What does it take to successfully introduce a new product to the market? How can you determine the best launch strategy for your specific market situation?
A customer acquisition plan is crucial for any business looking to make its mark. From setting clear objectives to implementing positioning strategies, launching products effectively, and generating sustainable demand, there are proven methods to help your business succeed in any market type.
Read on to discover practical strategies that will help you navigate the complexities of market entry and build a strong foundation for your business’s growth.
Creating a Customer Acquisition Plan
In The Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steve Blank explains that, once you’ve found your customer base and run a business model test, it’s time to make a customer acquisition plan. This is when you’ll apply all the information you’ve gathered so far and actually introduce your product and your company to the market. This step includes four essential elements: establishing your objectives for the first year of your business, implementing your positioning strategy, launching your product, and generating demand for your product.
#1: Setting Objectives for Year One
At this stage, writes Blank, set your goals for the upcoming year. This includes how much money you intend to make, how much you intend to spend, and how much of the market you intend to capture.
According to Blank, your market type will determine your year-one goal for how you’ll capture the market:
- For a new market, you’ll need to build the market from scratch, educating customers about it and relying on early adopters to spread the word about it.
- For a new product in an existing market, your goal should be to capture as much of the market from existing competitors as you can.
- For resegmenting a market, you have to not only capture as much as you can from existing competitors, but also spread the word to customers about the new value you’re introducing into the market.
| Using the Ansoff Matrix to Set Growth Objectives Companies struggling to identify the appropriate goals for their startup may benefit from using the Ansoff Growth Matrix. The Ansoff Matrix is a two-by-two framework used to plan and evaluate growth initiatives, helping stakeholders conceptualize the level of risk associated with different growth strategies. This tool categorizes growth strategies into four quadrants, which can be applied to Blank’s four market types: market penetration (existing products in existing markets), product development (new products in existing markets), market development (existing products in new markets), and diversification (new products in new markets). All of Blank’s market types involve new products, but the growth matrix can be adapted for his model: Blank’s advice for new markets corresponds to market development, while his approach for existing markets corresponds to product development (distinct from the product development process). For resegmented markets, the strategy combines elements of both market development and product development. Each quadrant corresponds to a different level of risk and potential reward, aligning with Blank’s descriptions of market types and their associated year-one goals. For example, market development comes with a high risk due to the time and money you have to invest in it. However, you can use customer-acquisition strategies to mitigate this risk, such as expanding your product into foreign markets—a strategy you could base your year-one objective on. For product development, you can set a year-one objective to acquire customers through extensive research and development (though this too is risky as it comes at a high cost). |
#2: Implementing Positioning Strategy
Next you’ll need to begin implementing the positioning strategy you identified in the previous step (testing your business model). Blank recommends that you hire a public relations team to put this into action.
(Shortform note: Experts offer some tips on how to choose the best agency for your public relations needs: First, identify your goals, target audience, and budget to help you determine the kind of PR team that can meet your objectives. Then, research different firms online and in industry publications, looking for qualifications like a strong track record, a favorable reputation, and good client retention. Make sure that your PR agency fits with the culture of your company, such as your brand imaging and messaging. This will make them better-equipped to carry out your positioning strategy as Blank recommends.)
Blank says to make sure you hire people who are on board with your work so far, including your market type and positioning strategy. They’ll gather data from outside the company about how your product is viewed. At the same time, you should gather the same data from within your company to make sure everyone is still on the same page and to elicit new ideas that could help you going forward.
(Shortform note: Implementing positioning strategy relates to the concept of “integrated marketing communications” (IMC). IMC emphasizes the importance of consistency across all customer touchpoints. While Blank focuses on PR, this strategy would hold that positioning should be reflected in all communications, including advertising, sales, and customer service. Understanding IMC can help startups ensure that their positioning strategy is consistently implemented across all channels, not just through PR efforts.)
#3: Launching Your Product
Next, Blank explains how you’ll launch your product and your company. He emphasizes that this stage is the culmination of all previous strategic efforts and should be approached with careful planning and consideration.
Here again, your market type will determine the type of launch you should use.
For a new market, your launch will be a long process that relies heavily on your early adopters. The goal is to educate and engage early adopters, leveraging their excitement to inject your new concept into public awareness, which is how you create a new market.
For an existing market, Blank recommends a much more direct approach in which you hit the market with your product in conjunction with aggressive marketing and advertising. This is a much faster process than his recommended method for a new market, but it also has heavy costs at the front end.
For resegmenting a market, Blank explains that you’ll have to make more nuanced decisions about your launch process. How you proceed will depend on whether there’s an existing customer base poised to buy your product. If there is, you can use the same aggressive strategy as you would entering an existing market with a new product. However, if you have to create this customer base, you’ll need the slower, early-adopter-centered approach he recommends for a new market.
| Using Diffusion of Innovations Theory & Attack Strategies for Your Launch There are some theories and strategies that can help you better determine how to launch your product in your given market. The diffusion of innovations theory can help explain why the process of launching in a new market is so time-consuming. This theory, developed by communication theorist E.M. Rogers, describes how new ideas or practices (or in this case, products) gradually spread throughout a population based on how they’re communicated. This spread happens through five steps: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. The theory also identifies five important groups of customers: innovators, early adopters, the early majority, the late majority, and laggards.The theory underscores the importance of appealing to innovators and early adopters, who will then help popularize it with later adopters. This approach can help startups in a new market determine where to focus their marketing efforts, as well as what type of pace they should expect in their launch process. When it comes to existing markets, experts describe a number of different strategies you can use to attack the market. These include frontal, flanking, encirclement, bypass, and guerrilla attacks. Which attack you use will depend on your resources and your competitors. For example, if you’ve identified a weakness in your competitor’s product, you can use a flanking attack strategy to highlight this weakness to consumers and elevate your product in comparison. This can be a resource-efficient strategy for smaller companies, but those with more resources might prefer a frontal attack strategy, in which you match the strengths of your competitor and present your product as equally good or better than theirs. And for resegmented markets, you can apply both the diffusion of innovations theory and the different types of attack strategies to forge the best path forward. For example, when resegmenting with a specialized product, you might determine that there is an existing customer base, but it’s in the preliminary stages in which early adopters are still helping to cultivate interest among others. Seeing that your competitors are already staking out their market share, you might decide to use a bypass attack strategy to highlight your product’s unique features, leaving your competitors in the dust as customers flock to your more innovative offerings. |
#4: Generating Demand
To generate demand, Blank writes, you first need to ensure that your strategy aligns with your first-year goals. Then you’ll implement this strategy depending on your market type.
- For a new market, you’ll bring customers over to your market by communicating to them what your original product can offer.
- For an existing market, you’ll find current customers in the market and direct them into your new share of the market.
- For resegmenting a market, you’ll combine these two strategies, communicating to customers what you can offer them while also pushing existing customers into your share of the market.
Finally, at the end of Step 3 (making your customer acquisition plan), consider your progress and determine whether you’re ready to move on from this step. If you find that customers aren’t responding to your messaging, your product isn’t positioned as you intended, or your strategies haven’t generated enough demand, repeat the earlier parts of Step 3 until you get the results you want. However, if everything is going according to plan, you can move on to the final step in customer development.
| Tips for Generating Demand in Each Market Type To effectively generate demand across different market types, companies should develop targeted marketing strategies, leverage digital tools, and focus on clear communication of their value proposition. For new markets, creating educational content through content marketing can inform potential customers about the product’s unique offerings. Using search engine optimization (SEO) and social media platforms can increase visibility and reach a wider audience. In existing markets, developing partnerships with influencers can direct current customers to the company’s new market share. Implementing referral programs and leveraging customer testimonials can encourage word-of-mouth marketing, which is a particularly effective way to draw in current customers. For resegmented markets, it’s important that you combine these strategies while emphasizing your product’s new value proposition. Offering free trials or demos can lower the barrier to entry for new customers, while retargeting strategies can re-engage potential customers who have shown prior interest in but haven’t yet committed to your product. You may find that many of these strategies are useful across all the market types, but that they are particularly well-suited to a specific one. |
