By pinpointing and customizing efforts to meet the specific needs of the most lucrative customers, businesses can maximize ROI and achieve revenue objectives. Photo via Getty Images

Crafting a successful go-to-market strategy is a must for driving revenue and profit growth, especially for investor-backed, high-growth businesses. But there is no one size fits all approach. Companies need nuanced GTM strategies tailored to their unique products or services.

There are six key sales and marketing motions:

  • Inbound Marketing: Attract customers through valuable content like white papers, how-to guides, and market overviews and then deploy this content across blogs, social media, emails, and publications for broad engagement. Think about a client's needs, and then deliver them content that directly helps them.
  • Outbound Outreach: Employ targeted strategies for account engagement, reaching specific prospects through personalized emails, calls, and digital outreach. This pushes out that valuable content to the identified target accounts and markets.
  • Product-Led Marketing: Engage customers directly through the product with free trials or freemium models. This approach integrates marketing, sales, and the product itself. Encouraging hands-on interaction with the product or service is a great way to convert potential leads into buyers.
  • Channel Partner Marketing: Collaborate with distributors, resellers, or affiliates to advocate for products. Referrals, commissions, and "nearbound relationships" amplify market presence, turning partners into an extension of the sales team.
  • Event Marketing: Enhance visibility and connection through things like trade shows, webinars, and demo days. It’s an opportunity to reach a broad audience but also to get that one-on-one interaction.
  • Community Marketing: Foster advocacy through authentic engagement, leveraging social media influencers, user-generated content, and online forums. This is more common in B2C but can also be helpful with B2B.

Each company, characterized by unique products, budgets, and requirements, will employ these strategies in varying combinations. Using examples of three different types of companies — B2B services targeting the healthcare industry, an industrial services company, and SaaS (software as a service) — let’s see examples of how they can best leverage different tactics for maximum impact.

Strategic GTM Tactics for B2B Healthcare

We’ll start with a company that offers business services to healthcare organizations. Inbound marketing for this company means content that showcases specialized solutions, addressing unique pain points of the decision makers. Through blogs, social media posts, and targeted emails, the company demonstrates its expertise, attracting organizations seeking solutions.

To push this message out, the company identifies targeted healthcare institutions matching their ideal customer profile and begins more personalized outreach, like highly tailored emails or phone calls. A next step might be a complimentary trial of the company’s service, if that is possible within the business model. Are there any channel partners that could talk about the company’s product, or maybe even help sell it?

Healthcare industry trade shows provide a platform to showcase exactly how the service can benefit clients. To broaden the audience reach, webinars provide a digital platform for showcasing the service.If there are online communities for this target market, can your satisfied customers be there too? They can provide authentic advocacy for the service.

Strategic GTM Tactics for Industrial Services

This hypothetical company specializes in precision machining and fabrication services, serving clients from industries like automotive, aerospace, and general manufacturing. Inbound marketing includes case studies and industry-specific guides, showcasing how the company stacks up favorably to the competition.

Targeted follow up with key manufacturing and industrial companies emphasizes custom services based on in-depth industry research and analysis to determine target rich markets. Tell potential customers specifically how your company best meets their needs. Are you a better value? Best rated? How exactly are you different, or better?

Channel Partner Marketing looks for collaborations with distributors or resellers in industrial equipment. Leveraging existing distribution networks is another way to enhance market presence and accessibility. What unexplored avenues exist to broaden the company's reach?

Trade shows are an optimal way for this company to demonstrate its services. Preparation is the key to seek out targets in advance and set up one on one meetings.

Strategic GTM Tactics for SaaS

Lastly, consider a cloud-based project management software company that improves collaboration and boosts efficiency for businesses. The informative content potential buyers want to see includes software guides and case studies, highlighting the software's competitive edge and successful integration by other companies.

Look at how the company can further refine its outbound marketing strategy to effectively reach and engage its target audience. You want to forge one-on-one interactions with those prospects most likely to buy.

For SaaS, the free trial is a powerful strategy, while the freemium model, providing basic features for free and charging for premium options, boosts functionality and fosters adoption. Channel Partner Marketing can be a good strategy too, where consultants, resellers, or integrators endorse the SaaS product, and earn commissions for referrals.

Through webinars, the company directly demonstrates the capabilities of its solution to businesses who need more efficient software tools. Active involvement in virtual or industry-specific events can keep leads interested. In this case, this company has its own online forum where users share experiences and tips related to the SaaS software.

Conclusion

Once a company determines the ideal mix of marketing and sales tactics for optimal outcomes, it becomes necessary to prioritize them. This step in strategy is crucial for efficiency and profitability. There are always limits to budget and manpower. Companies can boost efficiency by prioritizing technology over manual processes in outreach strategies.

Strategic growth in revenue and margins, especially in challenging markets, entails concentrating on acquiring customers aligned with the company's ideal customer profile. By pinpointing and customizing efforts to meet the specific needs of the most lucrative customers, businesses can maximize ROI and achieve revenue objectives.

To achieve optimal results, Craig Group can help companies determine who these potential customers are and the best way to reach them, using a data-driven approach.

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Libby Covington is a partner with Craig Group, a technology-enabled sales and marketing advisory firm specializing in revenue growth for middle-market, private-equity-backed portfolio companies.

These guest articles — with advice and perspective on topics ranging from quiet quitting to emotional intelligence — attracted the most readers throughout the year. Photo via Getty Images

These were the most-read guest columns by Houston innovators in 2022

2022 in review

Editor's note: Every week, InnovationMap — Houston's only news source and resource about and for startups — runs one or two guest columns written by tech entrepreneurs, public relations experts, data geniuses, and more. As Houston's innovation ecosystem gets ready for 2023, here are some of this year's top guest contributor pieces — each with pertinent information and advice for startups both at publishing and into the new year. Make sure to click "read more" to continue reading each piece.

Is your New Year's resolution to start contributing? Email natalie@innovationmap.com to learn more.

Houston expert: How to navigate Gen Z's quiet quitting movement at your company

Your perspective on quiet quitting is probably generational, says one Houston expert and startup founder. Photo via Getty Images

This month, the internet has been discussing "quiet quitting," the practice of employees setting hard boundaries about when they work and to what extent they are willing to go beyond the outlined expectations of their jobs.

The conversation around quiet quitting has also been lively at the Ampersand offices. As a training company that is dedicated to training new professionals for employers both big and small, it's critically important for our team to have a good grasp on the relationship employees have with their jobs, and what motivates them to succeed. So we had a long meeting where we discussed what quiet quitting meant to each of us. Read more.

Houston expert shares how small business leaders can encourage PTO use

Retaining employees is no easy feat these days. Encouraging a healthy PTO policy can help avoid burnout. Photo courtesy of Joe Aker

As many small businesses continue to operate in a challenging, fast-paced environment, one thing that has arrived at breakneck speed is midyear, along with the summer months. Theoretically, to ensure work-life balance, most employees should have 50 percent of their PTO remaining to use for summer vacations and during the second half of the year. In reality, that is probably not the case given workers are hesitant to use their PTO, leaving approximately five days of unused PTO on the table during 2020 and 2021.

While the pandemic affected PTO usage the last two years, the labor shortage appears to be a major contributor in 2022, which has led to PTO hoarding and increasing levels of employee burnout. Although these factors can be compounded for small business owners because there are fewer employees to handle daily responsibilities, it is imperative for workers to take PTO, returning recharged with a fresh perspective on the tasks at hand. Read more.

Houston expert: 3 emotional intelligence tips for improving patient-practitioner experience

A Houston expert shares how to improve on communication in the health care setting. Image via Getty Images

After spending hours with healthcare professionals as both a consultant and patient, I know that it takes a special kind of person to take care of others in their most distressing and vulnerable times. That responsibility has been in overdrive because of COVID, causing emotional burnout, which in turn affects patient care. By equipping yourself with emotional intelligence, you can be more resilient for yourself and patients.

Emotional intelligence is keeping your intelligence high, when emotions are high.

Health care sets up an environment for a tornado of emotions, and the rules and regulations centered around patient-provider interactions are often complex to navigate. This leaves many on the brink of emotional exhaustion, and for survival’s sake, depersonalization with patients becomes the status quo. Feeling a disconnect with their patients is another added weight, as few get into this industry for just the paycheck – it’s the impact of helping people get healthy and stay healthy that motivates them. I’ve seen it time and time again with people in my life, as well as on my own patient journey as I battled stage 3 cancer. Read more.

Here's what types of technology is going to disrupt the education sector, says this Houston founder

Edtech is expected to continue to make learning more interactive, fun, and inclusive for people around the world. Photo via Pexels

Technology has always maneuvered education in a certain direction but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced it to shift towards a new direction entirely.

What started off as a basic video lecture turned into a more hybrid and innovative form of education, enabling student engagement and interactivity like never before. Social media forums allow teachers to pay one-on-one attention to students boosting their learning process.

With an edtech boom on the rise, there is a question of what further expansion in educational technology is expected. Here are some technology breakthroughs currently underway in the education sector. Read more.

Houston expert weighs in on marketing from an investor’s perspective

What should Houston startups know about marketing? Photo via Getty Images

Just what do investors want to see from a startup with regards to the company’s marketing? I recently spoke on this topic to a cohort of early-stage technology startup entrepreneurs at Softeq Venture Studio, an accelerator program that helps founders build investable technologies and businesses. Read more.

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Houston femtech co. debuts first holistic wellness suite following rebrand

work perks

Houston-based femtech company Work&, previously Work&Mother, debuted new lactation suites and its first employee wellness space at MetroNational’s Memorial City Plazas this month.

The 1,457-square-foot Work& space features three lactation rooms and five wellness suites, the latter of which are intended to offer employees a private space and time for telehealth appointments, meditation, prayer, and other needs. The hybrid space, designed by Houston-based Inventure, represents Work&'s shift to offer an array of holistic health and wellness solutions to landlords for tenants.

Work& rebranded from Work&Mother earlier this year. The company was previously focused on outfitting commercial buildings with lactation accommodations for working parents, equipped with a hospital-grade pump, milk storage bags, sanitizing wipes, and other supplies. While Work& will still offer these services through its Work&Mother branch, the addition of its Work&Wellbeing arm allows the company to also "address the broader wellness needs of all employees," according to an announcement made on LinkedIn.

"We are thrilled to bring Work&Mother and Work&Wellbeing to The Plazas," Jules Lairson, co-founder and COO of Work&, said in a news release. “This partnership brings every stakeholder together – employees, employers and landlords all benefit from this kind of forward-thinking tenant experience. We are excited to launch our Work&Wellbeing concept with MetroNational to ensure that all employees have their wellness needs met with private, clean, quiet spaces for use during the workday.”

The new space is available to all tenants across Memorial City Plazas, comprised of three office towers totaling 1 million square feet of Class A office space. In addition to the lactation and wellness suites, the space also features custom banquettes, private lounge seating and phone booths.

“As a family-owned and operated company, MetroNational is deeply committed to fostering a workplace that supports both productivity and the well-being of all our tenants,” Anne Marie Ratliff, vice president of asset management for MetroNational, added in the release. “Partnering with Work& reinforces this commitment, enhancing our workplace experience and setting a new standard for tenant amenities.”

Work& has five Houston locations and several others in major metros, including New York, Austin, D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami. According to its website, the company will also introduce a Work&Wellbeing suite in New York.

Abbey Donnell spoke with InnovationMap on the Houston Innovators Podcast about why she founded the company and its plans for growth in 2021. Click here to learn more.

9 Houston universities make U.S. News' list of best grad schools 2025

Top of the class

Nine Houston universities have climbed through the ranks in U.S. News & World Report’s recently released report of the best graduate schools nationwide for 2025. Several graduate programs also appeared among the top 10 in a Texas-wide comparison.

U.S. News published its annual national "Best Graduate Schools" rankings on April 8. They look at several programs including business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, and many others.

For the 2025 report, the publication added new Ph.D. social sciences and humanities program rankings in English, history, political science and sociology for the first time since 2021. U.S. News also ranked graduate economics and psychology programs in the social sciences and the humanities for the first time since 2022.

Among the newcomers are Houston Christian University and Texas Southern University.

Here's how the nine local schools ranked, statewide and nationally, and how they compared with last year's national ranking:

University of Houston

  • No. 4 best graduate engineering school in Texas; No. 72 nationally
  • No. 5 best graduate education school in Texas; No. 81 nationally (down from No. 63 last year)
  • No. 5 best law school in Texas; No. 63 nationally (up from No. 68)

The University of Houston Law Center has the No. 9 best health law program in the nation, and ranked No. 15 for its legal writing program. The university's part-time MBA program ranked No. 38 nationally

University of Houston, Clear Lake

  • No. 12 best graduate education school in Texas; No. 166 nationally

The Clear Lake branch of the University of Houston tied for No. 166 for its part-time MBA program.

Houston Christian University

  • No. 21 best graduate education school in Texas; tied for No. 234-258 nationally

University of Texas Health Science Center

  • No. 1 best Doctor of Nursing Practice program in Texas; No. 33 nationally (up from No. 45)
  • No. 2 best graduate nursing program in Texas; No. 41 nationally (down from No. 31)

Prairie View A&M University, Northwest Houston Center

  • No. 5 best graduate nursing program in Texas; No. 104 nationally (up from No. 117)
  • No. 7 best Doctor of Nursing Practice program in Texas; tied for No. 143-158 nationally

Rice University

  • No. 2 best graduate business school in Texas; No. 29 nationally (unchanged)
  • No. 3 best graduate engineering school in Texas; No. 26 nationally

Rice's entrepreneurship program is the 9th best in the country, and its part-time MBA program ranked 13th nationally. The George R. Brown School of Engineering earned nods for its No. 10-ranking biomedical engineering and environmental engineering programs.

University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

  • No. 5 best Doctor of Nursing Practice program in Texas; No. 76 nationally

South Texas College of Law Houston

  • No. 7 best law school in Texas; No. 138 nationally

Out of the 11 law programs ranked by U.S. News, the South Texas College of Law performed the best for its trial advocacy (No. 12), dispute resolution law (No. 23), and legal writing (No. 51) programs.

Texas Southern University

  • No. 10 best law school in Texas; tied for No. 178-195 nationally

More specifically, TSU has the 64th best trial advocacy law program in the nation, U.S. News said.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.com.

VC firm partners with Rice Nexus to open first global office

strategic partnership

Luxembourg-based venture capital and advisory firm MoreThan Capital (MTC) has established its first global office at the new Rice Nexus in Houston’s Ion District as part of a strategic partnership aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and growing Houston as an innovation hub.

MTC has committed to offering its “time, mentorship, industry expertise and global connections” to Rice Nexus. The state-of-the-art Rice Nexus, which opened earlier this year, aims to support and provide resources for ventures that are looking to scale and have "artificial intelligence (AI) as a central pillar of its innovation strategy," according to a statement from Rice.

“The Rice Nexus is a launchpad for world-changing ideas, and this partnership with MoreThan Capital is a key step in realizing that vision,” Sanjoy Paul, executive director of the Rice Nexus, said in a news release. “By combining Rice’s research and entrepreneurial talent with MTC’s global network and mentorship, we are creating an unparalleled engine for innovation that starts in Houston and reaches the world.”

MoreThan Capital has over 100 limited partners, including senior executives and professional investors, based in more than 35 countries.

“Establishing our first global office at the Rice Nexus within the Ion District is a significant milestone for MoreThan Capital,” Guillermo Ruiz, general partner of MoreThan Capital, said in a news release. “We are dedicated to partnering with top-tier academic institutions like Rice University and aligning with organizations that share our core values of trust, engagement and impact.”

The announcement comes just a few weeks after Rice Nexus announced its partnership with Google Public Sector to launch the new Rice AI Venture Accelerator, or RAVA.