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¿Tiene dificultades para crear la estrategia adecuada de expansión de mercado para aventurarse en nuevos mercados? Quiere llevar su negocio a nivel mundial, ¿verdad?
Si es así, empecemos de inmediato.
Crear una estrategia de expansión de mercado exitosa para su empresa es más difícil de lo que la mayoría de los líderes empresariales suponen al principio.
Los gerentes de crecimiento novatos a menudo piensan que es tan simple como replicar su estrategia de crecimiento local. Eso es hasta que se dan de bruces contra la pared.
Si todo esto es nuevo para ti...
Expansión a nuevos mercados implica más que copiar y pegar lo que está funcionando en su mercado nacional. Las estrategias de expansión internacional requieren mucha atención, ya que hay muchas variables que incluso los mejores directivos pasan por alto.
¿Y sabes qué es lo gracioso?
La ejecución de estrategias de expansión de mercado exitosas no es un desafío solo para las pequeñas empresas. Las grandes corporaciones con grandes departamentos de marketing y enormes presupuestos tampoco se salvan.
En el pasado, muchas marcas de renombre han fracasado estrepitosamente al implementar estrategias de expansión internacional.
Ejemplos famosos incluyen Home Depot en China, Starbucks en Israel y Walmart en varios países. Hablaremos de cómo estas empresas fracasaron más adelante en el artículo. Te reirás cuando escuches la historia del fracaso de Walmart en Corea, así que quédate para eso 😀
Sigamos adelante.
Según un reciente estudio, el crecimiento es una prioridad fundamental para más de el 51% de los directores generales, Informe de Gartner, no puedes permitirte quedarte atrás.
Quiero decir...
Llevar sus productos a más países es una manera fantástica de impulsar el crecimiento y seguir siendo competitivo en una economía cada vez más globalizada.
Quedarse atrás en sus esfuerzos de internacionalización significa dejar mucho dinero sobre la mesa y volverse irrelevante.
Ahora no quieres eso, ¿verdad?
En la publicación de hoy, compartimos formas sencillas de expandir su negocio en nuevos mercados sin complicaciones.
¿Qué es una estrategia de expansión al mercado internacional?
Antes de entrar en materia, ¿a qué animal llamamos estrategia de expansión de marketing internacional?
En su forma más básica, una estrategia de expansión de marketing internacional es un plan que describe cómo su empresa se expandirá, ganará dinero y prosperará en países extranjeros.
La estrategia de expansión de mercado incluye todos los enfoques y métodos que llevará a cabo para penetrar en mercados extranjeros lejanos.
En otras palabras, es un plano que muestra a su equipo cómo la empresa planea ejecutar la expansión global mientras aumenta los beneficios y reduce los riesgos asociados con estas fronteras nunca antes exploradas.
Eso está mucho mejor, ¿verdad?
Puedes considerarlo como el plan maestro de dominación mundial para tu empresa.
A primera vista, parece bastante sencillo, ya sabes, como algo que podrías dibujar en una servilleta mientras tomas café. ¿Qué tan difícil podría ser para tu empresa con sede en EE. UU. vender productos en Sudáfrica, por ejemplo?
Todo el mundo lo hace. Apple lo hace. Google lo hace. Facebook lo hizo.
Pero la mala noticia es que no es fácil elaborar una estrategia de expansión de mercado que dé los resultados deseados. Debe reflexionar mucho sobre su estrategia de expansión en el mercado internacional e involucrar a todas las partes interesadas.
La expansión a nuevos mercados puede adoptar muchas formas, por lo que hay muchas opciones entre las que elegir. Comprender bien las estrategias de expansión internacional de las que dispone puede ayudar a determinar qué se adapta mejor a su empresa.
Aquí hay algunas estrategias comunes de expansión de mercado de productos para explorar.
Las 7 estrategias populares de expansión de mercado
Existen varias estrategias (o formas) para llevar su empresa al ámbito internacional. Puede ceñirse a una estrategia o combinar varias según sus necesidades, su presupuesto y el tipo de negocio, entre otras cosas.
No importa qué estrategias decidas implementar, es importante elegir siempre lo que funcione para los objetivos de tu negocio. Si una estrategia falla, siempre puedes perfeccionar o revisar tu enfoque o elegir algo completamente diferente.
Vamos al grano.
1. La exportación de sus productos como estrategia de expansión de mercado
¿Fabrican productos físicos? Si es así, exportar los productos a otro país es una estrategia viable de expansión de mercado a implementar. Este enfoque ha funcionado muy bien para muchos fabricantes de todo el mundo.
No faltan ejemplos que demuestren esta estrategia de expansión de mercado en acción.
Los fabricantes de automóviles como Toyota y Hyundai ejecutan esta estrategia de expansión de mercado de manera efectiva para llegar a clientes de todo el mundo.
¿Necesitas otro ejemplo?
Considere la estrategia que utilizan los fabricantes chinos para llegar a una audiencia global.
Por ejemplo, la mayor parte de nuestros productos electrónicos, ropa y otros artículos de nuestros hogares están hechos en China, lo que convierte a unos pocos empresarios en multimillonarios en el proceso.
Basta decir que se pueden encontrar productos hechos en China en los rincones más remotos del planeta. Eso, amigo mío, es la expansión de mercado en su máxima expresión.
Como fabricante en EE. UU., no tiene que reinventar la rueda. Simplemente adapte la estrategia para entrar y expandirse en nuevos mercados en todo el mundo.
Dicho esto, puede vender directamente a clientes extranjeros o asociarse con comerciantes externos como agentes de exportación, distribuidores y empresas comerciales.
Además, junto con tu sitio web oficial y otros canales digitales, puedes vender en múltiples mercados en línea que atienden a una audiencia global.
Con marketing estratégico y posicionamiento, puedes expandir rápidamente tu alcance de mercado tanto fuera de línea como en línea.
2. Franquicias y Licencias
Desde sus inicios, empresas como KFC, McDonald’s y Calvin Klein han cruzado fronteras internacionales.
¿Y sabes cómo lograron esta expansión exponencial del mercado para sus productos?
Lo adivinaste.
Todos ellos ponen en práctica la franquicia y la licencia. ¡Y funciona!
Dicho esto, ¿cuál es la diferencia entre franquicia y licencia?
Probablemente ya sepas esto, but si estás empezando o necesitas un recordatorio:
- Franquicia – Con este modelo, permites que empresas de otros países utilicen el modelo de negocio y la marca de tu empresa. De este modo, penetras en más mercados y obtienes ingresos de las tarifas iniciales de los franquiciados y de las regalías continuas; KFC, Hilton y Starbucks son excelentes ejemplos;
- Licenciamiento – Esta estrategia consiste en conceder a empresas extranjeras el derecho a utilizar la propiedad intelectual de su empresa. Esto incluye marcas registradas, patentes y derechos de autor. Usted amplía su mercado y obtiene ingresos a través de regalías. Esto es lo que hacen Calvin Klein, Nike y The Walt Disney Company.
Para obtener más información sobre esta estrategia de expansión de productos, no dude en consultar esto Franquicia frente a Licenciamiento: ¿Cuál es la diferencia? artículo de NerdWallet.
3. Las empresas conjuntas como estrategia de expansión de mercado
Otra estrategia popular de expansión de mercado son las empresas conjuntas. Con este modelo, su empresa se asocia con negocios en otros países para iniciar una nueva empresa o trabajar juntos en nuevos proyectos.
¿Cómo funciona todo esto?
Por ejemplo, digamos que heredé una empresa ABC que posee fincas de cacao de alta calidad pero carece de los recursos para construir fábricas para procesar mi producción.
Mientras tanto, al otro lado del mundo, eres dueño de una empresa XYZ con los recursos para procesar el producto, pero careces de una fuente confiable de cacao.
Podemos unir fuerzas y formar una empresa formidable que fabrique productos a base de cacao, como chocolate y todo eso. Podemos ponerle a nuestra nueva empresa conjunta el nombre que queramos. Digamos, la empresa COCO-AYZ.
Por un lado, proporciono suficiente cacao de gran calidad para mantener nuestra nueva empresa en marcha (y a los incesantes acreedores alejados).
Por otro lado, proporcionas los recursos que necesitamos para poner en marcha y hacer crecer nuestra nueva empresa.
A través de nuestra empresa conjunta, podemos colaborar de forma eficaz para llevar los productos finales a un mercado más amplio y disfrutar de los beneficios.
Espero que sea un ejemplo aceptable.
Si no, aquí tienes ejemplos populares de empresas que formaron empresas conjuntas exitosas:
- Molson Coors y SABMiller;
- Microsoft y General Electric;
- Walmart y Eko;
- Boeing y Lockheed Martin;
- The Walt Disney Company, News Corporation, NBC Universal de Comcast y Providence Equity Partners;
- BMW y Brilliance Auto Group.
Debes estar familiarizado con las empresas anteriores.
O no.
Lo que probablemente te resulte familiar son las empresas conjuntas que surgieron cuando las empresas anteriores unieron sus manos. Por ejemplo, Molson Coors y SABMiller dieron a luz a MillerCoors.
También probablemente estés familiarizado con Hulu, que es la empresa conjunta formada para emitir programas de los gigantes de los medios mencionados anteriormente.
¿Sabes qué empresas crearon Sony Ericsson?
4. Adquisiciones y fusiones como estrategias de expansión de mercado
Otra estrategia eficaz de expansión de mercado son las fusiones y adquisiciones.
La adquisición, como su propio nombre indica, implica comprar y controlar empresas en países extranjeros.
En lugar de empezar desde cero, tienes una plataforma de lanzamiento establecida.
La adquisición ofrece a su empresa varios beneficios, tales como:
- Menor competencia;
- Mejora de la experiencia del cliente;
- Acceso a una cartera de clientes consolidada;
- Canales de distribución establecidos;
- Cuota de mercado;
- Acceso a la tecnología y a los sistemas que ya funcionan en el mercado extranjero;
- Y más.
Además, facilita mucho la entrada en el mercado.
Por otro lado, una fusión implica combinar dos empresas en una sola. Así, en lugar de lanzar tu cadena de supermercados en un país diferente, podrías fusionarte con una empresa existente para obtener los mismos beneficios que ofrece la adquisición.
En la mayoría de los casos, las adquisiciones y las fusiones van de la mano. Hay muchos ejemplos de empresas que ejecutaron esta estrategia de expansión de productos con éxito.
If you ask any newcomer, they will probably tell you Android is Google’s brainchild. But many people don’t know that Google acquired Android for $50 million in 2005. This allowed Google to enter the cellular phone market for the first time.
Here are more examples of acquisitions and mergers.
5. E-commerce and Digital Expansion
E-commerce and digital expansion as a strategy to expand into new markets is almost self-explanatory.
Well, unless you live under a rock (in which case you wouldn’t be reading this article).
The internet has made reaching far and wide audiences incredibly easy. It has eliminated geographical and traditional physical barriers that made expansion in the former days a tad difficult.
Today, you can whip up and launch successful digital marketing campaigns right from your desk with a couple of clicks. E-commerce and international digital marketing are cost-effective and efficient tools for any company that seeks to expand beyond the home market.
There are tons of resources to learn more about international e-commerce and digital marketing we can’t probably list everything here.
However, I found a quick PDF report that summarises global e-commerce and digital marketing strategies.
Here are some points I gathered from the report if you lack the time:
- It is easy to implement but comes with its challenges, just like any other market expansion strategy;
- E-commerce allows you to reach customers anywhere in the world, to sell both retail and wholesale;
- There are countless digital marketing strategies that you can use to build a global presence;
- Be prepared to navigate complex terrain that includes cultural adaptation, international shipping logistics, localización de contenido, and managing various regulations and standards;
- You can gather a lot of useful data for your marketing campaigns easily;
- SEO multilingüe, content marketing, social media, and paid online adverts are crucial;
- Choose the right platforms, including your translation tool.
Many companies have implemented this strategy quite successfully over the years. My favorite example is Dollar Shave Club, which used a simple but humorous video to kickstart what is now a global multi-dollar billion company.
This video:
There are so many other successful e-commerce companies we can’t list them here.
But obvious examples include the likes of Amazon, eBay, AppSumo, Shopify, Warby Parker, Gymshark, and the list goes on and on.
Related Reading: ¿Qué es el comercio electrónico transfronterizo (+ Consejos sobre cómo implementarlo)?.
6. Strategic Alliances and Partnerships as Market Expansion Strategies
Still can’t figure out how you will expand into foreign markets?
Well, say a big hello to strategic alliances and partnerships.
Before we go further, I would like to mention that joint ventures are also a type of strategic alliance.
In this paragraph, we will discuss strategic alliances and partnerships that don’t involve creating a separate legal entity, as is the case with joint ventures.
Firstly, what are strategic alliances or partnerships? Spoiler alert: they are exactly what you think they are.
Simply put…
Strategic alliances and partnerships are collaborations between your company and foreign entities or government agencies.
Secondly, these kinds of international expansion strategies come with lots of benefits.
You can:
- Pursue common objectives like product development, research, market entry strategies, and marketing initiatives in foreign territories;
- Share costs and potential risks;
- Share expertise and technology;
- Gain access to much-needed distribution channels;
- Comply with local laws and regulations without hiccups;
- Y más.
The main aim and benefit for your company, of course, is market expansion.
For instance, if you’re an infrastructure company looking to expand into other parts of the world, it pays to establish strategic alliances with local authorities in your countries of interest. Otherwise, your international expansion strategies with face tremendous resistance from the locals.
You know, like these folks: Indonesian Locals Push Back Against Chinese Infrastructure Investments.
7. Greenfield Investments and Subsidiaries
Last but not least, we have what is known as greenfield investments and subsidiaries.
A greenfield investment is a market expansion strategy that involves establishing new operations, entities, subsidiaries, or facilities in foreign countries
The term greenfield comes from the fact that, in most cases, the company, often a multinational organization, is starting a new venture from the ground up. Building offices, distribution hubs, production facilities, and living quarters. This often involves plowing and preparing a green field.
Greenfield investments and subsidiaries allow your company to:
- Build custom facilities;
- Have more control over operations;
- Have greater autonomy and flexibility;
- Establish a strong local presence.
Note, however, that this market expansion strategy involves significant up-front investment and higher risks.
Now that you know what an international market expansion strategy is, and some of the strategies you can use, let us move to the benefits.
Los 7 principales beneficios de la expansión al mercado internacional
Según un Wells Fargo report, 87% of US companies agree that international market expansion is necessary for long-term growth.
In addition, 69% of the respondents agree that emerging markets provide the greatest growth opportunities.
Still, many US firms are yet to take their business global.
If you’re still on the fence, the following benefits of international expansion might just give you the push you need.
1. Expanded Consumer Base
The most obvious benefit of international expansion is an expanded customer base.
Taking your business to other countries lets you access untapped markets that may be saturated or unavailable in your home country.
By tapping into new and diverse markets and customer segments, you can significantly expand your consumer base and increase your revenue potential.
2. Increased Brand Visibility
Executing an international expansion strategy successfully helps you to boost brand recognition and reputation across the globe.
A positive brand image enhances consumer trust, which attracts more customers and brand loyalty.
More customers and better brand loyalty culminate in brand advocacy and word-of-mouth marketing.
Keep in mind that 70% of customers buy more from brands they trust, and people spend 25% more money on trusted brands.
3. Diversification of Revenue Streams
Depending on a single revenue stream in your home market can expose your company to economic fluctuations and unforeseen events.
Taking your company global, on the other hand, allows you to diversify your revenue streams and spread risks.
If your company is not doing so well in one market, you can offset the losses by performing successfully in another market.
In addition, an international market offers you the chance to introduce new products, which can positively impact your revenue.
Coca-Cola is a good example of this. The company continues to perform well in multiple regions while introducing new brands regularly.
4. Competitive Advantage
Expanding into new markets offers your company a competitive advantage over your domestic-only competitors.
Firstly, customers believe you’re a forward-thinking company that has their best interests at heart.
Secondly, internationalization allows you to establish systems and a market presence in more markets compared to your competitors.
“Access to innovative technologies, cheaper resources, and the ability to adapt to different cultural norms allows them to offer unique products and services that appeal to a broader audience.” – Dr. Ariel King, LinkedIn.
5. Access to a Diverse Talent Pool
Another benefit of international market expansion is access to a diverse and wider pool of talent.
¿Por qué es esto importante?
Hiring international expertise and skills brings creativity, diversity, different languages, and innovation to your company.
This fosters inclusive and dynamic work cultures that boost productivity.
6. Foreign Investment Opportunities
Operating solely in the domestic market can keep you from enjoying various foreign investment opportunities available to global companies.
For instance, taking your company global can offer you access to cheaper resources and new technologies, helping your business to scale quickly.
Additionally, many foreign governments offer lucrative incentives such as tax cuts, commissions, and loans to companies that seek to invest in their countries.
7. Economies of Scale
One of the most overlooked benefits of expanding into new markets is economies of scale.
Serving international markets means dealing with a larger customer base with diverse demands.
This means you must increase production, which lowers your cost per unit.
Global companies that benefit from economies of scale can lower production costs and boost profitability.
With the benefits out of the way, let us now cover how to develop an effective market expansion strategy for your business.
Cómo crear una estrategia de expansión de mercado
While it might seem daunting initially, developing an effective market expansion strategy is easy if you have the right mindset and know what you’re doing.
That said, it’s important to create a strategy that covers everything from preparation, execution, and measuring results.
Pongámonos a trabajar.
1. Define Your Goals
The first step in creating a market expansion strategy is to define your goals. You can’t just shoot out of the blues and expect something to stick.
How else will you know if your market expansion strategy is working without well-defined and measurable goals?
With that in mind, what are you looking to achieve with your international expansion strategy?
Are you looking to:
- Increase sales and revenue?
- Boost brand awareness?
- Launch new products?
- Establish new markets?
- Improve profitability?
- Research and develop products?
- Reduce costs?
- Acquire new resources?
These are some of the goals to consider when defining the purpose of the expansion.
Set clear objectives that will guide your team to execute a successful strategy.
Otherwise, your strategy will be faulty from the onset. You will be like a headless chicken, running about until you finally stagger out of the new market, and give up on your expansion plans.
With a clear purpose, let us proceed to the next step.
2. Conduct Astute Market Research
We can’t emphasize this much, but running out to expand into new markets without proper research will only blow up in your face.
Is there even demand for your products or services in the new region you’re targeting?
Robust research should be the foundation of your market expansion strategy.
¿Por qué?
Solid research allows you to:
- Identify potential markets;
- Understand competition;
- Access local consumer behaviors and preferences;
- Analyze market demographics;
- Determine demand and opportunities.
For instance, if you sell skiing equipment, you wouldn’t want to waste resources marketing to tropical markets.
Here’s another funny example.
Because Walmart didn’t do adequate groundwork when expanding to Korea, they installed taller racks than local rivals.
As a result, Korean shoppers were forced to stretch or use ladders to reach items on high shelves 😀
In addition, they miserably failed to identify Korean shopping habits.
Koreans typically prefer daily outings to various local stores to shopping once a week at Walmart.
“They have stacks of goods in boxes,” said Lee Jin Sook, 46, a housewife sitting on a subway in Seoul. “That may be good for some American housewives who drive out in their own cars.” But Koreans, she said, prefer smaller packages: “Why would you buy a box of shampoo bottles?”
They made similarly catastrophic mistakes in Brazil, as you can read in this article: The Walmart Journey in Brazil: A Tale of Rise, Decline, and Acquisition.
Need more examples of companies that missed the mark because of poor research? Home Depot, Mattel, and eBay failed disastrously in China.
And here’s why Starbucks failed in Israel y couldn’t brew success in Australia.
3. Define Your Target Audience
One of the primary reasons why these giants failed in foreign markets is they didn’t understand the customer on the ground.
Most of the companies tried to impose the style and target audience profiles that worked in American stores.
They figured: if it works in the US, why wouldn’t it work in South Korea or China?
Boy were they wrong.
Sure, you are selling the same products but don’t make the mistake of assuming new markets have the same needs and interests.
That’s why your American target audience profile won’t work in a foreign market.
Define target audiences for different markets from scratch based on market research.
Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. You can learn more from Neil Patel in How to Find Your Target Audience.
4. Leverage Digital Marketing
Earlier, we mentioned that the internet has made it ridiculously easy to reach customers anywhere in the world.
To accelerate your market entry and expansion, employ all digital marketing tools and technologies at your disposal.
You have plenty of options in this area.
Firstly, You can employ search engine optimization (SEO) to appear in local search results in foreign markets.
Otherwise, potential customers might never find your business even when they are looking for the products you offer.
Secondly, take to social media marketing targeting customers in your intended markets. Note that some social media platforms are more prominent in some markets than others.
As such, you need to be strategic when designing your campaigns.
Thirdly, don’t forget email marketing.
When implemented well, email marketing has a high ROI of 4,000%!
In addition, deploy content marketing campaigns targeted at these new regions.
If you need a little help, check out this nifty PDF guide by HubSpot: Global Marketing Playbook.
Finally, don’t fail to implement e-commerce solutions and utilize online marketplaces to reach more customers.
5. Compliance with Laws and Regulations
This is pretty straightforward I guess and the responsibility of your legal department.
Before expanding internationally, ensure your strategy, business model and product offering aren’t breaking any laws.
Different countries have different legal requirements for foreign investors.
So, check in with your lawyer to avoid unpleasant surprises in the form of court battles and huge fines.
6. Localization and Translation
Según CSA Investigación, 76% of consumers in 29 countries said they prefer to purchase products with information in their native language.
In addition, 40% of the consumers said they would never buy from a website in other languages. You can see what that means for your international expansion strategies.
When expanding into new markets, ensure you are providing products and services in their native languages. That means you need to create a website with effective localization and translations.
Localization means offering a user experience that resonates with the locals. That means changing your product packing, among other things.
Translation involves converting your website content into other languages.
Don’t forget that localization and translation need you to have a good grasp of cultural nuances and preferences.
Luckily for you, localizing and translating your website needn’t be a challenge with a tool such as TranslatePress.
TranslatePress is a user-friendly solution for website translation and localization, making multilingual expansion accessible for big and small businesses.
TranslatePress Multilingüe
Conclusión
We hope this long read gave you the blueprint you need to craft a sustainable market expansion strategy.
We’ve outlined the benefits, strategies, and a few things to consider when formulating your international expansion strategy.
While expanding into new markets, it pays to start with astute research to avoid common blunders.
After that, always keep the needs of your customers first and respect their culture and laws.
What’s your main takeaway?
Please share your tips, thoughts, and suggestions in the comment section below.
Brilliantly articulated, you’ve nailed the essence perfectly, just like the Best Electronic Dj mastering a track.
Thanks Devante for passing by and the compliment!