Stepping one’s business out of the comfort zone is not always easy. Establishing footing outside domestic borders can take anywhere between six months to a year. However, some businesses do not see any returns on their investment until five years after expansion!
Do not fret; the right expansion strategies can help you profitably break into new markets. Realizing the importance of having a diverse client base, many small businesses are diving deep into international markets.
Do you wish to do the same but find the process overwhelmingly challenging? If yes, then this article is for you. We will discuss four effective ways small businesses can snap geographical boundaries and expand into lucrative foreign markets.
Introduce New Products for New Markets
The first thing you must consider before expanding internationally is your product suite. Do you currently deal in offerings that your new target markets will find useful? Try to find the answer to this question by studying your new customer profile. You can choose to expand based on demographics, gender, or location.
For instance – if your new target audience includes urban locations, understand the population composition. A lot of cities comprise young individuals, especially those from the millennial and Gen-Z generations. Research the motivations and pain points of this demographic. Develop products or services that will cater to their needs.
You must adjust your marketing strategy also accordingly. The younger generations are mostly found online, scattered across forums and social media platforms. Connect with potential customers there and you will not go wrong.
Optimize Your Business Website
Your potential clients are more likely to feel welcomed when the business website is well-optimized to suit their location. We do hope you have an up-and-running business website since studies have found that one in three small businesses still don’t.
Even if it all worked out well till now, stepping into global markets will require a high-performing, well-optimized website. The good news is that you do not need any extensive coding skills or a costly web development team to make this happen.
For instance – the Hocoos website builder leverages the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to build a custom website. This does not mean you must settle for a cookie-cutter version. In other words, you can personalize your website’s colors, layout, content, etc. to reflect your unique brand.
Then, to make it location-optimized, introduce relevant language options and location-based offers or discounts. Moreover, factor in the content publishing timeline. Schedule posts to go live based on the new target market’s time zone and use keywords most commonly used in that area. Walk the extra mile and offer a toll-free number to make your new clients feel closer and easier to reach.
Collaborate and Partner with Other Brands
In the business world, sometimes it’s not about what you know but who you know. There is much emphasis on certain brands’ popularity. Also, influencers with a high following can easily steer consumer decisions in different directions.
Small businesses can leverage these to their advantage through partnerships and collaboration. When you partner with popular brands and influencers within your industry, their existing customers and followers become your leads.
Furthermore, those you collaborate with will know the new target audience better and can offer you much-needed insights. Their resources, network, and expertise will help you reduce costs, reach a wider audience, and mitigate risks.
Tap into Different Social Platforms
It needs no mentioning that social media has dominated much of modern life. Statista found that out of 5.44 billion internet users, around 5.07 billion are active on at least one social platform. These include Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, among others.
This means if you master social media marketing, you’re halfway on the road to successful business expansion. Just make sure you choose platforms that are most relevant to your business expansion needs. For instance – Pinterest may not be an effective social media channel to connect with B2B audiences.
Share relevant content, monitor audience discussions, reply to comments, and engage with potential customers. You can even use social media ads to target specific locations.
Whether your business plan for expansion is already laid out or you haven’t started yet, the above-mentioned strategies are worth considering. Using these, you can break free from all barriers to entering new markets and even gain returns in record time.
Besides these, you can also try other strategies, including thorough market research, adding franchises, and more. Finally, depending on your expansion costs, you may need outside financing. Consider applying for business loans or grants, whichever is applicable, and take your enterprise to new heights of success!
