Ever launched a B2B tech product?

It’s a bit like herding cats. If the cats were blindfolded. On roller skates. During a fire drill.

You’ve got product screaming, “we just need to get it out there,” marketing frantically designing a landing page at 2 am, and sales asking for a one-pager they’ll ignore five minutes after you send it. And let’s not forget the CMO wandering in with “Can we go viral?” like they’ve just discovered the internet.

The result?

A half-baked launch, a confused sales team, a landing page your nan could’ve written better, and tumbleweed where the leads should be.

Here’s the thing no one tells you early on: launching isn’t just about launching. It’s about getting the right people to care. At the right time. With the right message. Through the right channels. While keeping your sanity and maybe – just maybe – looking like you actually know what you’re doing.

This blog’s for the product marketers who’ve had launch PTSD.
For the ones who want to do it properly – but don’t want to sift through 78-slide decks full of “customer-centric paradigms” and other nonsense.

We’re going to cover what actually matters when launching a B2B tech product – from strategy to messaging to sales enablement – all in plain English, with a bit of sarcasm, and zero fluff.

Let’s get into it.

So… what the hell is a GTM strategy?

(And why you need one that doesn’t look like it was written during a caffeine overdose)

Let’s get this out of the way: “go-to-market strategy” sounds like one of those things people nod about in meetings but secretly Google under the table.

At its core, it’s just your plan for how you’re going to actually get people to give a toss about your product.
That’s it.

It’s not a checklist. It’s not a launch date on a calendar. It’s the thing that makes sure you don’t spend six months building something only for nobody to show up when it goes live.

Without a proper GTM strategy, your launch becomes a weird performance art piece. You’re doing something, but no one really knows what, why, or who it’s for. Including you.

A proper GTM strategy answers questions like:

• • Who’s this for? And no, “any business” is not a target audience.

• • Why should they care? As in, what’s the actual problem you’re solving, not what features your dev team are proud of.

• • Where are they? Physically, online, emotionally. Meet them there.

• • How are we going to tell them about it? And in a way that doesn’t make their eyes glaze over.

• • Who else needs to be in the loop? Sales, support, customer success – because launching a product without involving the people who talk to customers is a great way to cause chaos.

Without answers to those, your product’s not “going to market.” It’s going to die a slow, quiet death in someone’s browser tab.

So yeah – a GTM strategy might sound like corporate fluff. But when you get it right, it’s the difference between a launch that flops and one that actually gets people talking.

Know Who You’re Selling To

(Hint: it’s not “anyone with a credit card”)

If your answer to “who’s this product for?” is “everyone” — congrats, you’re marketing to no one.

The biggest trap marketers fall into (especially in B2B) is assuming their product’s appeal is universal.
Spoiler: it’s not.

Every launch starts with this simple, annoying, absolutely critical question:

Who gives a sh*t?

Because until you know exactly who you’re talking to, everything else is a shot in the dark. Your messaging won’t land, your sales team won’t know what to say, and your campaign will sound like it was written by a robot that just learned the phrase “synergistic value delivery.”

Enter: personas. But make them useful.

Forget the 30-slide deck with fake stock photos and names like “Techy Tina.”
What you actually need is a simple breakdown of:

• • What job they do

• • What keeps them up at night (ideally work-related, but who knows)

• • What success looks like for them

• • What pisses them off about the tools or processes they use now

• • How they make decisions (and who else sticks their nose in)

That’s it. Keep it sharp, relevant, and real.

For example: If you’re launching a security tool, your persona isn’t just “IT Manager.”
It’s “overworked, under-resourced IT Manager who’s sick of chasing down dodgy login attempts from Dave in Finance who keeps clicking phishing links.”

The more specific you are, the easier it is to write copy, build features, and sell the damn thing.

Quick tip:

If you wouldn’t be comfortable putting your persona on a dating app because they’re too generic, your work’s not done.

Stalk Your Competitors (But, like, in a professional way)

Because “we don’t have any competitors” is a red flag, not a flex.

If you’re launching a product and claim you’ve got no competition, you’re either: 

a) solving a problem no one actually has, or
b) not looking hard enough.

Even if you’re the first to do something (which, let’s be honest, you probably aren’t), your customers are solving that problem somehow. Whether it’s a legacy tool, a clunky spreadsheet, or Karen from ops who’s got 43 Chrome tabs open and a colour-coded Post-it wall – you’re competing with something.

So, do the research.

Look at:

• • Who’s already in the market? (Yes, even if you don’t like what they’ve built.)

• • What are they saying about themselves? (And more importantly, what are customers saying about them?)

• • What’s working for them? Features, pricing, messaging, distribution.

• • Where are they falling short? AKA your golden opportunity to swoop in and look like the hero.

And don’t just copy what they’re doing. Please.

“Competitor X has a blue website and says ‘all-in-one platform’? Cool. Let’s do that too.”
– said every mediocre company, ever.

Instead, find the gaps. The things they don’t say. The people they ignore. The pain points they gloss over.

That’s where you live.
That’s your angle.

Pro tip: Look at their reviews. Especially the 2- and 3-star ones. That’s where the juicy truth lives. Customers will straight-up tell you what sucks and what’s missing.

Bottom line?
Know your enemies. Not to start a fight, but to make sure your messaging, positioning, and product don’t sound like you’ve been sniffing their content and regurgitating it with a new logo.

What Makes Your Product Actually Worth Buying?

AKA: “Why should anyone give a toss?”

Let’s get brutally honest for a second. Most B2B tech products sound exactly the same.
“All-in-one.”
“Next-gen.”
“Built for scale.”
Blah. Blah. Buzzword.

If your launch message could be slapped onto a competitor’s site without anyone noticing… mate, you’ve got a problem.

This is where positioning comes in. And no, it’s not just some fluffy branding exercise you do in a Notion doc and forget about. It’s the spine of your launch. Everything else – your messaging, sales pitch, ads, content – hangs off this.

Your job?

Figure out three things:

1. 1. Who it’s for
   2. What it helps them do
   3. Why it’s better (or different) than what they’re doing now

That’s it. Doesn’t need to be clever. Just needs to be clear.
Because if you can’t explain it simply, there’s zero chance a prospect will.

Here’s a quick test:

Imagine someone asks, “So what does your product do, then?”
If your answer takes more than 15 seconds and involves phrases like “end-to-end synergy platform,” you’ve already lost them.

What makes a good differentiator?

• • It’s not “our UI is really clean.”

• • It’s not “we’re customer-focused” (congrats, so is every other company on LinkedIn).

• • It’s specific. It’s meaningful. And ideally, it solves something your competitors don’t.

Example: You’re launching a project management tool.
“We’re like Asana, but designed for teams who hate project management tools.”
Instantly more relatable than “a holistic collaboration framework.”

You don’t have to be better at everything. Just own the bit you are better at – and shout about it in a way that makes your audience say:

“Ahhh, finally – someone gets it.”

Messaging That Doesn’t Sound Like It Was Written by ChatGPT on a Bad Day

Say the right thing. To the right people. Without boring them into oblivion.

Once you’ve nailed your positioning – you know who it’s for, what it does, and why it matters – now you’ve got to talk about it in a way that actually lands.

Enter: messaging.

Not just words. Not just headlines.
Messaging is the way you translate your product’s value into something your target audience cares about.

And here’s the twist:
Your audience doesn’t care about your features.
They care about what those features do for them.

Bad messaging sounds like:

“Our AI-powered solution leverages data orchestration to streamline operational workflows.”

Cool. Nobody knows what that means. And nobody’s buying it.

Good messaging sounds like:

“Spot issues before your customers do. No more firefighting. Just smooth ops and less stress.”

That’s it. Speak to the outcome. Speak to the pain you’re removing or the goal you’re helping them smash.

Build messaging around pillars they actually care about:

Pick 3-4 core benefits – real ones – and hammer those home across everything:

• • Website

• • Sales decks

• • Demo scripts

• • Even how your support team answers questions

And for the love of all that is holy, make it consistent.

You can’t say “simplifies work” on one page and “revolutionises business transformation” on another. Unless you want people to think your brand’s got a personality disorder.

Bonus tip: steal your customers’ words

Not literally. But kinda.

Go into reviews, feedback, support tickets – wherever your customers talk.
Pull out the exact phrases they use to describe their problems. Then use those in your copy.

You’re not trying to sound smart.
You’re trying to sound like you actually get them.

Get Sales On Board (Before They Make Up Their Own Version of the Product)

Because nothing derails a launch faster than a rogue sales deck from 2018.

You can have the best messaging in the world, the slickest launch campaign, and a product that genuinely solves problems — but if your sales team is out there winging it like they’ve just found out about the product this morning… good luck.

Sales enablement isn’t just about throwing a few PDFs into a shared folder and hoping for the best.
It’s about making sure your salespeople:

• • Know what the product actually does

• • Know who it’s for

• • Know how to sell it without sounding like they’re guessing

Think of it like this:

You’re giving them the cheat codes — not a full-blown encyclopedia.

Here’s what they actually need:

A one-pager that doesn’t suck

One page. Simple. Clear.

What it does, who it’s for, why it’s better. Bonus points if it looks like it wasn’t made in Microsoft Paint.

Battlecards

Not to take into actual battle (sadly), but to handle questions like:

“How are you different from Competitor X?”
“What if we just keep using [insert crappy workaround]?”

Pre-armed answers = less stammering on calls = more closed deals.

Demo scripts or talking points

Because “just show them the dashboard” is not a demo strategy.

Objection-handling crib sheet

Because your sales team will get hit with curveballs. Better to prep them than hope they’ll freestyle their way out of it (spoiler: they won’t).

FAQs (the internal kind)

Answer the stuff they’re too embarrassed to ask in the team meeting.

And yes, you need to train them

Not with a 90-minute Zoom where you read the slide deck back to them.
Train them like you want them to sell it. Short, sharp, interactive.

Get them to practice the pitch. Role-play tough calls. Make it fun, even. (Bribes help.)

The goal?
By launch day, no one should be asking “what’s this product again?” — they should be out there confidently selling it.

Otherwise, you’ve just launched a very expensive internal mystery.

Launch Day: Welcome to the Sh*tshow

It’s go time. Try not to combust.

You’ve built the product. You’ve nailed the messaging. You’ve even convinced sales to read the one-pager.

Now it’s time to hit the big red button.

Here’s the thing no one tells you until it’s too late: launch day is rarely smooth.
Even the most organised teams get hit with curveballs — broken links, weird bugs, some exec asking for a last-minute “thought leadership piece” that was never part of the plan.

But if you’ve done the prep, you’ll survive. Maybe even thrive.

Your job on launch day? Make noise. Everywhere.

It’s not about one big bang and then silence. It’s about hitting every channel you’ve got, repeatedly, with a message that slaps.

Press release?

Sure, if it’s newsworthy. But don’t rely on it to do all the heavy lifting.

Emails?

Yes. Plural. One to your list, one to your existing customers, one to anyone who even looked at your product six months ago. Keep it punchy. Give them a reason to click.

Website?

Needs to be on point. Messaging, visuals, CTA — all aligned. No “coming soon” pages unless you enjoy confusing people.

Social posts?

All over LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads, whatever. And not just “We’ve launched!” – tell a story. Share why it matters. Tag your team. Get some actual engagement.

Sales follow-ups?

Make sure they’re reaching out that day to hot leads with tailored messages, not “just checking in” nonsense.

Webinars / demos / live sessions?

Great way to show off the product and answer questions live. Just… test your mic beforehand, yeah?

Oh, and have a war room

Not a literal one (unless you’re into drama), but a group chat or Slack channel where marketing, product, sales, support, and anyone else involved can:

• • Flag problems

• • Celebrate wins

• • Rapid-fire respond to “help, someone’s saying the login page is down”

It keeps everyone on the same page while the chaos unfolds.

Remember: launch day isn’t the finish line. It’s the starting pistol.

The goal isn’t just to go live — it’s to build momentum. Keep the drumbeat going in the days and weeks after. New content. Customer quotes. Demos. Use cases. Little launches for features you didn’t shout about first time.

Because in B2B, the real work starts after the hype dies down.

Measuring Success (Without Crying Into a Spreadsheet)

Because “vibes” aren’t a KPI, unfortunately.

You’ve launched. People are clicking, downloading, maybe even buying.
Nice.
But here’s the question: did it actually work?

If your answer is “I think so?” — we’ve got work to do.

A good launch doesn’t just feel successful. It’s backed by actual numbers that tell you what’s going well, what’s flopping, and what needs fixing before your boss asks for a deck on it.

Here’s what you should be measuring:

Top of funnel stuff (aka: Did anyone notice?)

• • Website visits to your launch pages – and where they came from

• • Demo requests / sign-ups / free trials – real interest, not just curious lurkers

• • Email opens & clicks – if nobody’s opening your announcement, your subject line might be DOA

• • Social engagement – not just likes. Comments, shares, actual conversations. Stuff that shows intent

Product adoption (aka: Are they actually using it?)

• • Activation rate – how many people signed up and did the thing they’re supposed to do (e.g. set up, invited teammates, hit a key feature)

• • Retention – do they stick around, or disappear after clicking once and ghosting you like a bad Tinder date?

• • Support tickets – more isn’t always bad. Just depends on what they’re saying.

Sales impact (aka: Is this making money or nah?)

• • New opportunities created – how many legit convos did this launch trigger?

• • Deals closed – actual revenue coming in tied to the launch

• • Upsells or cross-sells – if it’s a new feature/module for existing customers

Qual stuff that still matters

• • Customer feedback: Are they hyped? Confused? Already asking for a dark mode?

• • Internal feedback: Are sales using the materials? Or quietly pretending they don’t exist?

What to avoid:

• • Vanity metrics – high impressions but zero conversions = no one gives a sh*t

• • Overcomplicating it – you don’t need 47 dashboards. Pick 5-10 metrics that actually mean something.

TL;DR: If you’re not tracking it, you can’t learn from it.

And if you’re not learning, you’re probably just winging it again next time.

The TL;DR (But Make It Spicy)

Launching a B2B tech product doesn’t have to be a chaotic mess of Slack pings, late-night Canva edits, and last-minute “Can we add AI to this?” requests from the C-suite.

But it often is.
Because most teams treat launches like a tick-box exercise.

Build product. Make landing page. Fire off email. Hope for the best.
Nah. We’re better than that.

Here’s what actually works:

• • Know who you’re launching for (spoiler: it’s not “everyone”).

• • Figure out why they should care (hint: not your features).

• • Say it clearly. Everywhere. Consistently.

• • Get your sales team on board, trained, and not freestyling.

• • Make noise on launch day. Don’t just whisper into the void.

• • And track what matters — not just what looks good on a slide.

You don’t need a 50-page GTM doc or a war chest of VC cash to pull off a killer launch.
You just need a plan, some decent messaging, and a team that’s not asleep at the wheel.

So next time you’re about to launch something?
Do it like you mean it.

And if you’re not sure where to start — send this to your team, your boss, or that one guy who keeps asking if we really need personas.

---

Want help mapping out your own launch plan? Or just want someone to laugh at your last one with?
Slide into my DMs. I promise I won’t ask if it can go viral.