Joint Go to Market Strategy: 3 Steps to B2B Success

Looking to launch a new offer, reach untapped audiences, or scale faster without stretching your team thin? A joint go-to-market strategy could be the answer – especially when navigating long sales cycles, complex solutions, and competitive markets.

In this guide, we’ll break down what a joint GTM strategy really involves, how it stacks up against going solo, and three key steps to building a plan that’s focused, collaborative, and made for B2B success.

What Is a Joint Go to Market Strategy for B2B?

A joint go-to-market strategy (or joint GTM) is when two businesses work together to take a product, service, or solution to market. This could mean launching a new offer, targeting a specific region, or running co-branded campaigns to reach shared customers.

It’s not about merging teams or becoming the same business. It’s about aligning efforts – marketing, sales, messaging, and more – so you both benefit.

This might be a software company teaming up with a managed service provider. Or a hardware vendor collaborating with a cybersecurity partner. You bring your strengths, they bring theirs, and the customer gets a more complete solution.

Benefits of a Joint GTM vs Solo GTM Efforts

A solo go-to-market strategy gives you full control, but it also means carrying the full weight of strategy, messaging, marketing, and sales on your own. That can be time-consuming, costly, and limiting, especially if you're trying to enter a new market or scale quickly.

A joint go-to-market strategy brings another business into the picture. When done right, it means:

• Access to new audiences via your partner’s network
• Shared investment in campaigns, tools & resources
• Faster traction thanks to mutual trust & credibility
• More compelling value by combining complementary capabilities
• Efficient scaling through indirect marketing channels like VARs or MSPs

Rather than starting from scratch, you’re building on what already works for both of your businesses.

Step 1: Determine Your B2B Market Segmentation

Before jumping into creative campaigns and inventive bundling offers, stop and ask: Who are we trying to reach?

How B2B Market Segmentation Shapes GTM Success

B2B market segmentation is all about identifying the businesses most likely to benefit from your combined offer, then grouping them based on factors like industry, company size, buying stage, or even challenges they’re facing. This helps both you and your partner get clear on where the overlap is and where the biggest opportunity lies.

This step is crucial. Without clear segmentation, you risk sending mixed messages or targeting the wrong people entirely – leading to wasted budget, poor engagement, and a disconnect between marketing and sales.

When both partners align on the same segments, you create a stronger starting point for your GTM strategy. Everyone's focused on the same goals, talking to the same audience, and measuring success in the same way.

Using Segmentation to Define Your Customer Value Proposition

Once you’ve identified your shared audience, you can develop a customer value proposition (CVP) that speaks directly to their needs.

A CVP is simply the answer to the question: Why should this audience choose your joint offer over anything else?

For example:

• Segment = mid-sized businesses with limited IT capacity
• Value proposition = “Together, we deliver simple, secure solutions with no extra overhead – designed for teams without in-house IT.”

It’s specific, relevant, and anchored in a real business problem. A well-crafted CVP like this helps you stand out in a noisy market and ensures both teams are selling the same story. This sets up the next step: making sure your value proposition is not only clear but compelling.

Step 2: Align on a Strong Customer Value Proposition

In a joint go-to-market strategy, your customer value proposition becomes the foundation for all your messaging, content, and sales conversions.

To be effective, your CVP should be:

• Joint – reflecting the strengths of both businesses
• Focused on customer outcomes, not just features
• Easy to understand, repeat & scale across teams

A strong value proposition connects your offer to real customer needs, showing how your combined expertise solves a problem faster, more affordably, or more effectively than either business could alone.

What Makes a Joint Value Proposition Stand Out in B2B?

Here are a few ways to make sure your joint CVP hits the mark:

• Speak in benefits – Show what success looks like.
• Keep it specific – Generic promises get ignored.
• Make it credible – Include proof points where possible.
• Tailor it to your segments – Link back to the pain points you identified earlier.

If both teams can clearly communicate the value, and your audience can see the advantage, you’re in a strong position.

Step 3: Choose the Right Indirect Marketing Channel

Once you’re confident in your message and audience, it’s time to think about delivery. In the B2B landscape, that often means going through an indirect marketing channel.

These could include:

• Distributors
• Value-Added Resellers (VARs)
• Managed Service Providers (MSPs)
• Referral / affiliate partners

They’re trusted, they know your audience, and they often already have relationships in place. The key is choosing partners who align with your goals and can amplify your offer.

Best Practices for Driving Demand Through Indirect Channels

To make the most of your channel partnerships:

• Empower your partners – Provide the tools, messaging, and support they need to succeed.
• Develop co-branded assets – Make joint offers easy to promote with ready-to-use materials.
• Run shared campaigns – Collaborate on webinars, email sequences, and paid ads to share effort and reward.
• Track results together – Shared visibility fosters trust and continuous improvement.

Indirect marketing doesn’t mean hands-off; the more support you offer your partners, the more momentum you’ll see.

Marketing Strategy Frameworks for Joint GTM Plans

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are a few solid marketing strategy frameworks worth turning to.

• ABM (Account-Based Marketing): Target high-value accounts together with tailored content.
• Solution Bundling: Package your offer with your partner’s to solve a bigger problem.
• AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action): Map your joint funnel from first touch to close.

These frameworks help bring structure to your plan and keep both sides aligned.

Adapting Frameworks to Suit Partnerships & Co-Marketing

Of course, no framework works perfectly out of the box. In a joint GTM, flexibility is key. You’ll need to adjust your approach based on:

• The experience & strengths of your partner
• Available tools, resources & channels
• The length & complexity of the buyer journey
• Sales & marketing capacity on both sides

A go-to-market strategy example here would be if your partner has strong sales but weak marketing. In that case, you would put more focus on brand awareness and lead generation. Or if you're both targeting enterprise buyers, your strategy should include content designed for a longer, more complex nurture journey.

There’s no fixed formula – but with the right framework, you can adapt, refine, and maximise impact.

Final Thoughts: Building Long-Term B2B GTM Success

With the right strategy, a joint go-to-market approach can help you reach new audiences, scale faster, and create more compelling offers – especially when supported by strong messaging and the right partners.

At FWD Motion, we work with B2B and tech-focused brands to turn joint GTM plans into real-world results. From segmentation and positioning to campaigns and channel enablement, we help bring your strategy to life.

Explore our IT Channel Marketing Services or get in touch for a quick chat about your vision and goals.