Write a GTM plan

Ledgerly Payroll: go-to-market plan

What I'd change in Marketing's draft

Who we go after first

Wave 1 (3 Nov): customers with 5–25 employees who run payroll via spreadsheet (690) or an accountant (1,480). That is 2,170 customers, 27% of the base.

• They have the pain. 19% (spreadsheet) and 23% (accountant) got a payroll penalty notice last year, versus 4–6% for businesses with 1–4 staff and 5–7% for those already on a payroll tool.
• They have the money. At $6 per employee, a 12-person business pays about $72 a month, against the $180 a month one landscaper pays their accountant.
• The calls match the data. The bakery, plumber, physio, landscaper and dental practice all describe fear of mistakes, not lack of time.

Not now: - 1–4 employees (4,160 customers): The spreadsheet is "fine" and "free," and only 4–6% were penalized. Leave payroll available in the product but don't push it. - Other-tool users (1,670 customers): Penalty rates are low (5–7%), and switching mid-year "sounds like a nightmare." Revisit at the start of the next tax year with a migration offer.

What we say

The beta test was randomized. "Never get a payroll penalty again" beat "Run payroll in minutes" on setup starts (6.4% vs 2.2% of visits) and on first payroll runs (2.8% vs 0.9%), about 3x on both. Once people started, completion was similar (44% vs 41%), so the headline drives the decision to begin and the product handles the rest.

Core message: "Payroll filed right and on time, so the tax office letter never arrives."

• Spreadsheet owners: "A spreadsheet won't tell you when you've got it wrong."
• Accountant-run: "Stop paying $180 a month to worry about it." Use this to speak to cost and control without attacking accountants. Offer a way to invite their accountant in as a reviewer.

Accuracy promise: The dental practice said, "If you can promise it's right, I'm in." I'd like to offer a penalty-cover guarantee for errors caused by our software. Legal and Finance must approve it by 24 Oct. If they won't, the copy becomes "filed right and on time, with support to fix problems." We should not promise "never" without backing it. The beta headline did well, but a claim we can't stand behind creates risk.

Channels

1. Targeted in-app card and email to the Wave 1 list only, using the winning headline. This is the main channel, and it costs almost nothing.
2. Personal outreach from Customer Success to Wave 1 customers who told us they got a penalty notice (about 470 people by my estimate from the survey rates). Offer a 20-minute guided setup.
3. Webinar, reframed: "Penalty-proof your payroll" with a live setup walkthrough. Run it in launch week and again in week 4, since the second session catches people who weren't ready the first time.
4. Press: one plain release ("Ledgerly adds payroll, $6 per employee"), with no category claim. Follow with customer stories once we have them.
5. Paid: none to new prospects in November (see Budget).

Budget (the $60k)

• ~$15k: guided setup and migration help (contractor or CS time).
• ~$10k: webinars, email production, and case-study content.
• ~$35k: held until the January gate. If Wave 1 works, spend it on search ads for "payroll penalty" intent, aimed at businesses that would adopt accounting and payroll together.

How we'll know it's working (3 months)

Primary metric: paying accounts that have run at least two payrolls. This replaces sign-ups, press mentions and launch-week anything.

Targets (to be recalibrated after week 2, since the beta is my only baseline): - Month 1: at least 5% of Wave 1 has started setup. At least 45% of those run a first payroll, matching beta's 44%. - End of January: about 250 Wave 1 accounts running payroll (~11% of the segment). I'm assuming a 10-person average, which implies roughly $15k MRR. I'll replace that assumption with real headcount data. - Retention: at least 85% of those accounts run payroll in three consecutive cycles.

Guardrails (any breach pauses expansion): - Payroll errors or penalties caused by us: zero tolerance, reviewed weekly. - Support tickets per payroll run. - Churn of the core accounting subscription, which must not rise among adopters.

Measuring real impact: Hold out a random 10% of Wave 1 from all promotion. If adopters in the promoted group don't clearly exceed the holdout, we're only capturing people who would have found payroll anyway.

Decision gates: - Mid-December: If setup-to-first-payroll is below 35%, fix onboarding before pushing further. - Mid-January: If Wave 1 is at or above target and no guardrail is breached, release the held budget and start Wave 2 (other-tool users, ahead of the tax-year switch window). If it's below target, interview non-adopters before spending anything.

Caveats

• Penalty rates are self-reported, and the eight calls are anecdotes.
• Beta customers may be more enthusiastic than the base.
• I haven't seen average headcount per segment, so the revenue estimates are rough.

Ledgerly Payroll: existing-customer launch plan

3 November–2 February

1. Start with customers who fear mistakes—not everyone who dislikes admin

Prioritise the 2,170 existing customers with 5–25 employees whose payroll is run in spreadsheets or by an accountant. They represent 27% of our customer base:

• 690 spreadsheet users: 19% reported a payroll penalty notice last year. Start here: they control the buying decision and have no incumbent software to replace.
• 1,480 accountant-run customers: 23% reported a penalty notice. Approach alongside the first group, but qualify who controls payroll and whether the accountant should participate.

These penalty rates are much higher than the 4–7% reported by the other segments. Customer interviews reinforce the problem: owners want confidence that payroll is right, not merely faster.

Deprioritise the 4,160 customers with 1–4 employees: several see spreadsheets as sufficient, and willingness to pay looks weaker. Also defer broad outreach to the 1,670 customers using another payroll tool: their reported penalty rates are lower, and switching creates friction.

Within the priority segments, invite customers with known concerns or upcoming payroll runs first. Don’t assume a segment-level penalty rate means any particular customer received a notice.

2. Sell confidence and control, without promising immunity

Replace “the first Financial Operating System” and the generic speed headline with:

> Feel more confident about payroll, right alongside your books. > Ledgerly Payroll costs $6 per employee per month. See whether it fits your business and get help setting up your first payroll.

Use separate supporting messages:

• Spreadsheet users: “Move beyond manual payroll spreadsheets. See how Ledgerly Payroll works before your next pay run.”
• Accountant-run customers: “Get a clearer view of payroll—and decide how you and your accountant will manage it.”

The beta provides strong directional evidence for this positioning. The penalty headline generated first-payroll completions equal to 2.8% of page visits versus 0.9% for the speed headline—roughly three times higher. Setup starts also increased, while setup-to-first-payroll conversion remained similar, around 42–44%. The message attracts interest; onboarding still needs work.

However, do not ship “Never get a payroll penalty again.” It is an absolute guarantee the evidence cannot support. Test truthful reassurance against the speed message, with legal review.

Before launch, confirm exactly which calculations, checks, deadlines and filing responsibilities Ledgerly supports. Demonstrate only verified capabilities and clearly explain customer responsibilities. For price context, a 10-person business pays $60/month; don’t claim universal savings versus accountants.

3. Use owned channels and assisted onboarding before acquisition spend

Replace the $60,000 November prospecting campaign with a focused existing-customer rollout. Hold that spend until activation, retention and support economics justify expansion.

Before 3 November - Prepare segment-specific emails, in-app pages, eligibility guidance and a clear setup checklist. - Equip support with payroll-specific escalation procedures and capacity for first-run assistance. - Instrument the journey from invitation through paid, successful payroll. - Validate readiness. If a critical workflow is unsafe, narrow launch eligibility rather than market around it.

November: activate the first cohort - Send targeted email and in-app invitations to the priority customers, paced to support capacity—not one banner to all 8,000. - Offer a practical demonstration and bookable setup sessions. Schedule follow-ups around each customer’s next payroll date. - Use the launch-week webinar to show setup, responsibilities and a complete payroll workflow, not deliver a corporate announcement. - Where customers agree, involve their accountants. Position them as collaborators, not the cause of every payroll problem.

December: remove friction - Contact customers who started but stalled; diagnose migration, employee-data, confidence and accountant-approval barriers. - Turn recurring questions into onboarding improvements and help content. - Publish customer proof only with permission and substantiated outcomes.

January–2 February: expand selectively - Broaden outreach once repeat usage and operational quality are sound. - Test customers considering a switch from another tool, with explicit migration guidance. - Consider a small paid acquisition experiment only after establishing acceptable acquisition cost and payback.

4. Measure paid adoption, repeat use and trust—not launch noise

Set these as initial planning targets, not forecasts; recalibrate after November’s first cohort:

• By 2 February: 217 priority customers—10% of the target segment—have completed a successful payroll and become paying add-on customers.
• Repeat use: at least 80% of activated customers complete their next scheduled payroll; separately track third-run retention where enough time has elapsed.
• Commercial performance: report actual payroll MRR, paid employees, cancellations and contribution after onboarding/support costs. Customer count alone does not establish revenue.

Review weekly by segment and channel: invitations delivered, qualified visits, setup starts, setup completion, successful first payroll, paid conversion, time to activation and support effort. Use unique-customer denominators, not just page visits.

Run a controlled headline test and, where feasible, stagger outreach with a holdout to measure incremental adoption.

Track failed runs, product-attributable calculation or filing incidents, and customer confidence after first and repeat runs. Investigate every serious incident; pause the affected rollout if reliability is compromised.

The launch succeeds when customers repeatedly pay staff correctly and keep paying for Ledgerly—not when they read a press release.