The Importance of Brand Positioning When Expanding Into New Markets

In the complex, ever-evolving world of B2B industries, companies need to continuously adapt to keep ahead. Sometimes, that means venturing into new markets through diversification, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) or geographic expansion. But a company’s ability to drive growth in this way isn’t determined by business strategy alone; B2B branding also has a key role to play.

A well-crafted brand positioning strategy is a crucial element to ensuring successful expansion into new markets. It carries your company’s values and identity while making a unique promise to the new customer segment — that you’re uniquely positioned to help customers better than anyone else.

Of course, this isn’t always easy when there are already well-established competitors in the space you’re trying to enter. You can either reflect a “me too” stance or you can carve out a unique value proposition with a B2B brand positioning strategy to address gaps in the marketplace. In this way, a well-defined brand position can be the difference between success and failure in unfamiliar territories.

Understanding Brand Positioning

Before we explore how to achieve long-term success in new markets with a sound B2B brand positioning strategy, we first need to understand what brand positioning is and how it works. Brand positioning refers to how a company establishes a unique identity and value proposition in the minds of customers. Unlike branding, which is more focused on establishing an overall identity and personality (which you can read about in our two-part blog here and here), brand positioning focuses more on tangibles like category definition and competitive differentiation.

Carving out your unique place in the market by shaping perceptions of your distinctive qualities and key differentiators is the heart of B2B brand positioning, and it relies on a few key elements.

Target Audience

Knowing your audience is fundamental to any communication strategy. When creating a brand positioning strategy, you’ll need to determine your target audience through market research and analysis — using methods like surveys, interviews or customer personas to understand who your potential customers are and what drives their buying decisions.

Competitive Analysis

Before you jump into building a strategy to connect with your target audience, it’s essential to understand how competitors are already serving those customers. A competitive analysis helps you understand the strengths, weaknesses and strategies of your competitors so you can stand out from the herd. This analysis may involve reviewing competitor websites, social media accounts and paid media to understand how their brand resonates with customers, and it’s a crucial step to identifying gaps in the marketplace where you can differentiate your brand.

Brand Differentiation

Finding your unique value proposition (UVP) is the core of your brand positioning. It communicates why customers should choose your brand over others. In complex B2B industries, this may involve highlighting your industry expertise, innovative solutions, advanced technology, commitment to sustainability and the tangible business benefits your products or services offer.

Breaking Into New Markets

When it comes to entering a new market, thorough research is a must. Evaluate the market size, the growth potential and the competitive landscape. Analyze the needs and behaviors of consumers in the space by conducting surveys, focus groups and interviews. This information will be critical to your brand positioning in the new market.

Even if your company already has a well-established brand with loyal customers, that brand equity you’ve built may not hold the same weight in the new market. Working on a brand positioning strategy will help you understand how your brand can best fit into the marketplace. Whether you’re reaching new customer segments with a new product category, entering new verticals through M&A or expanding into new geographic markets, a sound strategy will help your brand address gaps in the market and ensure long-term success.

1. Positioning New Products for Success When Diversifying Your Brand

When introducing new products in new market segments as part of a brand diversification strategy, align the product’s value proposition with the market’s specific demands. Start by identifying unique selling points that distinguish your new offerings from current competitors. Consider how your brand presence and expertise in other markets adds to the value of your new offering. Then, tailor your brand messaging to highlight these differentiators so customers understand how your product addresses gaps in the marketplace.

2. Adapting Messaging and Value Propositions to Mergers & Acquisitions

Merging with or acquiring a new company in a new market space presents both challenges and opportunities for brand positioning. Each market has unique preferences and pain points, so adapting your messaging and value propositions to align with these needs is crucial. During this transition, clearly communicate how the combined strengths of the merged entities benefit customers, emphasizing enhanced capabilities and expanded offerings. Highlight aspects of your brand that resonate most with the new audience — whether it’s quality, innovation or customer support — to build trust and loyalty as you integrate into new market segments.

3. Localizing Brand Identity for New Geographical Markets

Expanding into new geographical markets requires more than just a presence; it demands a deep understanding of cultural nuances. Local customs and values can significantly impact how your brand is perceived, making it crucial to adapt your brand positioning accordingly. It’s not just a matter of translation; localization may require tailoring visuals, slogans and even product features to fit the cultural context. By respecting local sentiments and leveraging global partners for insights and execution, you can ensure that your brand resonates authentically with local audiences and fosters strong market connections.

Measuring Success

B2B brand positioning is not a once-and-done effort; it requires continuous evaluation and adjustment. Conduct regular surveys and gather feedback from customers and stakeholders to gain insights on brand awareness, customer perceptions and more. You can then use this data to refine your messaging, improve customer experiences and stay ahead of competitors.

Tracking the effectiveness of your brand positioning will help optimize your strategy. Here are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure for more effective brand positioning:

• Brand Awareness: Measure how well your target audience recognizes and recalls your brand. This can be achieved by conducting brand awareness surveys, tracking brand name mentions across channels and reviewing branded search volume.
• Customer Perception: Assess how your brand is perceived in terms of quality, reliability, innovation or other qualities important to your brand. Regularly checking online reviews, social listening, surveys and evaluating brand loyalty are all effective ways to measure perception.
• Market Share: Track your brand’s share in the new market compared to competitors’. This is accomplished by measuring sales and comparing to the total size of the market.

Examples: Case Studies

Brand positioning is a vital strategy for building strong brands in complex B2B industries, especially when expanding into new markets. By tailoring your approach to each market’s unique needs, you can establish a powerful brand presence that drives business growth. At Godfrey, we help B2B companies through this process on a regular basis, often with great results. Here are two case studies to show what a successful brand positioning strategy looks like in practice.

Example 1: Driving Brand Awareness to a New Audience

As one of the world’s leading suppliers of drive and control technologies, Bosch Rexroth manufactures components and technology solutions across a number of business units that comprise factory automation solutions. But, while customers may know them for linear motion or assembly technology, for example, there was limited awareness of their complete, integrated product and service offering to support full factory automation needs.

To overcome this, Godfrey implemented a robust research plan that included brand studies, stakeholder interviews and industry reviews, leading to valuable insights about audience positioning. The findings informed the creation of market profiles, messaging strategies and a detailed campaign plan tailored to various vertical markets. The resulting campaign, launched in July 2022, achieved over 46 million impressions and generated nearly 700 leads, significantly exceeding initial awareness goals.

Godfrey's strategy also leveraged public relations, which doubled audience reach by focusing on editorial and influencer opportunities. This led to numerous published articles, thought-leadership pieces and podcast interviews, further solidifying Bosch Rexroth’s presence in the factory automation space. Encouraged by these results, Bosch Rexroth planned to apply this successful campaign approach to additional target verticals, aiming to boost awareness of its automation solutions even further.

Read the full case study.

Example 2: Acquisition-Led Market Growth

After acquiring a leading ecological coating company in the food and beverage industry, Solenis aimed to increase visibility among new audiences seeking sustainable barrier coating solutions. Their proprietary TopScreen™ barrier coatings for cupstock had already gained recognition as one of the twelve winners in the 2019 NextGen Cup Challenge. To capitalize on this momentum, Solenis launched a lead generation campaign targeting two distinct audiences: paper converters familiar with specialty chemicals and brand managers in the food and beverage sector looking for eco-friendly packaging options.

Godfrey tailored tactics for each audience through targeted programmatic advertising, social media and PPC strategies. For brand managers, new assets like a landing page and infographic were created to address their specific pain points, while public relations efforts secured placements in key media outlets. The campaign, which began in October 2020 and has since been renewed, has exceeded industry averages, generating over 6,500 website sessions and 8,700 page views, effectively establishing Solenis as a leader in sustainable food and beverage packaging solutions.

Read the full case study.

Positioning for New Markets With the Right Partner

Entering new markets can unlock many exciting opportunities, but it can also be a challenging time of uncertainty. Developing a solid brand positioning strategy to help bring more clarity to the process can seem overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it on your own. Partnering with an expert B2B marketing agency like Godfrey will not only streamline the process, it will also help you gain a more objective, outside perspective for effectively positioning your brand.

When seeking out a partner, look beyond branding and marketing expertise. Find a B2B agency who lives and breathes in your industry every day. They’ll come to the table with more than generalized brand positioning strategies; they’ll have specialized knowledge of the markets you want to enter to help you create a truly unique position in the market. And that will help you better position your brand for success.