Before you enter into a foreign market, you need to do some careful research. Lots of businesses charge headlong into markets they don’t understand fully only be to be crushed by competitors that have more experience and authority in the market they serve. Here’s how to swoop in, dominate, and not get killed.
Establish Yourself as an Authority
Before you get too far into your new market, you want to set yourself up as an authority. You do this by making friends with authoritative figures in your new market, getting endorsements from them, and being seen as in alignment with them on non-business matters.
Usually, this means appearing on radio shows with them, sponsoring the same events they do, being actively promoted by them and you actively promoting them.
You won’t be able to build up your authority by making friends with your competition. Instead, you need to align yourself with businesses related to your industry, but not directly in competition with it.
So, if you run a tax advisory service, you might align yourself with an investment advisor or a banker. Either of these two services are complimentary to your primary service. And, they can lend you their authority if they themselves are already seen as authority figures in their niche.
Understand Your Local Competition
How can you expect to dominate your new market if you don’t research your competition? You should have a firm grasp on what your competition is doing, how they are selling, what they’re selling and what their current marketing looks like.
This will give you a clue as to what the marketplace finds acceptable and what constitutes a winning advertisement in that market.
When you understand what’s already working, you have established the “control” piece. Now you can test against your competition and try to beat that control by offering something that’s better, of higher value, or in some other way superior. You can also try offering something different or unique in some way—something that your competition can’t do or won’t.
Do a Face-to-Face
In most cases, it’s a good idea to make a trip to visit the locale where you’ll be selling. If you can, speak to the locals, and find out about the customs, attitudes, and the culture you’ll be selling to. If you’re used to doing business in the U.S., for example, you will experience a very different culture in China or India. Make sure you understand it before you rush into sell a product or service to these people.
One of the worst things businesses do is rush in to sell a product before they fully understand the market they’re selling to. They often make mistakes, offend the local population, and end up not getting the results they’d hoped for.
Innovate
Ultimately, you have to come up with something new in the market you’re entering. You have to give consumers something that the existing market does not provide. You need to provide a compelling reason why consumers should change their buying behavior. Without giving the market a different choice or value proposition, there is simply no reason why the market should respond positively to your products or services.
Innovation doesn’t happen overnight either. It happens over time.
Author: Jari Kallioniemi has much experience in company development, including international views to corporate activities. He has a background in communication, advertising and entrepreneurship in travel and corporate events and now enjoys developing businesses as a consultant. Currently he is working as a marketing manager in Leinonen Group, a Finnish family owned accounting and financial advisory company in 11 countries in Northern, Eastern and Central Europe.
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