go-to-market-planner

Go-to-Market Planner Skill

Produce a complete, cross-functional GTM plan that aligns product, marketing, sales, and support around a single launch — with clear owners, timelines, and success metrics.

Launch Tier Framework

Before planning, classify the launch:

Tier	Scope	Typical Effort	Examples
Tier 1 — Major Launch	New product / significant platform change	8–12 weeks	New pricing model, platform rebrand, new product line
Tier 2 — Feature Launch	Significant new capability	4–6 weeks	Major feature, API release, new integration
Tier 3 — Incremental Release	Improvement, bug fix, minor feature	1–2 weeks	UI tweak, performance improvement, small enhancement

Always confirm tier with the user before proceeding.

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GTM Plan Output Format

GTM Plan — [Product/Feature Name] — [Launch Date]

Launch Tier: [1 / 2 / 3] Launch Owner (PM): [Name] Target Launch Date: [Date] Soft Launch Date (Beta/Limited): [Date, if applicable]

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1. What We're Launching

One-line description: [What it is, for whom, and why now] Key customer problem solved: [Specific pain point] Key differentiator: [Why ours, why now]

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2. Target Audience

Primary segment: [Who benefits most — be specific] Secondary segment: [Who else benefits] Not for: [Who this is NOT for — helps sales and support]

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3. Messaging

Headline: [Customer-facing headline — lead with outcome, not feature] Sub-headline: [Supporting context — how it works or why it matters] 3 key messages:

1. [Problem solved]
2. [How it works / what's new]
3. [Proof / social proof / data]

Elevator pitch (30 seconds):

[For [target user] who [has this problem], [product/feature] is a [category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [alternative], we [differentiator].]

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4. Launch Activities by Function

Function	Activity	Owner	Due Date	Status
Product	Feature flagging / rollout plan	PM	[date]
Marketing	Blog post / landing page	Marketing	[date]
Marketing	Email campaign to existing users	Marketing	[date]
Marketing	Social media content	Marketing	[date]
Sales	Sales enablement deck	PM + Sales	[date]
Sales	FAQ for sales team	PM	[date]
Support	Help centre articles	Support	[date]
Support	Support team training	Support	[date]
Engineering	Monitoring/alerting in place	Eng	[date]

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5. Success Metrics

Metric	Baseline	Target	Measurement Window
[Adoption metric]	[X]	[Y]	30 days post-launch
[Engagement metric]	[X]	[Y]	60 days post-launch
[Business metric]	[X]	[Y]	90 days post-launch

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6. Risks & Contingencies

Risk	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation
[Risk]	H/M/L	H/M/L	[Action if it happens]

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7. Launch Day Checklist

• Feature live for [X%] of users
• Monitoring dashboard active
• Support team briefed
• Blog post published
• Email sent / scheduled
• Sales team notified
• Executive announcement sent (if Tier 1)
• Rollback procedure confirmed

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Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:

• Product or feature name
• Target launch date
• Launch tier (Tier 1 / 2 / 3 — or describe scope and the skill will classify)
• Target audience (who benefits and who it's NOT for)
• Key message (what's the headline outcome for the customer)
• PM and launch owner

Guidelines

• Never plan a Tier 1 launch without at least 8 weeks of lead time
• Always include a "Not for" section — it prevents misdirected sales and support tickets
• Recommend a soft launch to 5–10% of users before full rollout for any Tier 1 or 2 launch
• Post-launch retrospective should be scheduled at launch planning time — don't leave it to chance

Quality Checks

• Launch tier is confirmed and appropriate for scope
• "Not for" section is included to prevent misdirected sales and support
• Every function has at least one activity with a named owner and due date
• Success metrics include a measurement window (30/60/90 days)
• Rollback procedure is confirmed for Tier 1 and 2 launches
• Post-launch retrospective is scheduled

Anti-Patterns

• Do not build a Tier 1 GTM plan for an incremental feature update — tier the launch appropriately before planning
• Do not create activity lists without named owners and due dates — unowned tasks do not get done
• Do not skip the rollback procedure for Tier 1 and 2 launches — every significant launch must have an abort plan
• Do not treat marketing and engineering as separate tracks — cross-functional coordination is the whole point of a GTM plan
• Do not set success metrics without a defined measurement window — "increase signups" is not a measurable target