We’re hearing a lot about GTM strategies these days, but how many B2B marketers actually know what it is?
Not many: Only 37% show a clear understanding of GTM as an
“integrated, cross-functional framework rather than a collection of marketing and sales activities,” according to “The 2026 State of B2B Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy,” a new
study from Outcomes Rocket.
Despite that gap in understanding, 70% say their organization is mostly or fully aligned around shared GTM goals. The remaining 30% have only partial or poor
alignment, resulting in a significant execution risk in complex B2B environments.
At the same time, practitioners are under “sustained pressure to deliver predictable, measurable revenue
growth amid lengthening buying cycles, intensifying competition, evolving buyer expectations, and rapid technological advance, particularly the rise of artificial intelligence,” the study
notes. Here are their top challenges:
- Competition/market saturation—43.1%
- Generating
high-quality leads/pipeline—42.5%
- Long sales cycles and slow pipeline velocity—35.3%
- Resource
constraints (budget, headcount, skills)—32.5%
- Sales-marketing alignment/friction—28.7%
- Measuring true GTMROI and
attribution—23.5%
- Adapting to buyer behavior changes—21.1%
- Personalization at scale—16.2%
- Weak customer
segmentation/targeting—15.1%
- Tech stack limitations/tool overload—9.3%
- Others—1%
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Of the companies polled, 21% either lack a GTM strategy or have no clearly defined ownership structure
Who’s behind GTM at most organizations? Sales is
first:
- Sales/Business Development—33.9%
- Marketing—24.9%
- Product—15.3%
- Others—8.2%
- Customer Success—6.5%
- Public
Relations—5.5%
- Research—0.4%
Meanwhile, 48.4% expect AI-first GTM strategies will deliver stronger results than traditional
models within 12-24 months. They are already using AI for:
- Content creation and repurposing—42.9%
- Email personalization and
sequencing—32.5%
- Targeting and segmentation—28.7%
- Sales enablement—27.8%
- Predictive analytics—26.9%
- "We are not using AI in GTM today"—21.8%
- Predictive lead
scoring/prioritization—20%
- Customer retention/churn prediction—10.1%
Email rates near the top as one of
the most effective channels for pipeline growth:
- In-person events/conferences—44%
- Customer
marketing/referrals—35.1%
- Email/marketing automation—34.7%
- Organic content/SEO—31%
- Partnerships/channel marketing—29.1%
- Outbound sales/SDR programs—28%
- Paid social (LinkedIn, Meta,
etc)—25.9%
- Paid search—21.6%
- Webinars/virtual events—19.6%
- Communities/influencer ecosystems—4.5%
- Others—0.4%
What do brands see as their top GTM priorities over the
next 12-24 months? They hope to:
- Increase pipeline volume and quality—53%
- Strengthen sales & marketing
alignment—29.5%
- Improve retention and expansion revenue—40..9%
- Build stronger brand
awareness/differentiation—40.3%
- Improve pipeline velocity/shorten sales cycle—26.5%
- Improve
segmentation/ICP targeting—18.5%
- Expand partner/channel-led growth—17%
- Expand personalization and
ABM—16.8%
- Upgrade GTM tech stack and operations—12.5%
Outcomes Rocket surveyed 511 B2B professionals across the U.S. and U.K. in February
2026.