We share the experience of Ringostat , how to build a strategy for entering foreign markets for Saas solutions.



One of the most common patterns of entry into new markets for companies is the absorption of one of the local market participants. This tool is used both in telecommunications and in production and dealer networks. It is actively used by Western campaigns when entering the CIS countries, since building a business from scratch is much more risky and more difficult. This is a natural mechanism when you get power, partnerships, a well-coordinated team and can quickly increase your presence in the new territory.
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For Ukrainian companies to enter Western markets, this method can often seem too expensive. The alternative is to create joint ventures, which will make it possible to obtain the necessary number of ties and partnerships with smaller investments.

The first step is context targeting foreign market segments.

For cloud services, the strategy will be slightly different. To enter the market, you just need to, first of all, expand targeting in contextual advertising and localize your website for the selected language environment. This is the first minimal step to take.

Nevertheless, the decision to choose the target audience is not made in a hurry, it must be prepared and it must be prepared for. Ringostat was originally conceived as an international project, not tied to the characteristics of a single country. We build our company according to international standards and principles. This is reflected both in our mission, and in the approach to the solution of server placement issues, and in our approaches to the selection of the team. In 2015, thanks to this strategy, we increased the service team 7 times, achieved a client growth rate of 10-15% per month, and profits grew 4.5 times compared to 2014 figures.

Integration with market-recognized brands inspires confidence in your product.

An important example of Ringostat collaboration is a formal partnership with Google Analytics. It is not so much a matter of this specific product of collecting statistics, but rather of its importance for the international market and regional players in most countries in which we gradually develop our presence.

Today we work in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Latvia, Spain, Finland. Naturally, we negotiate partnerships with companies in selected markets for the convenience of our users.

Ringostat is already integrated with products such as Roistat, K50, Alytics, AmoCRM, OWOX BI, which are important when working in the CIS market. In addition, we are working on setting up integration with the real-time analytics service Woopra and the SalesForce CRM system, which is a standard in the western market for call tracking.

More freedom of action for the user

Often you can find promises about the "most convenient" reports and interfaces. We at Ringostat give more freedom to the user, so that he himself thinks and decides what data he needs every day, and that in principle he does not plan to use. This approach gives much more freedom for different positioning on different regional niches.

For example, we have provided about 30 filtering parameters and regular call log expressions. This allows our clients to generate reports for different levels of access to information, as well as relevant to a specific process, such as a meeting, annual reports, interim results of a sales or marketing department.

The more opportunities open to the user, the less you have to redo when entering a new market. A wide range of tools is what makes a good product in demand all over the world.

Services without reference to the location of customers

Ringostat number spoofing script, adapted to the most courageous decisions of marketers: region spoofing, geoIP spoofing, number swapping after target action on the site, etc. In addition, we have abandoned the practice of imposing individual telecom operators on clients - we have different partnerships, but the choice is up to the user.

Restricting choices to your own agreements is a way to narrow the audience. Due to the fact that we are not tied to individual operators, this allows our customers to use existing numbers or independently find partners among regional operators. The level of expertise in a particular regional market among local participants is much higher than ours, so there is a high probability that they will be able to conclude more favorable conditions. Nevertheless, we are always ready to provide the numbers of our partners, if it is more convenient.

When working at several sites at once, you need to strive to ensure that users in different countries are equally comfortable using the services of your Saas solution. So I imagine quality service.

Successful designs sell themselves.

When we started to design and implement changes, the first thought was how to make using the service easier and easier. Our algorithm automatically selects the ideal delay time before a pop-up window with a request for a chime is displayed, based on the analytics of a large number of micro events. In addition, we set up on our site a blocking from the substitution of numbers for employees by IP, which allows not to spend the advertising budget in vain.

The introduction of popular technologies just to declare this is a waste of money and time. Do not go for it, if the implementation does not give users a tangible effect in the future.

Such approaches make the Saas service competitive for both international players and participants in individual regional niches that we are entering. Technological innovations and innovative innovations are not just marketing slogans, this is what makes your business unique.

The results of the test period should be impressive.

This is one of the basic foundations of successful promotion in new markets. Users do not know you and are not willing to immediately pay for your services. The only thing you can offer them is a free limited trial period. We offer 14 days, but a lot depends on what kind of customer, what market, what product you offer.

During this time, the user must be accompanied, explained how to properly use your virtual product, so that the effect of the test is maximum. The client should feel that:

• it is beneficial to him;
• you have good technical support (think about whether you can help your client in a new region, if you have the necessary language skills);
• it needs to be implemented now, and not sometime later.

The last point is especially important, because it happens that the product is liked, but now is not the time or the budget is limited (well, of course). To do this, you need not only to tell everything correctly, but also to discuss issues of profitability, to offer elementary calculations of the benefits of use. The decision should be made on the basis of statistics and economic indicators, and not subjective opinion.

This is not a complete list of requirements for the strategy for the introduction of Saas-product to foreign markets. Here you can say about the need for high quality of your product, and about the talent of online promotion. But for me the most important thing is to keep in mind the readiness for such a step. Because not every company looks forward when it imposes the content of its product.

For some companies, the ultimate dream is to bring the product to the maximum of investment attractiveness and find a large investor who will do everything for it. Not every team is able to cope with a large number of risks in bringing business to new markets and the pressure that awaits them there. Nevertheless, the opportunities and prospects opening up are worth a try and risk.

Learn more about call tracking on the Ringostat blog .