3 top tips for successful marketing expansion in a new territory

My role as marketing consultant often leads me to help clients increase their presence, and their business, in new territories. I’ll admit, it’s one of my favourite missions. I've worked with US companies looking to grow in Europe, and vice versa. Expanding into France is also a speciality of mine, being French myself, and I particularly enjoy putting marketing plans and activities together in this notoriously tricky market.

So I thought it might be helpful to jot down a few pointers. This is based on my experience in the B2B Technology sector, but it can apply to many others too. So here they are... my 3 top tips to expand successfully into a new territory.

1. Do your research

This should go without saying and yet it can be easy to “just get on with it”. But it really is worth spending time (and a bit of money) doing some proper research into the region. A competitive analysis is definitely key, as the landscape tends to be slightly (or wholly) different from what you know in your core regions. Local vendors might not have your worldly presence and dazzling collection of client logos, but they usually benefit from:

- having their products and services already available in the local language

- being able to connect easily with prospects and clients in the region

- a local network of partners, vendors, etc.

- regional knowledge of regulations and requirements that can come very handy indeed.

Your research needs to go further than competitors. I won’t go into legal and HR requirements in this blog, for instance setting up a new office, understanding tax and hiring regulations... Focusing on the marketing side of things, research should include a clear definition of the market: size, potential regarding current clients and prospects, partners that can help with your efforts. And of course you’ll need to understand your options for your marketing plan: key publications, milestone events, etc.

2. Define your goals

If you don’t know what you want to achieve, how can you expect to ever get there? Again it can be easy to “just get on with it”, but resist the urge! Make sure you define key objectives and agree them with your stakeholders. As always, goals should be SMART to be useful: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. And they have to fit nicely within your overall plans too.

Working out marketing goals that align with your sales goals is critical. And it can be a bit of a chicken and egg situation. For instance sales will need marketing to come up with market sizing and marketing will need to know the sales target for the year so they can come up with the right plans to achieve it. For a new market, this little dance can be a bit frustrating but if your sales and marketing teams are tightly aligned, then you’ve got a much better chance.

Another quick word on goals… Make sure you include all the key success factors in your market penetration strategy, with a healthy balance between awareness and lead generation (more on finding that balance here).

3. Be pragmatic

It’s easy when you get started in a new region to carry the ambition of your company over there. And you should to some extent. But the goals and the tactics you use to achieve them also need to carry a good dose of pragmatism. If you’re new in a region, you’re facing an uphill battle. You shouldn’t avoid it, just be prepared for it.

Slow and steady wins the race… You’ll need to try different ways to position your products and services, different advertising messages for the different channels you target, different campaigns with different publications, a different mix of events that will attract and/or convert new clients.

In short, with a new market comes new possibilities, but what’s worked so far might not work here. So test, test and test again, even more than you do for your core markets. Make sure you include in your budget and campaigns the means to try different activities and focus on what works for this particular market. Maximise digital marketing opportunities first and boost them with the right offline support.

Being pragmatic also means being prepared to fail, and not putting all your eggs in one basket. So that IF you fail, it’s easy enough to switch to more successful campaigns. Of course sometimes you’ll need to take a gamble. The perfect event that will give you access to targeted prospects, and a chance to share your well-crafted message with an engaged audience. Who could resist? Just like the campaigns you run in established markets, make sure you get plenty of guarantees in terms of leads and/or awareness so you can’t really fail even if it’s not the perfect event after all (spoiler alert: it never is).

So there you have it. My 3 tips to a successful marketing expansion in a new region. It’s not a comprehensive, step-by-step list… It’s just a blog after all ;-) But I hope it helps you plan your own expansion wisely. I’ve seen companies try to sell into a new country and get the basics wrong. What matters is to research properly, plan wisely and implement carefully.

Looking to enter a new market? Need a bit of help, support or resources to help you succeed? You know where to find me!

Take care and hope to speak to you soon,

Karine