You’ll find a variety of definitions for GTM (go-to-market) and RTM (route to market). Go to market is generally regarded as the plan and process of taking a new product, service or company to market from development or concept phase, through to launching the product to target customers or clients.

Route to market generally relates to the actual channels that you are take, when launching the product or service into the market. In reality it doesn’t really matter which definition you use as it’s important to have a strategic plan, including pricing, channels, overall strategy, etc. So whatever definition you choose to use, you usually need to consider the route to market and plan how you are going to get there.

Relaunching a product or service can be a good way of giving an existing product a second chance whether it’s because an existing launch wasn’t as successful as it could have been. Or, you may have reached the point where you wish to find new markets for your product or service.

Sometimes a launch may be needed because of changing customer habits, new supportive information which proves how effective an existing product is or you may wish to reposition the product to reach a new, more attractive or less competitive market segment.

Relaunching a product sometimes involves a name change, new brand specifications, different pricing points or different features and benefits which weren’t previously available with a first-generation product.

Repositioning is taking a brand which has been positioned in the market, perhaps as a niche product, and changing the brand positioning so that it appeals to a new, wider or niche audience – depending on the objectives of the brand repositioning. Sometimes brands may need repositioning because they were launched as a mass market product or to the entire market in a specific area and may not be performing well.

Brand repositioning can be used to optimise the potential of a brand in a highly competitive market, if for example, there is a part of the market which is financially attractive and there are opportunities to cement the brand as leader in this area.

Often brand positioning strengthens the brand perception and can help the brand or company appear to be specialists within one particular area, thereby maximising market share.

Soft launches are a way to have a small or trial launch of a product to a particular client group, niche area or to test the market prior to fine tuning the main launch event. It is sometimes used as an interim measure by companies when they need to launch into the market before they have fully developed a product, or they wish to acquire market share whilst they grow their story/brand or make final tweaks to a product or service.

Most often, soft launches are not accompanied by associated PR or TV campaigns (unless they are regional for example) and they are considered controlled launches. A soft launch could be a launch of a new product to a small number of existing loyal customers, to gain their feedback.

Very often software companies run alpha and beta testing groups to gain insight and feedback into pre-marketed products, so that the main issues are addressed and feedback is reviewed, whilst the company gears for the full market introduction of a new product.

There are many different elements to consider when launching a brand. For established companies, the golden rule is to fully consider how product development, pre-marketing and the launch phase can be financed. And, if there’s a need for additional revenue to effectively support the launch.

It’s vital to have a well-considered financial model, including cashflow, allowing for unforeseen delays or challenges and of course, to have a solid go to market (GTM) and route to market (RTM) strategy developed for the new launch.

Forecasts for break-even point and break-even profit point need to be made, together with and contingency planning.

For products or services promoted by television, a salesforce or through paid advertising, you will need to fully consider the impact of the launch on other products within the product portfolio and how they will be impacted, if at all, by the introduction of a new product.

Often there may be political, environmental, social or technological innovations within the market place which can have a marked impact upon the future success of the launch. So, these should be included within the analysis and sales forecasting so that a realistic appraisal can be made to help manage a successful launch.

There can be a myriad of challenges and risks a company faces when launching a new product into a market. Competitors can often react to new entrants by reducing prices, flooding distribution channels or using other parts of their product portfolios to protect their own market share.

Sometimes there may be legal challenges (for example intellectual property) or attempts to recruit key staff within your organisation to weaken your approach to market.

Poor planning is one of the biggest risks or a lack of understanding of the market (if it is a new market you are entering) can be a tough learning curve, especially if you don’t already have a good presence in the market.

Even if you have a well-engineered launch plan, you still need to ensure that the brand image and brand messaging is right, otherwise you run the risk of failing to engage fully with the target market audience and as a result your product launch may not take off in the way you envisaged. It’s generally a good idea to have professional support, even if you have a strong marketing team in place, so that you can get the expertise needed to make your new product launch a success.

The best time to introduce marketing within the new product development (NPD) pathway is right at the start, so that you can take advantage of expertise in developing your product in a way which is likely to be most successful.

Marketing Launch experts can assist you with innovative approaches to market and even ensure that you have the supportive information needed to prove your claims, long before the product launch phase. Pre-marketing is a really important part of the product development phase and can help you identify new opportunities or fine-tune your product, long before your launch date.

Very often marketing budget is needed for specific phases and is best concentrated or pulsed during the initial launch phases.

Corporate finance departments often assume that a year’s budget is going to be allocated evenly across the 12-months and they may meticulously plan cashflow so that funds are only released month-on-month or per quarter.

It’s important to discuss how you plan to invest in your launch with your Financial Director, as early as possible before launch, so that they can help you plan your launch in a way which helps your company maintain a healthy financial position.

Your Financial Director may be able to offer good advice to help you plan for your launch and to ensure that everything runs smoothly.