In the context of a new market entry in the US, the new entrant should focus on achieving visibility and legitimacy. The inherent lack of these two qualities is what sets a new entrant apart from incumbents in a market like the US. To achieve the above the company needs to take in account the type of activities required (including budgets). The list of activities below will contribute to planning of its launch.
Establishing Legitimacy: Preparing the Launch
Content Localization
Product that are new to the US market sometimes need to be customized or re-packaged to look familiar and be understandable to US customers. In SaaS software for instance, the look and feel of the web site, the administrative interfaces, the templates, and other graphical and written elements of the product should be tested against US customer expectations. Improvements to the company’s marketing materials (brochures, other collateral, etc.), web site, and even software interfaces can all be handled by a specialized US-based localization agency.
This type of effort must take in accounts dimensions such as:
- American culture (colors, tone, etc.)
- American user behavior
- Logo and icon design
- Layout customs
- Branding for the US
- Localized imagery and colors
- US search engine keywords
- Regional look and feel
- Source text translation
- Foreign currency conversion
- US Terms and Conditions
- META tag localization
Rewriting of marketing materials and messaging framework
Such improvement to content and interfaces can be achieved through the overall proof-reading and re-writing of the site, brochures, and messaging by an experienced US-based marketer or communications agency. This type of initial project typically costs about $15,000 for a 15-30 pages site and 1-5 brochures.
Additional Collateral
The US business culture requires more marketing materials than currently available. Such materials could include case studies and an explanatory video demo or an actual functional demo that customers can play with. This type of work will cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 depending what the company chooses to do.
Conference and Events
The new market entrant should also consider being present at key events where professionals of its industry meet. Given the size of the US and relative concentration and specialization of businesses accross a few key metropolital business centers, meeting at events is often the only way to engage face-to-face with customers, peers, and competitors. Here are some events to consider if you re in the content management software industry or the searh software industry:
http://www.cmsexpo.net/ (May) – Evanston, Illinois
http://www.cm-strategies.com/ (April) – Santa Clara, CA
http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/ (multiple dates) – multiple cities
http://www.pubcon.com/ (November) – Las Vegas, NV
http://webcontentconferences.com/ – (June) – Chicago, IL
http://www.web2expo.com/ – (Fall and Spring) – East and West Coats
Most of these conferences require an investment of between $5,000 to $20,000 for exhibitors and $800 to $2,500 per visitor. Most have between 300 to 5000 visitors. They are a key way for US professionals to connect with vendors, colleagues and analysts. They are a must of any marketing launch plan.
Analysts Coverage
In the US, industry analysts are very important as they tend to be the first line of defense against unreliable new products and the only somewhat neutral presence in a largely unregulated market. They also prescribe vendor solutions to early adopters and certain purchasers and cover vendors in their reports and analysis. Getting analyst coverage doesn’t necessarily require a large budget but typically requires dedicated marketing / technical contacts over time to get them to include a new vendor in their research. Some specialized tech marketing agencies offer specialized services to book analyst briefings for a company. $5,000 to $10,000 will get a company a good chance to get all analysts aware of its products and at least one or two analyst briefings with in more depth coverage over a 2 to 3 month campaign.
Establishing Visibility: Actual US Marketing launch
Launching a new software product in the US requires to start with a variation of the classical B2B software launch strategy. In the US, the launch of a new software product is almost never solely focused on direct sales. Visibility on the scale of the North-American continent requires more than a few reps walking the streets. Because customers are spread across large territories much sales happens through the phone, the internet and other non-physical means of contact. Many of these channels are jammed with marketing from other vendors and administered by intermediaries (search engines, trade press, purchase departments, etc.).
To achieve visibility in these channels, here are a number of methods that need to be considered and budgeted for:
Online Search Advertising
Search advertising is important. About 80% of web searches happen on Google and their programs of sponsored links and AdWords allow vendors to get significant visibility. It is even proven that many customers do research relying on these purchased links as an indication of legitimacy. A well targeted budget for search advertising can be anywhere between $100 and $1,500 per month.
Targeted Web Adverting
Advertising in targeted locations where professionals of the search, content management, information architecture, etc. The cost of such campaigns is usually not very expensive if they are carried out outside the main advertising networks (Google, Doubleclick, etc.). An average CPC (Cost per Click) is typically around $0.50 and average conversion rates of 2.5% give a cost of $10,000 for 400 targeted site visitors.
Social Networking and Blogging
It is now proven how important these platforms are to an effective marketing strategy in the US market. Many large and small technology companies maintain a corporate blog and use applications like Linkedin and Twitter to generate “buzz” around their products or services. For about $1,000 to $3,000 per month technical writers can be secured that will create blogs, and publish articles about a given company for its launch or as an ongoing program.
Direct Mail and Email Opt-In Campaign
Lists of professionals of various areas can be secured who agree with receiving information about new products and services. Such targeted campaigns to a few thousand relevant professionals (information architects, content managers, webmasters, etc.) can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000.
Prospection Campaign
Getting in front of the right people is often difficult, especially when looking for customers or channel partners who tend to be weary of new foreign companies and professionals with unfamiliar affiliations like new foreign vendors and their staff are. A professional business developer can be hired to prospect for first contacts for $75 to $150 per hour. A 3 weeks campaign may then cost about $9,000 to $18,000. It can really help accelerate penetration in the market.
If you are interested in getting more information on this topic or related services from the OrigoTerra consulting team, contact us.
