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Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to our newest edition! Today we’ll talk about the “GTM Matrix”, and how we use it to gauge a startup’s GTM health score.

This is a very simple yet effective way of understanding the strengths and weaknesses of any startup’s GTM systems and strategies, we will go over the questions and criteria that we use with the startups that we work with in order to make an accurate assessment of what’s missing in their GTM foundation and how we can work on improving it.

In one of our mini-series, we did a breakdown what are the components of the Go-To-Market and what each part focuses on.

The GTM Matrix is a framework that we use to assess the health of those components for every startup we work for, the steps and questions done in this process allow us to immediately identify the weaker links in the GTM strategy so that we can focus on defining and deploying the right systems to maximize the impact we have on the startup’s GTM traction.

Following this process will not only help you get an accurate assessment of your startup, it will also help you focus on the things that can have an immediate impact on your startup.

So if you are serious enough about strengthening your startup’s GTM systems and strategies, steal and implement this framework!

Breaking down the GTM Matrix

1) Business Analytics

Let’s start with business analytics, this aspect of the GTM Matrix should tell us how much of your ToFu, MoFu, BoFu metrics are you able to measure.

Here are some questions that can help you understand the current health of this aspect of the GTM Matrix:

• ToFu →

  • What’s my website’s monthly traffic?

  • What is my website’s conversion rate to “x action”?

  • How many MQLs am I generating?

  • What are my marketing campaign’s reach, CTR, CR?

• MoFu →

  • What’s my LVR (Lead Velocity Rate)?

  • SQL:MQL ratio?

  • How many qualified opportunities are being created?

  • What’s my sales conversion rate?

• BoFu →

  • What is my TTV?

  • Which features lead to the most engagement?

  • What’s my retention rate/churn rate?

  • What’s my users/customers LTV?

Even a minimal setup in your analytics can go a long way in understanding the health of the rest of the GTM components.

2) Traffic/Lead Generation

This should address the channels that you have in place in order to generate traffic/leads, here are some questions that can help you make a proper assessment:

• How many channels do I have generating traffic/leads?

• What is the quality of the leads I’m generating?

• Are the methods used in these channels repeatable and scalable?

The focus should be mainly on the volume of traffic/leads you are generating every month while also taking into account the quality of the leads. If you are not generating enough leads and the leads you are generating don’t convert into sales opportunities then it’s a good sign that you should focus your attention on improving this.

3) Lead Nurturing & Conversion + Sales Conversion

Once you get the leads, it’s important to understand how to work these leads to turn them into viable sales opportunities and how to convert these opportunities into sales. More about it here.

Use these questions to get a better grasp on your lead nurturing & conversion systems:

• What’s my LVR (Lead Velocity Rate)?

• MQLs vs SQLs?

• How long is my sales cycle?

• What’s my closing rate from SQL to paying customer/user?

If it’s taking you a long time to convert leads into sales opportunities, and opportunities into sales and your sales conversion is low - then it’s a pretty good sign that you should improve the sales flow you have in place in order to boost your chances at generating revenue.

4) Scalable Business Model

The key to sustainable growth is having a scalable business model, if you want to learn more about what makes a scalable business model you can learn more about it here.

As for the questions that can give you an indication if you have the right business model in place, here are a few:

• Does my business model factor in unit economics?

• Am I maximizing my margins?

• Is it easy to upsell/x-sell my product?

Finding the right business model is not only key to converting prospects into paying customers/users, but it’s also one of the main reasons many startups find themselves pivoting - find it early on and you’ll be 10,000 steps ahead of your competition!

5) User Retention & Expansion

Lastly, this part of the matrix addresses your ability to retain and expand your existing customer base. The questions you should use should give you an indication of what are the key value drivers in your product that lead to retention and expansion, such as:

• What are my activation metrics?

• What are the user flows that lead to the fastest TTV?

• What features generate the most engagement & retention?

If your startup cannot retain and expand the new customers you acquire, you will be carrying a leaking bucket with very low chances of success. This article shares some advice on how you can improve this part of the matrix.

In Summary

A strong GTM foundation hinges on mastering its core components. Business analytics forms the heartbeat, revealing website metrics, lead conversion, and marketing campaign efficacy. Efficient lead generation channels are pivotal, demanding scrutiny for quality and scalability.

The transformational art of lead nurturing and conversion, coupled with sales efficiency, must be fine-tuned for a streamlined revenue journey. A scalable business model is foundational—explore unit economics, margin optimization, and upselling potential early on. Lastly, user retention and expansion rest on swift activation metrics and engaging features.

In the dynamic world of Go-To-Market, these insights serve as your guiding stars. If complexities arise, consider us your partners. Reach out, and let's succeed together!

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