2025-26 will be the years when what you don’t know will really, really hurt you.
That’s a generally true statement, but it’s especially true for go-to-market functions, particularly those that find their meaning as multipliers of sales effectiveness and efficiency.
The facts are that very few C-suites understand why they spend so much money on marketing; and a lot of them are also rethinking how much their sales team costs them in the AI era.
Losing patience with known and unknown unknowns
These statements are key for some really big reasons:
- Risk is the No. 1 issue facing many businesses in 2025. The grey swans are gathering, and when that happens, the likelihood of one or more black swans showing up increases dramatically.
- The bullet you don’t hear is the one that gets you. The outsized risks of not correctly identifying what really matters is looming larger and larger.
- Cash is always a finite resource, and you can’t spend the same dollar twice. The C-suite wants to understand the value the company would get if they bet on you instead of on something or someone else. And what great GTM impact they’d be losing if they bet the money on something else. This process of trying to understand this Y in the road triggers a lot of C-suite anxiety, particularly when no one can answer their questions.
- B2B marketers still don’t know how to “sell the pen” on marketing’s extraordinary contributions as a multiplier of business performance. If we’re all honest for a moment, what we think we know about how marketing powers GTM is meager and often mistaken. That’s because most marketers have never invested in knowing.
- C-suites no longer see “marketing analytics” as a source of truth. They want to see mainstream causal analytics — the same math used to better understand climate change and other complex ecosystems — applied to GTM. And they want someone else other than marketers and sales teams running the system.
In short, most C-suites are out of patience with the “known unknowns” and the “unknown unknowns” swirling around and through GTM. So, what does this mean in 2025?
Marketing acumen must meet business acumen
You’re competing for resources with everyone else. And your ability and credibility as marketers and business leaders are on the line. You must match your marketing acumen with business acumen in a big way. You must forecast and then deliver a better internal rate of return than other functions in the company.
Let’s say your CFO has done her math and after covering all of the expenses she must pay for, she has determined that the company can realize an almost guaranteed 4.5% IRR on another $10 million in investible money if she just holds onto it. She is unlikely to do that, but what this means is that marketing has to show that it can significantly exceed that 4.5% return. That’s the floor. Everyone has to be able to return more than that to the business in percentage terms.
We are all familiar with zero-base budgeting, an approach that many see as having very limited applicability in today’s business environment. More and more CFOs are migrating back to the budgetary business case — a plan that combines a detailed outline of the GTM investment portfolio with forecasted performance and returns over short-, medium-, and longer-term time horizons. Any function — but particularly those as important as marketing and sales — that can’t answer those questions accurately get 50% of the proposed budget.
Why 50%? Because when you can’t answer questions about your impact and value creation, they will conclude that while you’re necessary as a service delivery team, they should fund you as cheaply as possible. If they believe they can get everything they need for less, it will be less.
It’s crucial to say that everything ultimately has to monetize for you to get any credit for it. The idea that X is creating value in “other than cash” terms is not the way things work.
Dig deeper: 2025 GTM forecast — Key shifts redefining the future of go-to-market strategy
Enter causal analytics
How can we answer these questions? The great news is that math and science have long-established methodologies that more than encompass the needs of GTM. Causal analytics can establish both the individual and the synergistic contribution of any factor to any outcome, net of time lag and external market forces.
In the normal midmarket B2B company with scaled GTM, marketing makes sales about 8X more effective and 5X more resource-efficient than sales would be by itself. That means that in this example, marketing helps sales sell $8 million in deals for about 20-25% of what sales would require without marketing’s assistance.
I realize that for many, a lot of this column has been tough sledding. But those last two sentences should make you perk up a lot.
But it gets even better.
Marketing’s multiplier effect
Marketing spend doesn’t just multiply sales performance. It simultaneously generates the same sort of multiplier effect with the same money across other parts of the business like talent recruiting and retention, investor relations, procurement, and any other aspect of the business where stakeholder awareness, confidence, and trust accelerates or deprecates business success. You’ll get more of X, better Y, and faster Z than you’d ever be able to attain without marketing.
This means that a top-notch marketing effort is probably the most cost-effective function in many B2B businesses, particularly on a rolling three-year basis.
The first half of 2025 is likely to be very tough. The year will start with B2B GTM under a burning hot magnifying glass. By the end of 2026, however, many B2B GTM teams will be in their strongest position ever.
The key is being willing and able to do the one thing the B2B marketing profession has so rarely done: Do what is necessary to answer the C-suite’s questions about how B2B marketing really functions in the GTM ecosystem. It’s time to finally de-risk B2B GTM and do it for real. There are many B2B marketers who feel they’ve already done this. But your C-suite — the internal customer who is paying your bills — is saying otherwise.
The post It’s time for B2B marketing to understand its GTM role appeared first on MarTech.
# Understanding the Critical Role of B2B Marketing in Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy
In today’s hyper-competitive business landscape, the success of any organization hinges on its ability to effectively bring its products or services to market. This process, known as the Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy, is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a company will deliver its value proposition to customers and achieve a competitive edge. While GTM strategies encompass various components, one of the most critical and often underestimated aspects is Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing.
B2B marketing plays a pivotal role in shaping the success of a GTM strategy by driving awareness, generating demand, and fostering long-term customer relationships. This article delves into the importance of B2B marketing in GTM strategies, its key components, and how businesses can leverage it to achieve sustainable growth.
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## The Intersection of B2B Marketing and GTM Strategy
A GTM strategy is essentially the blueprint for how a business introduces its offerings to the market. It involves identifying target customers, defining value propositions, selecting distribution channels, and creating a roadmap for sales and marketing efforts. B2B marketing serves as the engine that powers this strategy, ensuring that the right message reaches the right audience at the right time.
Unlike Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketing, which focuses on individual buyers, B2B marketing targets other businesses. This distinction requires a more nuanced approach, as B2B buyers are often decision-makers in organizations who prioritize ROI, efficiency, and long-term value. Effective B2B marketing aligns closely with the GTM strategy to address these priorities, ensuring that the product or service resonates with the target audience and drives business outcomes.
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## Key Components of B2B Marketing in GTM Strategy
To understand the critical role of B2B marketing in a GTM strategy, it’s essential to break down its key components:
### 1. **Market Research and Segmentation**
B2B marketing begins with a deep understanding of the target market. This involves conducting thorough market research to identify customer pain points, industry trends, and competitive dynamics. Segmentation further refines this understanding by categorizing potential customers into distinct groups based on factors such as industry, company size, geographic location, and purchasing behavior.
By integrating these insights into the GTM strategy, businesses can tailor their messaging and offerings to meet the specific needs of each segment, increasing the likelihood of success.
### 2. **Value Proposition Development**
A compelling value proposition is the cornerstone of any GTM strategy. B2B marketing plays a crucial role in crafting and communicating this value proposition, ensuring that it addresses the unique challenges and goals of the target audience. This involves highlighting the product’s or service’s benefits, differentiators, and tangible outcomes, such as cost savings, efficiency gains, or revenue growth.
### 3. **Demand Generation**
Demand generation is a core function of B2B marketing that directly supports the GTM strategy. It encompasses a range of activities designed to create awareness, spark interest, and drive leads. From content marketing and email campaigns to webinars and account-based marketing (ABM), demand generation efforts ensure that the target audience is aware of the solution and motivated to take action.
### 4. **Sales and Marketing Alignment**
In B2B contexts, sales and marketing teams must work in lockstep to execute a successful GTM strategy. Marketing is responsible for nurturing leads and providing sales teams with the tools and insights they need to close deals. This alignment ensures a seamless customer journey, from initial awareness to final purchase.
### 5. **Channel Strategy**
B2B marketing also plays a role in determining the most effective channels for reaching the target audience. Whether it’s leveraging digital platforms like LinkedIn and Google Ads, attending industry trade shows, or utilizing direct sales outreach, the choice of channels can significantly impact the success of the GTM strategy.
### 6. **Performance Measurement and Optimization**
Finally, B2B marketing provides the data and analytics needed to measure the effectiveness of the GTM strategy. By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as lead conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and return on marketing investment (ROMI), businesses can identify areas for improvement and optimize their approach over time.
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## Why B2B Marketing is Critical to GTM Success
The importance of B2B marketing in a GTM strategy cannot be overstated. Here are some of the key reasons why it is indispensable:
### 1. **Building Brand Awareness**
Before a business can sell its products or services, it must establish credibility and visibility in the market. B2B marketing helps build brand awareness by positioning the company as a trusted authority in its industry. This is particularly important in B2B markets, where purchasing decisions often involve multiple stakeholders and lengthy evaluation processes.
### 2. **Educating the Market**
B2B buyers
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