Thinking about expanding your brand into a new territory? If you’ve had success in your current market, a strategic move into a new territory could increase the revenue of your business by double or more. Content marketing is an excellent tool for demonstrating the equity, credibility and expertise of a brand, and is consequently a first choice for many businesses intending to conquer new markets.
Know your brand
When entering a new market, your first priority should be to get a company-wide consensus on your most competitive attributes to lead with. At Lush, we believe the best way to do this is through our Messaging Workshop. Lead messaging should be designed to include what both your audience values and your competitors can’t match.
Know your market
Next, it’s time to make a list of available markets. If you’re considering entering markets in other countries and cultures, you may wish to use Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to determine ease of entry based on differences with your existing market. In your available markets, analyse the supply and demand for your product or service. Ask yourself:
- In what markets is supply low but demand high?
- Which of those markets are best-suited to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses?
- Which of the markets fitting the first two criteria are easiest for your brand to enter?
Make a plan
When you’ve decided what territories you’ll want to expand into, consider what role content marketing will play in this strategic move. Beginning content creation before your expansion is crucial, because when an unfamiliar yet interested customer hears about your brand, they’ll head online to seek further information. Plan out what you will you provide your audience and in what format you’ll deliver it. Marketing research will be required to determine the search habits, content consumption and social media usage of your new market before you formulate this plan.
We don’t just talk the talk
Recently Lush reviewed our own strategy. We determined our most competitive strengths and then looked at our available markets. Some markets were available due to existing relationships with clients or suppliers; others were because of business operation cost or proximity. As a result I now write content marketing strategies from Yallingup, in the Margaret river region, so we can better services our clients all the way from Bunbury to Esperance.
If you’d like help creating a content marketing strategy to expand into new territories, contact Lush Digital. Our global experience allows us to create bespoke content marketing strategies for clients operating in a vast range of markets. Like what you’ve read? Sign up to the Lush newsletter for fortnightly advice to help you market your business better, tips from our video production gurus, and a podcast or two from our favourite podcasting team, Brand Newsroom. In the meantime, you might enjoy these:
How to use content marketing to build brand trust
Brand Newsroom: Lessons from the world’s best content marketing projects [podcast with show notes]
Why you need a content marketing editorial calendar
The Great Content Marketing Swindle
