All You Need to Know About Market Penetration

A business strategy is an integral part of every business, whether it is an established enterprise or a new venture in the market. Your business strategy must be aligned with your company goals and created based on the industry you are operating in. Your business plan must focus on increasing your market reach and customer base with your existing products. Market penetration comes into the picture when a company wants to use its current products to expand its territories in the industry. In this article, we shall discuss everything that you need to know about market penetration.

What is Market Penetration?

Market penetration focuses on improving your market presence in a particular segment using your current products and services. It increases your sales in your specific market and attracts existing customers to buy your products more. It also aims to identify new potential customers and convert them into business assets.

Market penetration is an important business strategy to improve the profitability and customer base of a business. It aims to create a positive brand image in the market and improve your customers’ loyalty to the brand. Market penetration allows you to improve your market share and also gain a competitive edge in the industry. There are various ways adopted by the companies to execute market penetration strategies, including, price reductions via heavy discounting, extensive advertisements, additional customer services, and new product features.

Market penetration is a highly recommended business strategy for new ventures to capture the market and make a name for their business. However, several risks lie with the game plan. Many businesses face huge competition in the industry that follows the same market strategy and also have to bear losses due to low-profit margins. It is important to create a market penetration strategy after evaluating all possible risks to generate the best outcomes for your business.

Importance of Market Penetration

Market penetration helps businesses achieve their organizational goals by acquiring huge masses and converting them into loyal customers. A few reasons why market penetration is important for your business are −

Increasing The Market Share of the Business

Market penetration focuses on improving the market presence of a company without adding any new products to its portfolio. It pushes the existing products of the company to the market and tries to sell them aggressively via promotional and discounting techniques. This process can help you to sell your products to your existing customers as well as reach out to new potential leads. Using marketing penetration techniques can help you to increase your overall market share with time.

Improves Brand Loyalty

One of the reasons why companies opt for market penetration strategies is to create a positive brand image in the market. Market penetrations allow you to highlight your products constantly in the market. It creates a brand recall amongst the customers and lures them to try the product. Continuous efforts in providing services to customers create strong brand loyalty in the market. Customers start recalling your brand and want to purchase your products after their satisfactory experience with their previous purchase.

Increased Profitability

Market penetration has a direct effect on improving the company’s profitability. It emphasizes aggressive selling of the same product in the market instead of launching new variants frequently. This keeps your production cost the same throughout. Aggressive selling methods can help you acquire more customers from the existing and new market segments. Therefore, the company benefits from greater profitability as a result of market penetration techniques.

Gaining a Competitive Advantage

A business with the highest market share always has an edge in the industry over its competitors. Market penetration aims to increase your company’s market share by acquiring mass customers. This makes you the market leader and helps you stay ahead of your competition. By acquiring a huge share of the market, you can make it difficult for new entrants to initiate a rivalry, and hence always enjoy a competitive advantage in the industry.

Strategies to Achieve Market Penetration

There is no single approach for companies to opt for market penetration strategies. The most effective market penetration strategy depends on the target market that the business caters to. You must dig deeper into the behaviors and purchase patterns of your target market to identify the right approach for them. A few methods for achieving market penetration goals can be −

Price Reductions

Heavy discounting is a widely popular method of enticing customers to purchase a product. You can offer price cuts on your existing products to promote them in the market. Offering promotions and luring offers is a tried and tested method of improving overall sales. Heavy discounting is a suitable method of market penetration for customers who are price sensitive. If your target market is reluctant to spend money on their purchases, the price reduction can be an effective approach to capture their attention in the market.

Enhanced Customer Service

Retaining customers requires you to provide them with an excellent user journey throughout. This includes the post-sale services offered by them as well. Another method of acquiring and retaining customers can be via excellent customer service. You can offer complimentary products or warranty services to improve their experience and loyalty to your brand. This can lead to repeat purchases and referrals, helping you with a greater customer base. Customer service is an excellent market penetration method for markets that are not price sensitive and are looking for more than just a product from a brand.

Aggressive Advertising

Companies need to invest in advertising to stay visible in the market. Customers are mostly inclined toward brands that are known to them and have a strong market presence. You can invest heavily in the advertisement of your brand to stay in the minds of the customers. Aggressive advertising can create a brand recall in the market and attract new customers to try your product. You must opt for heavy advertising if you are operating in a crowded market. This strategy helps you gain visibility amidst the competition and get recognized by the customers.

New Product Developments

If you are surrounded by huge competition, new product development can be your go-to-market penetration strategy. New product development refers to the addition of new features to your existing products to make them stand out from the crowd. This can set your product apart and make people want to try it. You can encourage your existing customers to spend more for an upgraded product, whereas reaching out to new customers and getting them to try your services.

Online and Offline Collaborations

Another method for penetrating the market can be via online and offline collaborations. You can pair up with other companies and brands as their partners and offer a combination of your products and services. This attracts the customers to make purchase decisions as they are benefitted from product combos at a value for tier money. It also helps in improving your visibility in the market as you can promote your brand through your partners’ online and offline advertising handles.

Conclusion

Market penetration can help you establish a strong position in the market by gaining higher market shares, improved profitability, and greater competitive advantage. It is an essential strategy for businesses to achieve their short-term goals and sustain their survival in the business. Market penetration strategies depend on the market type and target customers of the business. You can always opt for a combination of multiple approaches to achieve your pals. It is advisable to review your performance and understand if your adapted strategies are leading you toward your desired goals. You can make necessary tweaks in your approach to move forward towards your company objectives.