The three layers of GTM

One company writes 100 blog articles with 0 traffic. Another publishes 10 and fills a pipeline. Why?

One company writes 100 blog articles with 0 traffic.
Another publishes 10 and fills a pipeline. Why?

At first glance, both are investments in content.
So why does one system fail while the other works?

The problem isn’t volume. Or format. Or distribution.
The problem is starting in the wrong place.

What SPECIFIC kind of marketing steers the ship?

→ If you start from growth marketing, you’re f*cked.
→ If you start from content marketing, you’re f*cked.

Where do you need to start?

(I know this should be obvious, but so often isn’t).

PRODUCT MARKETING.

→ Start with product marketing and you’re rock solid.

Without a strong product marketing foundation…

→ Content becomes fast food quality.
→ Messaging is watered down.
→ AI makes the noise louder.

The only way to build a GTM system that compounds is to
Start with Product Marketing at the core:

That means:

→ ICP — Know your customers, intimately
→ Positioning — How you’re better than alternatives
→ Messaging — Articulate, not sell, your value prop

That solid core gives you the clarity to create content that resonates, because you know EXACTLY whose taste you’re designing for.

Here’s how I think about the three layers of GTM:

Core: Product Marketing
What you do (better) and who’s it for

→ ICP model
→ Comparison pages
→ Competitor analysis
→ Messaging and positioning
→ Case studies and proof points
→ Sales calls and win/loss analysis
→ Home, persona, use cases, solution pages

Middle: Content Marketing
How you articulate your Product Marketing

→ Thought leadership, ebooks
→ Blog content and newsletter
→ Video explainers, webinars
→ Email nurture sequences
→ Podcasts & whitepapers

Outer: Growth Marketing / Distribution
Where you inject your messaging and content

→ Community seeding — Slack, Discord, Reddit
→ Affiliates, influencers, and strategic referrals
→ Technical and programmatic SEO
→ Partnerships and co-marketing
→ Paid search and paid social
→ Cold and warm outbound
→ Event sponsorships, PR

When the core is ultra clear, the middle layer can perform
Because it’s targeted and differentiated.

And once content is working, the outer layer has something worth scaling.

TLDR:

→ Invest in the foundations of product marketing.
→ Build all content within product marketing.
→ Distribution will work itself out.

This is where I help clients: getting the core right
so the second layer can actually work.