PG
PCI GTM Strategy
EU Market Penetration Model (prepared by Pavel Guliaev)
EU PCI Visibility Study · OSINT Benchmark ↗
1. Budget Intensity
MVPTest Mode
OptimalStandard Growth
DominateHigh Aggr.
2. Markets (Geo)
Core 5 UK, DE, FR, IT, ES
+ South PT, GR
+ Nordics FI, SE, NO (High Cost)
3. Audience Target
StartupsVol: Low | Conv: High
+ EnterpriseVol: High | Conv: Low
Execution Roadmap (Year 1)
Purple: Build/Soft · Green: Scale/Maintenance
M1M2M3M4 M5M6M7M8 M9M10M11M12
Go-Live
Setup: Brand
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Done
Setup: Web
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Soft Launch
Setup: Strat
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Run: PR
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Run: Growth
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Active Scale
Growth Trajectory
Grey: Build · Green: Reach · Line: Leads
CJM · PCI Buying Journey (Signal Decay)
Beam starts at potential PCI-relevant accounts touched by our media mix. Only a fraction becomes in-year PCI projects.
0
Total reachable PCI-relevant accounts
Drop-off: 0% · Starting beam
Companies in Core 5 (+ optional South / Nordics) that fall into our ICP and are exposed to our brand, content, and campaigns.
Levers: Broad awareness (SEO, events, PR, partner channels), accurate ICP, clean country/vertical lists.
0
Silent researchers in the dark funnel
Drop-off: ~40% · No active intent yet
Security / payments teams see us but keep research anonymous: peer chats, review sites, vendor shortlists. No forms, no demos.
Levers: Thought leadership, PCI playbooks, localized case studies, retargeting, review platforms, social proof.
0
People who start interacting with us
Drop-off: ~25% · We lose attention on the first contact
From the entire reach, only a part makes an actual move: clicks, landing views, email opens. The rest fall off because the message didn’t click with them, the page didn’t answer their first question, or the next step wasn’t clear enough.
Levers: clear headlines that say “who it’s for”, simple first screens, one main CTA, short forms, human-sounding emails, and regular but non-pushy follow-ups.
0
Teams who start seriously considering a change
Drop-off: ~65% · Priorities shift, decisions stall
At this point people read materials, save links, share things internally. But not all of them move toward “let’s talk” or “let’s look at the numbers.” It’s not rejection — they simply get buried under other tasks and we fall out of their field of view.
Levers: helpful email series, short reminders with a summary, simple “before/after” comparisons, small explainer videos that can be shared in chats, and soft asks for tiny steps (a quick check-in, a short assessment, a 3-question survey).
0
Requests that enter the real pipeline
Drop-off: ~60% · Doubts and “let’s postpone”
Here the interest is obvious: people submitted a form, asked for a call, or requested details. But many still pause — not because of us, but because they fear disruptions or lean back toward familiar options. If marketing doesn’t support sales here, a lot of momentum gets lost.
Levers: simple answers to common concerns, short case snippets, easy-to-forward materials for internal chats, supportive reminder emails, and a clearly defined next step that requires minimal effort.
1. Market volume (startups)

According to McKinsey's "Europe's Fintech Opportunity" and Statista Market Insights (2024), the Core-5 EU region generates ~4,000 new Fintech/Payment entities annually requiring PCI compliance (from SAQ to Level 1).

The model assumes we address the "Startup/SMB" segment with a higher conversion rate (0.5%–1.2%) due to acute need for speed, but at a lower ticket price (€12k avg).

2. The enterprise paradox

High value vs. low visibility. Classic conflict in B2B security sales: “The larger the deal, the lower the initial signal.”

According to Gartner’s B2B Buying Report, enterprise security decisions usually involve 6–10 distinct stakeholders and take 9–14 months, with a big part of the process happening “offline” in the so-called Dark Funnel.

Impact: we deliberately model Enterprise with a 50% lower lead conversion rate to account for this lag and “shadow buying” dominance, despite higher Annual Contract Value (ACV).

3. Cost basis & media

These numbers are planning ranges, not hard benchmarks. They reflect publicly available LinkedIn B2B ad cost bands and conservative adjustments for a niche PCI audience in Western Europe.

  • Working CPC range: ~€10–18 for B2B decision-makers
  • Nordics uplift: +30–40% CPM due to smaller inventory + higher comp
  • Agency layer: typical EU boutique management markup included

In the real GTM plan you’ll replace these with country-level campaign data once it exists.

Need raw data?
Google Sheet Link for Budget
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