20 May 3 Ways to Reach Unique, Emerging Markets
Unique market awareness means being a step ahead of the competition in identifying where your consumers are going to be coming from in five, ten, or twenty years. Mastering this awareness will help generate revenue from non-traditional markets and insulate you from the natural boom/bust cycles of your core consumers. You may not yet realize how many customers are out there, but here are 3 signs that you’re missing at least some of them:
- Despite increasing advertising budgets, your sales are stagnating. Yes, there are many reasons – both in planning and execution – why a marketing campaign might fail to move the needle. But if your advertising is falling flat again and again, it may be that there is simply no more growth to be had in your target market. If you intend your ads to reach an already-mature Demographic X, don’t expect to see sales rise much. Rather, it may be Demographic Y that is growing, and its consumers either don’t know about you, or only see you as a “Demographic X” type of company. Making a pivot to a new market means knowing how where they are, and using effective means like content marketing and automated marketing to attract them.
- A surge of start-ups are entering your sector. A handful of start-up companies pop up in every industry. Some are motivated by optimism in a new technology or service, while others are interested in carving out unique brand positions. Most are destined to fail, but those that succeed will eat into your bottom line. If you start seeing a higher than usual rate of start-ups entering your territory, it may be that they are seeing an opportunity before it’s on the radar of established firms. For those with near-limitless amounts of capital at their disposal, this might not be a problem; they can allow the start-ups to take on the risk of sounding out these new markets, and buy out those that find success. But if you’re trying to play smart with your money, you need to start investing in the right digital marketing strategy now and head off the start-ups by seeking out the emerging markets yourself?
- You aren’t looking for unique, emerging markets. This one may seem obvious, but if you aren’t always actively searching for emerging markets, you won’t find them. These consumers aren’t going to segment themselves nor will they just fall into your lap; it takes time and effort to cultivate unique market awareness.
The good news is that the act of finding emerging markets is the basis for marketing to them. Simple introductory videos and telling your story in a purposeful way through compelling content that speaks to the needs of the new marketing will increase engagement with your message. Next, to establish yourself in an emerging market, you need to foster an active, two-way dialogue with potential customers. New markets need to feel that their unique needs are being met and that you aren’t just treating them like your other customers. This may mean creating a narrowly targeted website to tell your complete story, and building a presence through social media marketing.
While not every emerging market will bloom into a major source of sales, just developing unique market awareness will keep your organization adaptable during any turmoil in your core markets.
