Market Entry Strategy for New Geography Case Study MerkMetryx - Case Study

A software company developed a great tool that was very successful and popular in the European markets. Expanding to the US market would mean competing against big, well funded local firms. MerkMetryx team identified a specific market gap for their product.

The Challenge

A B2B software company had a strong product that was doing very well in the European markets. In order to enter the US market, the company had to come up with a strategy to face the local well funded competitors. Although the US market offered a 10 times revenue potential, it also carried a high risk of failure. Before the leadership team could think of hiring a sales team, they had to develop a clear strategy. They had to identify a gap in the market that needed their product.

Our Approach

The team performed the research for that focused on three different areas:

Competitive mapping: We did a deep dive into the 15 largest competitors in the US. We include their pricing strategies, product features, and customer feedback. Buyer research: We conducted interviews with 40 managers at companies with between 500 and 5,000 employees. We were able to identify the common pain points and understand the reasons why they would change suppliers. Pricing analysis: We experimented with different price points with 200 potential buyers. Results showed that the US buyers' willingness to pay for the same product features was higher than that of the European customers.

Key Findings:

The mid market segment was largely neglected. The majority of tools were either too complicated or too pricey.
The primary factor driving customers to switch was the lack of good data reporting.
Majority of competitors did not consider the unique needs of firms having 500 to 2,000 employees.
Buyers were more impressed by easy setups than by a long list of unnecessary features.
People's willingness to pay in the US was 40 percent higher than that in Europe.

Results

The B2B software company started operations in the US four months after the research was finished.
Within six months, they had already secured $2.4 million in annual revenue.
This achievement was 180% higher than the initial target.
Now, the US market accounts for 40 percent of the total company revenue.
The company reached those targets without increasing their initial marketing budget.

The Challenge

Our Approach

The team performed the research for that focused on three different areas:

Key Findings:

The mid market segment was largely neglected. The majority of tools were either too complicated or too pricey.

The primary factor driving customers to switch was the lack of good data reporting.

Majority of competitors did not consider the unique needs of firms having 500 to 2,000 employees.

Buyers were more impressed by easy setups than by a long list of unnecessary features.

People's willingness to pay in the US was 40 percent higher than that in Europe.

Results

The B2B software company started operations in the US four months after the research was finished.

Within six months, they had already secured $2.4 million in annual revenue.

This achievement was 180% higher than the initial target.

Now, the US market accounts for 40 percent of the total company revenue.

The company reached those targets without increasing their initial marketing budget.