7 Key Steps to Entering a New Market

Whether you are a brand new business or an already existing one expanding into new markets, these seven useful tips can boost your confidence and help you reach and even exceed your goals. Follow along in this step-by-step guide, and save yourself some useful resources by avoiding common pitfalls associated with entering a new market.

1. Goal review

Success is easier to achieve if you know exactly what you’re aiming for. As a marketer, you should be clear about why you are entering a new market and why this is the right strategy, above choices like development of new products or extension of existing markets.

Your business goals should be both reasonable and measurable, as well as work well in both short and long terms. They must go beyond revenue making and be more about value provision. Ultimately, it’s important to make sure that your marketing team, executive team and all internal and external stakeholders of your business are aligned around your business goals to provide maximum support.

2. Market research

Arguably the most important step in winning new markets, research should span across areas including market needs, demand & supply, consumer behavior & tendencies, competition analysis, business strategy, and so on.

Try to evaluate the market from different perspectives. Conduct customer development interviews to understand your target audience and gain useful insights on their pains, problems, and potential solutions. Viewing the market from a customer perspective will help you understand how to weave your product’s narrative and fine-tune your value proposition and other key elements accordingly.

It’s also important to learn about potential risks and bottleneck problems from corporate dimensions. Communicate with local companies, especially those who have successfully expanded to this market and whose business model and price level match yours.

3. Competitor analysis

Yes, we discussed this element in the previous category, but it’s so crucial that it gets separate attention here. A comprehensive competitor analysis in your nominated market will provide a strong understanding of your competition, their brand promise, and their value proposition. This insight can help you to find a good differentiator, improve on your offering, re-examine your strategy – basically anything that gives you a winning advantage. It may also be worth it to reach out to potential partners among your competitors to see if they may be interested in working together.

Careful competition research will help you find out if a new market is right for you and how to get a share in an existing niche.

4. Consumer analysis

Stepping into a new market can change your ideal customer profile. Potential new customers in a new industry means new demographics and psychographics, which can require you to change your marketing strategy.

Demographics refers to information on external or physical factors such as age, ethnicity, gender, location, etc., while psychographic data focuses on psychological factors like motivation, beliefs, priorities, tendencies, and so on.

Ultimately, having the right knowledge about your potential customers will help you focus on the right audience, as well as spend marketing money wisely. For a seamless customer experience and the eventual success of a business, new customer circumstances and preferences must be taken into account.

5. Strategy analysis

Once you can visualize success, know your target audience, and what the market demands and competition looks like, it’s time to decide how you want to enter the market, a.k.a strategy.

It’s important to examine your brand hierarchy and architecture, with a view to understanding if it’s suitable as it is or if you will need to invest in another brand. You can even consider a partnership with a brand that already exists in that niche.

Optimizing your brand presentation and visual identity for your new audience is also necessary. This helps them identify and understand you better in a crowded and competitive market.

Venturing into a new market can be costly, but more so if poorly implemented. Fortunately, proper planning, extensive research and effective strategy can help you expand your business via new market development.

6. Testing the market

Testing is a vital component of the product development process which helps you collect and understand potential customer feedback. It helps you ensure there are people who want the product, as well as gives critical information that helps fine-tuning product performance and launch plans before a full-scale launch.

The viability of your product can be evaluated in many different ways. Forbes recommends a few cost-effective methods: paid surveys, market research mobile apps, consignment testing, and freelance market researchers.

7. Legal requirements

It’s more than likely that you are required to get licenses and permits when you are starting a new business, especially if your company is working directly with the public in some capacity. These also protect your business against legal issues with the government, as well as lend credibility to your brand image. In some cases, though, all you may need is to register the company for tax and business transaction purposes, then you’re good to go.

Summary – so, what’s the best way to enter a new market?

Ultimately, the best way to enter a new market is with confidence, and particularly confidence that is merited. This confidence can be earned by sticking to the tips provided here and researching potential new markets thoroughly.

It cannot be said differently – review your goals; do your research on the market, competition, & consumer; review your strategy; conduct market tests; and check with the law.

Now, you can enter that new market with full confidence, and we hope you conquer it!

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