Last updated on May 11th, 2023 at 05:15 am

A new market provides small and medium business company growth opportunities. But like the first few years spent investing time, money, and resources into getting the business off the ground, targeting a new market will require a significant expenditure in research, analysis, and other expansion costs.

You’ll be starting from scratch when getting to know your new customers. It can’t be rushed with a few assumptions. Apart from gathering and sifting through all the necessary research, you’ll have to create a profile that your sales, marketing, and business development staff can use to bring the company into this next phase. All this information can be applied to the rest of your branding executions, from your custom product boxes to the ads you run online.

1. Find a niche among millennials.

Millennials comprise the largest market your company can take a slice of sales from. America consists of 80 million millennials. They have $200 billion in annual buying power. Many companies have attempted to widen their reach in this massive, powerful market. However, their efforts have been ineffective because they use techniques that appeal to an older generation.

As a millennial myself, I don’t trust traditional advertising. We see through the smoke and see the mirrors, so brands that speak in stories and authentic voices stand out amid the digital noise. According to Forbes, only 1% of millennials indicated that a strong advertisement would convince them to trust a brand.

2. Get to know your new market.

Market research provides the information you need about the new consumer. Start by conducting a few surveys or focus group discussions among existing customers that will fit your new customer profile.

You can engage with them through face-to-face interviews or by using data collection tools. Just make sure that these tools have optimal digital security features so all sensitive data from your customers are safe.

Extract details from demographics that will flesh out your customers, such as their age, income, sex, marital status, profession, and specific buying habits. From here, you can create specific strategies around how your marketing will appeal to the customer based on this information.

A complete list of your customers’ demographic can be summarized into:

• Age
• Sex
• Marital status
• Parental status
• Income
• Investments (eg. company 401k, stocks)
• Debts, mortgage, or credit card value

The age of your consumer will specify which type of millenial you’ll target. This generation encompasses everyone born from 1981 to 1996, so older millennials in their early thirties will have a different income range and marital status compared to those in their late twenties.

3. Create a customer persona.

A customer persona concretizes the story and journey of your target market. 90% of companies with personas have a clear understanding of their consumers. A persona consists of demographic information, their location or geography, profession, and why they have an interest and need for your product.

Personas promise results: 71% of companies that go above their revenue goals have documented personas. Because you know who to reach, it’s easier to figure out how to get there and exceed sales expectations. Detailed consumer information also increases your value proposition. 82% percent of companies with personas improved their value propositions from the start of the brand.

Vice President of Search at Wikimotive, Greg Gifford, emphasized this in his search engine marketing chat on Twitter:

“Most of us have said it already, but actually thinking about how customers/personas search is key to success.”

4. Steps toward market entry.

Now that you can picture and tell your new market’s story, the steps taken toward reaching them will be directed and lead you closer to this target consumer.

a. Assess the competition.

Look at who your competitors are targeting. Or study competitors that are aiming for a similar profile of millennials. Observe the kind of products or services they’re selling to their target customers. How are their blog posts, social media, and web ads framed to appeal to this market?

Assess the gaps or look for opportunities in their strategy. If a competitor in your cosmetics line aims for the high-end market, you can appeal to the middle-class consumer that seeks out budget deals in high quantities but with competitive quality.

b. Amplify brand awareness.

Your new consumers are only in the awareness stage. They have yet to see and get to know the product or service you have to offer for the need or interest you’re addressing in their lifestyle.

You could be a coffee shop known for delivering beans, but your target market of 20-somethings has yet to experience the cafes where they can work and enjoy your coffee.

Spend more time introducing and becoming top of mind for your new target market. Create content in channels that reach your new consumer, such as blogs. Millennials do their research before purchasing a product. You can also engage them in social media, wherein they source most of their information and trust recommendations from their peers.

c. Create a design for the product boxes that appeals to your customers.

Keep the customer top of mind, whether you’re planning content in the awareness stage or the design on the new product’s packaging. Your custom product boxes will do the work while it’s on display on grocery aisles or set up at the front of your store. If your product box is worth looking at and answers the problem they’re solving, then you have a higher chance of ending up in their basket.

The colors, typography, and information on the product boxes should appeal to your target market. Before anything else, consider first the need your product is addressing.

Mr. Muscle’s competitor, Buster, looked at how their consumers were agitated by unclogging the drain. They were also working against bigger competitors with larger budgets and the global recession that prevented consumers from purchasing their products.

In response to this problem, they created clean, simple packaging that stood out against the bright colors and noise on the shelf. The designs were launched in June 2013. Effective Design’s report said that they exceeded outbound sales by January 2015.

Buster’s strategy also shows how a simple design is more effective in appealing to your target market. It allows you to stand out without straining the consumer’s eyes.

Brand recall is crucial to your product box packaging. Make sure your logo, company name, and other identifiable elements are clear and memorable. Your custom product packaging will reach the consumers’ home, so you’ll want to stand out, even more, when they receive your package.

Expanding to a New Market: By the Numbers

Need a quick reference on the tips and numbers we covered to help you expand your product boxes to a new market? Check out the infographic below:

Do you have tips on how to expand a business to a new market? Let us know in the comments section below.

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