If you’re looking to optimize your go-to-market strategy, you’ve come to the right place!
Today, the difference between a good go-to-market plan and a great go-to-market plan can make or break your product’s success, so getting it right has never been more important.
That’s why we’ve compiled a must-read list of the 11 best books on go-to-market strategy that can take you and your career to the next level.
Each of these reads offers truly invaluable insights, actionable tips, and tried-and-true strategies to help you navigate the critical journey from product development to post-launch market success.
Whether you’re coming from tech, product marketing, or sales, and at every level from startup to enterprise, these game-changing books cover everything you need to craft and execute a winning go-to-market strategy.
So, get comfy, settle in, and get ready to dive into our curated collection of go-to-market wisdom!
Here’s our quickfire list of the top 11 best books on go-to-market strategy:
1. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore
2. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
3. Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook by Peter R. Kazanjy
4. The Membership Economy by Robbie Kellman Baxter
5. Traversing the Traction Gap by Bruce Cleveland
6. The Messy Middle by Scott Belsky
7. Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
8. MOVE: The 4-question Go-to-Market Framework by Sangram Vajre and Bryan Brown
9. Contagious by Jonah Berger
10. This Is Marketing by Seth Godin
11. Product Marketing Debunked: The Essential Go-to-Market Guide by Yasmeen Turayhi
Now let's dive in...
1. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore
Starting off strong, this third edition of Geoffrey Moore’s classic is just as relevant now as it was in 1991, bringing his ideas up to date, along with a wealth of new case studies and examples necessary to our current digital age.
This book is all about bringing high-tech products to larger markets, explaining how technology adoption exists in a life cycle, with Moore dividing this into five distinct customers: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
With a vast chasm existing between the early adopters and the early majority, the critical challenge for tech companies and developers is to actually bridge this gap and move into mainstream adoption. A clearly worthwhile win, but one that also requires a fundamental shift.
Luckily, Moore steps in to help us cross this chasm with his powerful three-step strategy (no spoilers!)
An essential read, filled to the brim with ideas, this book gets straight to the point. Though written with high-tech products in mind, at its core it’s about strategic thinking, so is highly applicable to a range of different industries, for marketers, developers, leaders, and everyone in between!
2. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Next up, we have Eric Ries’ groundbreaking guide that revolutionizes the way founders approach building and growing new companies and products, reducing risk whilst increasing efficiency and creativity.
Challenging traditional business models, Ries calls for a more flexible and iterative approach based on the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop, teaching you to get started with a minimum viable product (MVP), test, learn, improve, and repeat.
Startups and entrepreneurs today work under extreme uncertainty due to the dynamic nature of the market, and so, need an entirely different set of tools than established companies.
The Lean Startup isn’t just a set of tactics, but an entirely new way of thinking about innovation and building a sustainable company, and Ries’ principles of entrepreneurship apply to everyone, regardless of your role, industry, or company size.
His mantra of maximizing learning, embracing failure, leveraging creativity, and creating value through experimentation is one that’ll stick with you.
3. Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook by Peter R. Kazanjy
This book by Peter R. Kazanjy acts as a comprehensive guide, more tailored than the previous two books, to startup founders and those in the world of B2B sales, particularly in B2B SaaS.
It’s also worth noting that this book is also a hugely valuable resource to those who aren’t from this background, as Founding Sales really stands out for its practical, experience-based approach.
Drawing heavily from Kazanjy’s experience as a founder and sales leader, he provides a clear roadmap for founders who need to rapidly navigate the transition to the role of sales leader as their company scales.
Robert Gimbel
4. The Membership Economy by Robbie Kellman Baxter
A fascinating look at the membership and subscription-based business models that dominate our lives, and examining exactly why they’re thriving.
Baxter’s great use of case studies across all industries, covering companies from Netflix to CrossFit, will have you radically rethinking how you build relationships with your customers.
A theoretical but still hugely practical read, she helps readers understand the shift and teaches them exactly how to do it, with further strategies for how to optimize existing membership models and battle critical challenges like retention and engagement.
The Membership Economy is relevant for any company looking to build lasting customer relationships and sustainable, recurring revenue in today’s fast-paced digital economy – which is surely everyone right?
5. Traversing the Traction Gap by Bruce Cleveland
The subtitle of this book says it all: “Traction. Startups need it. Learn how to get it”, and this is just what Bruce Cleveland does in this vital go-to-market guide.
Introducing the “Traction Gap”, the early-stage go-to-market phase in which more than 80% of all startups fail, Cleveland uses this book as both a warning and a guide, explaining the reasons behind this high failure rate, but also how to overcome this hurdle.
A clear ‘how-to’ guide for securing the essential investment every startup needs to scale, this book’s valuable focus on the complex go-to-market phase goes that one step further by giving you the quantifiable tools to actually make it happen.
GTM Alliance
6. The Messy Middle by Scott Belsky
Guide on how to survive – you guessed it – the ‘Messy Middle’ of any business or product venture, a difficult and uncertain part any go-to-market professional knows well.
There’s no such thing as a smooth, linear journey in business and go-to-market, and Belsky structures this book in the same way, ditching a typical linear style, and instead encouraging readers to pick their own path, reading the sections that apply to them in whatever stage they need.
Belsky’s argument that there are going to be many ups and downs, the ‘Messy Middle’, though a stage when businesses or products can fail, is ultimately encouraging, highlighting that this stage is also where some of the most exciting innovation and growth happens.
Success isn’t just a fresh innovative idea, it’s the ability to keep that exciting new idea progressing forward to fruition, and this book, with its focus on resilience, adaptability, and continuous learning, guides you on this journey.
7. Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
If you think you knew everything there is to know about positioning your brand or product, April Dunford, seasoned tech exec and positioning expert, is about to prove you wrong.
She argues that effective positioning isn’t about following trends or trying to appeal to the widest possible audience, it’s about clearly defining what makes your product unique and communicating that value to the right people. Or as she puts it, discovering your “secret sauce” and then “selling it to those that crave it”.
Using examples and anecdotes in an entertaining, accessible, and insightful way, Obviously Awesome is a refreshing break from the heavy-going theoretical texts on marketing and positioning.
With its step-by-step process, tasks, and advice to help you bring your product to market and deliver results, this no-nonsense, no-filler style, just focuses on helping readers find the right market fit and create positioning that resonates – a real home run.
Kasey Stinson
8. MOVE: The 4-question Go-to-Market Framework by Sangram Vajre and Bryan Brown
MOVE is the go-to-market blueprint for guiding businesses through different stages of growth and inevitable transformation.
Vajre and Brown center this book around the four key questions of their framework:
2. What do you need to operate effectively?
3. When can you scale your business?
4. Where can you grow the most?
The authors argue that this framework acts almost cyclically, where the four questions form the spokes of a wheel, moving with market conditions so they can help drive the business forward through these changes and its own growth stages.
Straightforward in its universality – arguably what makes it so powerful – this book aims to give leaders the tools they need to get unstuck, level up their organizations, and achieve long-term success through informed strategic go-to-market decisions.
9. Contagious by Jonah Berger
Contagious is a groundbreaking exploration of why certain products, ideas, and behaviors catch on and become viral while others fail to gain traction, and specifically what makes things spread through word-of-mouth.
The core of the book revolves around Berger's STEPPS framework, which outlines six key principles that drive things to become contagious – but we’ll let you discover them for yourself!
Challenging our beliefs that virality is random or solely tied to vast advertising budgets, and that word-of-mouth only exists now as an online phenomenon, Berger instead argues that by understanding and implementing these six principles, businesses and individuals can craft messages and products that are inherently more shareable.
The book serves as an essential guide for marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in understanding and harnessing the power of social influence. By breaking down the science behind why things catch on, Berger provides a roadmap for creating content, products, and ideas that people can’t stop talking about!
Amelia Wilson
10. This Is Marketing by Seth Godin
This Is Marketing is a revolutionary approach to marketing that challenges traditional, more aggressive advertising methods. Godin instead argues for a more humanistic, empathetic approach that focuses on solving people's problems rather than just selling products.
His main point is that effective marketing in today's oversaturated media landscape requires a total and fundamental shift in perspective. Instead of viewing consumers as targets to be exploited – just things buying stuff – Godin encourages marketers to see them as individuals to be served.
Therefore transforming traditional marketing from a tool of manipulation to one of genuine connection and value creation – pretty neat right?
This book is more than just a step-by-step guide, it’s a set of principles and mindsets, teaching readers to be adaptable, creative, and always focused on the human element of their work, thus creating more of a lasting impact, and more sustainable, meaningful businesses.
11. Product Marketing Debunked: The Essential Go-to-Market Guide by Yasmeen Turayhi
Successfully bringing a product to market: The original challenge in the go-to-market space, and one Turayhi neatly addresses in this book, with her practical framework for transforming ideas into robust go-to-market strategies.
The book's core premise is that a great product alone isn’t enough for market success, and innovative products won’t sell themselves, you need effective product marketing to bridge the gap between a product's potential and its performance.
What’s even better about this book is its practicality, choosing to provide actionable advice over theoretical concepts, serving as a "tl;dr" (too long; didn't read) guide for product launches, and distilling complex marketing concepts into accessible, applicable strategies.
This book is an essential resource for entrepreneurs, product managers, and marketing professionals looking to bridge the gap, across various industries and growth stages.
Final thoughts
So there you have it, folks! Our curated list of the 11 best books to optimize your go-to-market strategy.
Whether you're a startup founder, a seasoned marketer, or somewhere in between, these reads offer a treasure trove of insights to help you navigate the exciting journey of bringing products to market.
From crossing chasms to lean startups, from membership economies to contagious ideas, these books cover all the bases. They'll challenge your thinking, spark new ideas, and equip you with practical tools to take your go-to-market game to the next level.
Happy reading, and here's to your next successful product launch!
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