The 4 Waves Go-To-Market Strategy framework consists of 8 steps (grouped in 4 waves), which are driving the effort towards figuring out the most powerful to launch and scale digital products.

Designing and implementing the strategy requires going out of the office, co-creating the strategy with customers, and embedding extensive feedback into strategy execution.

I am happy to share with you the template for your product management practices. I linked a few Waves to articles, but please keep in mind these articles are not manuals.

Of course, they will help you to understand what is the specific phase, how to execute part of the go-to-market strategy framework, and you can even do it by yourself. At the same time, the articles don't cover everything that should be done to implement the framework. It's just impossible to explain everything in the short posts.

I have designed and tested this framework with numerous customers, a few of them are listed on my About Me page. If you are interested in checking, please open this link.

8 steps to build a powerful go-to-market strategy (grouped in 4 waves)

Please note that the grey color represents strategy building steps; the cayenne color represents product launch and scale phases.

I believe that separate those two is impossible, as the best go-to-market strategy is built with customers. Meaning the best strategies can't be developed inhouse solely or be delegated or be outsourced. 

If you follow this steps you will certainly achieve two things:

CAPTURE

Step 1 - Trends capture - the phase consists of a series of activities that focus on understanding the market trends. 

Step 2 - Landscape capture - product managers need to have a full understanding of what happens in the landscape in which a new product or service will be launched. The landscape is more than only the competitors' scan.

Related: Free eBook: How to build Go-To-Market Strategy

CHECK

Step 3 - Value Proposition (VP) design and test - customers and end-users expect powerful value proposition, not features. Step 3 answered the question of how to find a compelling value proposition (what customers' pains should be removed, what benefits should be delivered and how, what is the niche which will be served by VP), and make sure (test VP) it will resonate. 

Step 4 - Business model design and test - it's the first step when go-to-market strategy mixes with a product launch. Go-to-market strategy guidelines are in place, and the strategy can be executed. At this stage, product launch managers focus on designing and testing the business model (growth streams, cost structure, distribution, resources). It's a first step in the whole framework where strategy mixes with the product launch.

Step 5 - Product/service design and test - at this stage working prototype (product launch) or framework (service launch) is available. It can be exposed to customers via various experiments. 

LAUNCH

Step 6 - Limited launch - after value proposition, business model, and product/service tests, it's high time for controlled launch. Product launch managers distribute products or services to a closed group of end-users in a strictly controlled way. 

Step 7 - Complete launch - Step 6 provided technical and business feedback; now it's a time for a real launch.

TRACK

Step 8 - Product managers control the new product performance by applying various metrics. It's a step that protects the company assets by shutting down quickly offerings that don't work.