Military strategy constantly inspires business strategy. Both require extensive preparation and planning to succeed against opponents, whether on the battlefield or the market. Often used in military conflict, one such strategy is called the ‘beachhead strategy.’ This requires an attacker to establish a beachhead for their troops and equipment to launch the attack against enemy territory forces successfully. The same theory can be applied when launching a marketing campaign or implementing new strategies in a target market.
History is full of instances of beachhead strategy, from Ancient Greece, Rome, and even recent conflicts. Gaining a foothold in enemy territory is a timeless problem not unlike what markets experience as economies continue to grow, new markets open, and solutions continually innovating. A place to start where you can bring to bear your product or service is what a beachhead strategy can get.
If you’re a business looking to expand into a market and don’t know where to start or what plan to use, a beachhead strategy might be just right for you. Read more to figure out how you can use it for your business!
What is Beachhead Strategy?
Beachhead strategy is the process of entering a market with a quick, overwhelming attack to obtain a strong foothold. This will pave the way for further expansion into potential markets, whether through sales, new employees, or offerings. Beachhead strategies tend to catch people’s attention and allow you to obtain a wide variety of contacts, including potential clients, partners, or even resources for future use.
How Can You Use It For Your business?
There are many ways to implement the beachhead strategy into your business. Some popular methods include:
– Entering a new market to establish a customer base before expanding to different offerings within the industry.
– Using only low-cost employees to keep costs down but still pose a significant presence in the market.
– Utilizing only a few key company employees or focusing on a single product in specific regions within the market.
You might be thinking, ‘That sounds like an excellent way to gain all the benefits of entering a new market without any of the disadvantages.’ Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. A beachhead strategy will only work if done exactly right. You want to avoid these two pitfalls:
Beachhead strategy failure #1: Overwhelming the market with too many products
Imagine receiving a new product every week from an up-and-coming business. Although you might truly enjoy the diversity of offerings, it’s unlikely that you would purchase all of them. If you’re a business, that’s a bad thing. You want to keep customers engaged with your product, not overwhelmed and bored with too many options. Target the right market and pitch just enough of what they need to create a relationship with them. Keep researching adjacent markets and other markets, in general, to keep up with the latest product or service you can use to double down on.
Beachhead strategy failure #2: Not establishing long-term goals
This mistake is easy to make, no matter what type of business you have. You might be tempted to go into the market with only a week’s worth of stock and not think about long-term goals for your company because you’re so focused on the short term. However, this will leave you in a poor position if something goes wrong or your product doesn’t meet expectations. Make sure to consider the long term when working on a beachhead strategy and choose a product that would have longevity.
To truly establish a successful beachhead strategy, you have to use your business’s best practices and combine them with an aggressive marketing campaign. After all, you want to catch the market’s attention before expanding into new offerings.
Not only that, but you have to consider what your business’s ultimate goals are to determine whether a beachhead strategy is right for you. If you’re looking to expand into a beachhead market but aren’t sure how exactly your company will make revenue from it, this isn’t the way to go about things. It would help if you had a plan executed with detail and precision.
Do you want to give your business a boost with beachhead strategy?
Which Companies Used Beachhead Strategy?
You might be thinking, ‘That’s great and all, but if no one has used a beachhead strategy to enter the market, how do I know it will work?’ Fortunately, plenty of companies has used this type of marketing. Here are just a few:
Starbucks
Starbucks entered the market in 1988, opening up three stores that year. They focused on coffee beans and slowly created more locations within the Golden state before expanding into other regions of the United States. This allowed them to create a strong foothold in California before establishing themselves as one of the most recognizable names in coffee worldwide.
Apple
Apple’s marketing strategies focused on the education sector to establish a beachhead strategy. They concentrated their efforts on college students and the university market, slowly introducing them to their products before expanding into other markets. Not only that, but they were less expensive than other companies’ offerings within the same field, allowing them to gain a foothold.
Microsoft
Microsoft focused on the business market to establish a beachhead strategy. They concentrated their efforts on critical professionals within this demographic, slowly introducing them to their products before expanding into other markets. Not only that, but they were more potent than other companies’ offerings within the same field, allowing them to gain a foothold. Their dominant market share in the operating system space solidified their position even today.
They even used this strategy a second time with their gaming consoles. With the Xbox as a beachhead, they embraced gaming and are now a significant player in the digital entertainment field.
Beachhead strategies aren’t just for the big companies you hear about on the nightly news. Suppose you have a product that can be sold in limited quantities, concentrated to a specific area, and doesn’t take over the market overnight. In that case, this could be the way for your company to establish itself within its field of expertise.
How to Make Sure Your Beachhead Strategy is Successful?
Once you determine what sort of beachhead strategy is right for your business and whether or not it’s a good idea to implement, you need to make sure that this tactic is executed well. If you take the wrong steps when implementing it, the chances are high that you’re going to have a lot of trouble getting your customers to stick around.
Start with a product that is limited enough to where it isn’t available in every location. If you’re looking to have a beachhead strategy revolving around coffee, then stick with just selling it within your state or region until you nail the market. Research and improve constantly; your existing customers serve as your base, whether product satisfaction or customer service. Keeping in touch with your customers makes it easier to understand market dynamics and figure out where to expand all your resources. Use segmentation to narrow down your niche further and get the data you need. If you’ve nailed it down right, you may be able to attack adjacent markets and acquire a smaller market segment to move forward with.
Make sure that these products are slightly cheaper than what’s already on the market so you can establish a foothold. You don’t want people to assume that your company is considerably more expensive than others. Still, you do need a bit of a natural advantage until you’re established enough to charge higher prices for your products.
Don’t just focus on one product within the industry at first unless this specific product is going to be the one that helps you get further into the market. You can’t just introduce a single product for people to buy, then pull it from the shelves before you even get started because you’re afraid of failing. This will leave your customer base very confused about what to expect next, which will only hurt your business in the long run.
Find ways to give back to the community. When companies are just starting, it’s easy for people to assume ulterior motives because of their lack of experience or previous success. Suppose you can create a good reputation by being involved with your local communities and offering products at reasonable prices. In that case, you’re going to be able to establish your beachhead strategy in no time.
Now is the time to implement beachhead strategy in your business!
Beachhead Strategy in The Digital Space
If you have an online business, you can do a few things to ensure that your beachhead strategy is successful. One of the most critical parts of this process will be using social media platforms to get your company’s name out into the digital space.
These platforms will offer you an excellent way for people to get in touch with you, learn more about your products, and become aware that you are selling something they might need. Plus, when people can comment or ask questions about what you’re doing, it will make them feel much more connected with the company as a whole.
Leverage social media platforms to gain a foothold in the digital space. This will be crucial for your business because it will allow you to establish yourself as an authority within the industry or local market that others can trust, which will motivate them to work with you now and later on. It might not be easy, but this strategy can generate an excellent ROI if done correctly, especially if your marketing budget is not as large as established players.
Make sure that you give your customers exclusive deals for social media platforms. People are much more likely to take advantage of these opportunities because it’s the only way they’ll be able to get their hands on them, which will be beneficial for both parties in the end.
This is also a good way for you to get the word out about what you’re doing, which will attract more people to your business. You don’t want to set up these social media platforms and then forget that they exist because then it will feel like a useless endeavor in the end.
Sum-up: Making the Most of the Beachhead Strategy
To make the most out of a beachhead strategy, businesses should focus on products that are limited in number and slightly cheaper than the competition. They should also be involved with their local communities and offer reasonable prices. Additionally, businesses’ strategy efforts should use social media platforms to gain a foothold in the digital space and leverage them for future growth. Finally, companies should offer exclusive deals for social media platforms and not forget about these platforms once they’ve been established.
Beachhead strategy shouldn’t be your go-to-market strategy, but if you understand your market well enough and are willing to take on the challenge, it can work wonders on your business.
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