feel like an uphill battle.
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩-𝐋𝐞𝐝 Motion
The main idea of partnership-led motion is cooperation with agencies, VCs (Venture Capital), PEs (Private Equities), accelerators, and consulting firms that connect you, as a service provider, with your addressable audience.
We are in such a noisy tech environment where thousands of service providers try to show their best and even more so to take opportunities with the client. Having a partner with warm prospects, solid relationships, and a trusted voice is a blessing.
But….why should they share their client base with you?
This is the right and the most essential question.
Partnership-led GTM is about giving before getting. It isn’t one-sided cooperation where you ask for leads without giving your partners anything they want or need.
How to knock so they open the door?
Analyze the portfolio
Review the portfolios of the target organizations to define projects that align with your expertise and capabilities. Focus on domains where you have delivered proven solutions. Your experience should resonate with their portfolio companies’ needs.Develop a value-added proposition
Prepare a value-added proposition tailored to the challenges and opportunities of the target portfolio companies. Highlight how your delivered tech solutions drive growth in their specific context.Form a dual-value proposition
Show how partnering with you can help them achieve faster time-to-market for their portfolio companies, reduce project risks, drive higher returns on investment, etc.
Or you can use one more approach similar to the previous one. The first step is to review your existing client base and identify any connections with agencies, VCs, PEs, accelerators, or consulting firms. These relationships can serve as warm introductions and strengthen your outreach.
𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲-𝐋𝐞𝐝
In the modern era of service delivery, community-led growth has emerged as a compelling channel for generating high-quality leads. By building and nurturing vibrant communities around specific areas of expertise, businesses can create environments where potential clients naturally gravitate toward their offerings. Here’s how community-led growth works and why it’s worth investing in.
Building Expertise-Driven Communities
Communities can be structured around various dimensions of expertise:
- Technology Expertise: Platforms like Azure, Java, or mobile development can serve as a foundation for communities aimed at solving technical challenges and sharing best practices.
- Subject Matter Expertise: Focused groups around topics like payments, generative AI, anomaly recognition, or data analytics can attract individuals and businesses eager to stay ahead of the curve.
- Domain-Based Expertise: Communities targeting specific industries, such as legal, logistics, or retail, enable providers to address niche problems while positioning themselves as trusted advisors.
- Persona-Based Groups: CTOs, VPs of Engineering, or other specific roles are constantly looking for tailored insights and strategies to navigate their unique challenges.
For this model to succeed, service providers must commit to delivering consistent value. Whether through insightful content, hands-on workshops, or engaging events, the focus must be on educating, enabling, and connecting community members.
Communities thrive on trust and shared purpose, making them an organic source of high-quality leads. Unlike traditional lead-generation methods, members often self-select into communities because they actively seek solutions or collaboration opportunities.
Picking your primary GTM motion(s) helps you identify the channels/initiatives to drive your business forward.
Small companies should focus on 1–2 GTM motions. Trying to do too many can lead to mediocre performance. When you have bigger teams and budgets, you can expand to other GTM motions over time, but focus is critical when starting out.
If you’re not achieving the desired performance, it may be helpful to simplify and focus on fewer GTM motions for a more significant impact. Not all of them are created equal.
