smiling Asian man introducing his brand to a new market on an electronic device

How to Introduce Your Brand to a New Market

Featured image by Jess Foami via Pixabay

Your company is expanding, and you’re ready to bring your brand into a new market. You have a chance to make a splash and build brand familiarity in a new city or region, but a successful brand launch is no easy accomplishment.

However, you have a number of channels at your fingertips. Moreover, these ideas should help you get your next branding campaign off the ground. You can generate buzz and make a deep impression wherever you expand next.

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#1 Test a New Market with a Pop up Shop

A pop up shop is one of the best ways to test out a market before you commit all the way. The benefits of a pop up shop include:

  • Affordability
  • Buzz
  • Low risk
  • Generating brand awareness
  • Creating urgency

Pop up shops are most successful for brands with widespread recognition in markets where they don’t yet operate. However, they can also be a launching point for a broader brand awareness campaign. This is because limited-time events get people excited and motivate them to check out something new.

#2 Brand Activations Connect You with a New Audience

Pop up shops don’t work for all business models, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get out into the world and reach audiences directly. Brand activations can help any kind of business, whether you’re heading out into the street to meet consumers directly or going to trade shows and conferences to build B2B connections.

Not surprisingly, successful brand activation is one that people notice and remember. They revolve around some kind of experience that’s relevant and fun.

For example, one effective way to get people to pay attention is a digital billboard rental. Digital billboards today are portable, weather rated, and offer interactivity in both indoor and outdoor environments. You can even incorporate interactive features such as gamification experiences and augmented reality.

hands of businesspeople at a conference table holding files and digital devices
Image by Rawpixel via Freepik

Brand activations are your way to connect directly with people in a new market. It’s important that you make a big first impression. So create an experience that will draw people in and make sure they remember you.

#3 Community Sponsorships Build Recognition

Sponsoring local events or festivals will help build recognition in your new market, and it can open up opportunities for brand activations and live events onsite.

Community sponsorship is a way to build familiarity, trust, and goodwill in a new market. Target events and causes that align with your brand or appeal to your target demographics.

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#4 Work with Key Influencers in the New Market

Identifying and working with key influencers in your target market will help you communicate directly with the segment you’re after. Influencer marketing helps you expand your brand with the right audiences on social media.

There is a growing understanding that bigger is not always better. Nano and micro-influencers are social media accounts with fewer than 100,000 followers. Nonetheless, despite their smaller audiences, they have dedicated follower bases and great engagement metrics.

So find the right niche, and you can get more engagement right where you need it.

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#5 Keep Live Content Alive on Social Media

If you’ve planned a brand activation or community sponsorship event, make the most of the content you’ve generated by integrating it into social media. Turn your live events into the backbone of your campaign.

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