The first month of building a GTM machine

Some founders asked me what the first GTM session with me looks like. Here's how I answer.

In the first session we draw the whole funnel on one map and start connecting the data, before running any campaign.

We open the GTM tool in my Founders Workroom and together we draft the GTM map you have today, because first we want to visualize. We create blocks for all the sources (like SEO, AI agents, LinkedIn), all the actions (LinkedIn invites, emails, SEO changes), all the traffic (website visitors, iOS views) and all the conversion steps (demo booked, free trial, paid client) you have in the funnel.

Then we think about all the connections between them and we connect the blocks on the map.

Then we think about how the data of each block can be populated, and from which data source (like Google Analytics, Stripe, email scans, LinkedIn scans).

Then we look at how to integrate all the data APIs, through API keys, AI agents or webhooks, so we can begin measuring, and I explain every step needed to connect them. Our first goal is measuring, and we want to see everything in one single place. Without being able to measure there is no point in running any GTM campaign yet or trying something new.

Then we define the current conversion rates and track how many touch points a lead gets once they enter the website.

Once this is lined up, the time for the first session is probably over. After the call I send a full summary of the meeting and the to-do list for before the second session, and both show up in the Founders Workroom. We want all the data showing before we start the second session.

Between the first and the second session the founder works on connecting all the data sources, with API keys, AI agents or webhooks.

The second step when building a GTM machine is to read the data and set up experiments that add more touch points.

In the second session with a founder every block on the GTM map has a number in it, so the first thing we do is read the funnel.

Once the data is coming in, website visitors from Google Analytics, signups and trials from the database and HubSpot, paying subscribers from Stripe, and the LinkedIn and email numbers from the scans, it's all in one single place. So we look at how many visits each source brings and how many of them open the web app, and from there who starts a trial and which trials become paying subscribers.

In the image, with example numbers, 35% of visitors open the web app, 12.1% of those sign up, and 19.2% of the trials pay, and each of those is a conversion rate we can work on.

Then we start planning how to add more touch points, like retargeting, or other channels like email sequences or LinkedIn posts.

Then we plan how to identify the current traffic and enrich its data.

Then we work on creating experiments to improve the conversion rate around every single funnel step, and it really becomes hypothesis, experiment, test, experiment, and we keep adding blocks, with every experiment measured on the same map.

Attribution is not the most important thing, the point is to see how the conversion rates change with more time and more touch points.

Once we do that, we build an admin dashboard for your own company, and then keep growing.