In times of recession – sorry to start on a gloomy note but as officially last week, the United Kingdom re-entered a recession this is surely more than a double dip now…..? Anyway we will leave that bit for the Government to battle out; this part is out of our control. There are things we can do to work ourselves through a recession and come out the other side stronger than ever. We are talking about diversification and entering new sectors of an industry in which an organisation already operates.
At Box PR, we regularly work with clients who are successful in one sector of the marine industry (e.g. superyacht) and want to take their product to a different sector (e.g. commercial) without disrupting their day to day business organisation and with as little disruption and change to their production as possible. As their PR and Marketing team, we look at what we can do and how we can help them break into a new sector.
We do not pretend to be business consultants, or experts in managing change; however we are a team who are experts in using its contacts, knowledge and expertise of promoting brand and company awareness and work with its clients to reach new audiences. And quite simply here is how:
Let’s go back to basics………at this point we are starting from the point at which you have a successful product/service that has a proven track record in at least one sector of the industry you are looking to target.
You need to make new contacts….right?
- Shows
- Exhibiting at the right shows, walking the floor at shows going round and physically meeting and introducing yourselves to the new sector you are looking to target
- Media
- Journalists are not all bad, honest! They love new material, news products and application stories to write about. So if you are not in a position to have a PR company, make sure you find out the key magazines and get yourselves in front of them.
Your marketing material……make it targeted.
You may have experience within one sector of the industry, however make sure what you present and give out is applicable to this new sector.
Go back to basics
- Business cards that have all your correct details on
- Folders, inserts, brochures that show all the company offerings, remember you are a new company to this sector they may not have heard of you so want to know you can deliver the good you promise.
- Flyers. We are not talking about a cold calling flyer drop on all stands and in the post/email. Make it targeted, personally deliver to stands at shows, to the media office or a targeted email with a contact name of who you have spoken to.
- Press Packs. If you are at a show, make sure the media office knows you are there. Present good quality press packs for journalists to collect at their leisure.
- Website – people will check out your profile online so make sure your website and social media sites reflect the company as a whole not just the one sector you operate in.
Advertising
- Advertising is all very well, but if you are not known in anyway shape or form, then your ad will most likely fail to make any impact. Get yourself known, build contacts and then look at branding and advertising. Remember it can take up to 3 hits to be recognised either – face to face meeting, piece of editorial and an advert.
Entering a new sector of a market should not be taken lightly. You need to do your research and ensure you have the capabilities within or if necessary recruit to make sure you can target the sector successfully without the risk of damaging your existing market share.
So to summarise, you are entering a new sector to build on your existing database and product portfolio. Establish your contacts and your media and work with these contacts to re-establish your company, brand and product.
So what sector are you next going to enter into, let us know how successful you are and what you did?
Enjoy the week!
Box PR Team
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