It’s a familiar scenario: your business has seen exceptional growth within a specific region. Seeking new growth opportunities, you identify a promising chance to enter additional markets. Expanding into these markets could boost growth and revenue and solidify your brand’s global presence. However, these rewards come with risks. According to McKinsey, four out of five companies fail in their international expansion efforts.
Why? Companies underestimate cultural differences and enter new markets with a rigid approach, even when the same language is spoken. This can lead to setbacks, as business practices vary widely by country. Additionally, insufficient research on the market, competitors, pricing, potential partnerships, and financial investments can result in failure.
But you can improve your chances of success by developing a Go-To-Market strategy that integrates demand generation and leverages local expertise. Let’s explore the benefits along with our best implementation tips.
What is a Go-To-Market Strategy?
A Go-To-Market strategy is a detailed, cohesive plan that outlines how you will introduce and establish your product or service in a new market. This strategy encompasses all aspects of business, including research and data-driven insights to identify the target market, understand personas, analyze competition, and set up the necessary infrastructure for marketing, sales, operations, and customer support. It also considers cultural nuances to ensure relevance and effectiveness. The goal is to ensure your offerings reach the right audience at the optimal time and in the most impactful ways.
Three Benefits of a Comprehensive Go-To-Market Strategy
Enhanced Efficiency and Effectiveness: A well-defined Go-To-Market strategy streamlines efforts and allocates resources to a specific market and audience, leading to more efficient targeting and tailored messaging. Collaborating with a local agency for strategy development is highly recommended because local expertise will help ensure cultural relevance, enhancing overall effectiveness. Additionally, consider outsourcing key roles to agencies during the initial launch. Research from the Corporate Executive Board shows that 50% to 70% of executives fail within 18 months of starting a role, highlighting the risks of entering a new market and making initial outsourcing a safer option.
Reduced Risk: Executing a successful Go-To-Market strategy requires thorough research and a solid understanding of the target market. Leveraging local expertise and demand-generation tactics can minimize potential losses and help guarantee a smooth market entry. While AI enhances research scalability, it can’t fully capture cultural nuances, build key networks, or understand historical context. Partnering with a local agency bridges these gaps, providing efficiency, scalability, and a proven success record.
Accelerated Growth: A well-crafted Go-To-Market strategy can rapidly boost your business growth and establish a strong presence in new markets. By leveraging demand generation tactics, you can spark awareness and interest in your product or service, increasing sales and revenue. Demand generation usually includes four key components aligned with the Go-To-Market strategy:
- Data strategy
- Content strategy
- Channel execution strategy (e.g., SEO, web, digital advertising, account-based marketing, email)
- Lead generation strategy
The lead generation strategy focuses on converting marketing leads into a sales pipeline, typically managed by your sales team, sales development reps, or telemarketers. As mentioned earlier, many new hires fail within the first 18 months. To mitigate this risk, consider outsourcing these functions initially, planning to transition them in-house once your organization is ready to scale. This approach lets you focus on your core competencies as you expand into new markets.
Implementing Go-To-Market Strategies in New Markets
Here is a step-by-step guide to help you through the process of entering new markets:
1. Establish Clear Objectives
Set specific and measurable objectives aligned with your business goals. These could include revenue targets, customer acquisition goals, or brand awareness metrics.
2. Research the Market and Competition
Conduct thorough research on the market, including customer needs, preferences, and behavior. Additionally, analyze your competitors’ offerings, pricing strategies, and marketing tactics.
3. Define Your Target Audience
Use data insights to create detailed buyer personas to guide your messaging and targeting efforts.
4. Leverage Local Expertise
Collaborate with a local agency or hire individuals with experience in the new market to ensure cultural relevance and effectiveness.
5. Integrate Demand-Generation Tactics
Develop a comprehensive demand generation plan that includes data strategy, content strategy, channel execution, and lead generation tactics.
6. Partner for Initial Functions
Consider initially outsourcing key functions such as sales and lead generation to mitigate risks and ensure scalability.
7. Monitor and Adapt
Continuously monitor the results of your Go-To-Market strategy and make necessary adjustments to improve effectiveness and achieve objectives.
Make Go-To-Market Demand Gen Your Success Catalyst
With a solid Go-To-Market approach, organizations can confidently expand into new markets and drive significant growth. You can reduce risks, speed up growth, and build a strong market presence using market research, local expertise, and demand generation tactics. Continuously adjusting the Go-To-Market strategy ensures it aligns with business goals and effectively targets the intended audience.
