You don’t need a 50-page strategy. You’ve made friends before. Do that.
I’m a lazy marketer. Hold on, I do good work. I’m just always looking for the better, faster, easier way to get there.
Marketing isn’t that hard. It’s complex and can look complicated, but it’s also instinctual, because we all experience it every single day. Once you know what you’re looking for, you can afford to be a little lazy.
So let’s talk go-to-market. A GTM plan is how you get your product or service in front of the right people and convince them to buy: who you’re targeting, what you’re saying, where you’re showing up, and how you turn that into sales.
Building one is a lot like finding friends in a new city. I’d know. I just moved to Providence, and I’m out here looking for friends.
The playbook is the 4 C’s: Channels, Comms, Connectors, and Content.
1. Channels: go where your people are.
You don’t sit at home waiting to be found, and you don’t hit every bar in town either. You go where your likely friends hang out. Same with customers. Don’t be everywhere. Be where they already are.
2. Comms: make it about them.
Nobody makes friends by opening with their résumé or a list of stats on why they’re great. You relate, tell good stories, and find common ground. Your messaging works the same way: interesting, on their terms, and about them. When the opening comes naturally, then you sell yourself a bit.
3. Connectors: find the friend who knows everyone.
Every scene has one: the person who tells your story, adds their own spin, and makes warm introductions. In marketing, that’s media, creators, PR, and influencers. They put you in front of their audiences, and you get to borrow their trust and credibility.
4. Content: stay in touch, consistently.
Friendships run on memes, texts, and invites. That steady contact keeps you top of mind and turns conversation into plans. Your social, email, and web content does the same job: an always-on stream of visuals, messages, and CTAs that excites people, builds the bond, and moves them to act.
The lazy marketer’s takeaway: you don’t need a massive strategy doc to get started. You’ve done this before. Channels, Comms, Connectors, Content. Go make some friends.
