Vertical expansion represents a powerful and successful lever. Companies that venture into new industry verticals to diversify their customer base and tap into untapped markets quickly grow their enterprise value.
“Customers empower businesses to grow. Growing a customer base demands specifically targeted solutions that solve industry relevant problems. Understanding how your offerings meet the needs of multiple verticals opens doors to more customers while enhancing your brand in the marketplace.”
- Bob Caruso
Vertical expansion has its challenges though. Let’s discuss some key principles that guide a successful business on their journey to conquering new industry verticals.
Get to Know Your Market
Vertical expansion demands a comprehensive understanding of the targeted industry vertical. While your existing solution might be performing exceptionally well in one domain, the dynamics, challenges, and unique requirements of another industry may differ significantly. Gaining deep insights into your targeted vertical demands thorough market research, competitive analysis, and stakeholder understanding to inform your strategy.
Customize your Offering
One size does not fit all when it comes to vertical expansion. The ability to customize your solution to cater to the specific needs of the new industry is paramount. This requires a flexible architecture that allows for easy integration of industry-specific features and functionalities. Tailoring your offering demonstrates a commitment to solving real challenges within the vertical, thus establishing your brand as a trusted partner.
Partner and Collaborate
Channel partners are a powerful ally. Forming strategic partnerships with established players within the new vertical can fast-track your entry and lend credibility to your new offering. These partnerships also provide valuable insights into industry intricacies and customer preferences, allowing you to fine-tune your offering for optimal impact.
Use Case:
When SAP moved into the retail sector, they formed strategic partnerships with established players in the industry, IBM and Microsoft. These partnerships not only lent credibility to SAP's new retail solutions but also provided invaluable insights into the specific challenges and needs of the retail industry. By integrating their software with existing systems and leveraging the expertise of their partners, SAP was able to fine-tune its offering to address the unique requirements of retail businesses, such as inventory management and customer experience optimization. This collaborative approach significantly accelerated SAP's entry into the retail vertical and established them as a trusted solution provider.
Focus on the Customer
Understanding the end-users within the new target industry is paramount. Listening to their needs, desires, and challenges helps refine your product. Engage with potential customers through surveys, focus groups, and pilot programs to gather feedback and iterate your solution. A customer-centric approach will not only drive product enhancement but also build strong relationships that foster long-term success.
Use Case:
Netflix is primarily known as a B2C company, but it has made significant strides in the B2B space after talking to users. These strides can be seen through its partnerships with hotels, airlines, and other hospitality services to offer in-room or in-flight streaming services. In this vertical expansion, Netflix's focus on the customer experience has been exemplary. The company conducted extensive market research, including surveys and focus groups with frequent travelers, to understand the unique needs and challenges of consuming entertainment in a transient setting. This customer-centric approach led to features like quick pairing with personal devices, lower bandwidth consumption, and content curation tailored to shorter viewing periods. By engaging directly with end-users and potential business partners, Netflix was able to refine its offering to suit the specific environment of hotels and airlines.
Onboard and Support the Customer Journey
Transitioning into a new industry vertical can be daunting for both your team and your customers. Provide comprehensive training, resources, and support to ensure a smooth transition. Effective onboarding not only accelerates user adoption but also enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Make Data-Driven Decisions
Data is the compass that guides successful vertical expansion. Use analytics to track user behavior, monitor engagement, and measure performance. This data-driven approach will allow you to make informed decisions, optimize your solution, and pivot as necessary. Constantly refine your strategy based on real-time insights to stay ahead of the curve.
Use Case:
Leveraging its vast troves of consumer data and analytics capabilities, Amazon identified a gap in the market for more efficient, cost-effective online prescriptions. The company used data analytics to track potential user behavior (i.e., seeing users search for common prescriptions), monitor engagement with healthcare products already available on its platform, and measure performance metrics like speed of delivery and customer satisfaction. This data-driven approach informed Amazon's strategy, from the types of medications offered to the partnerships formed with healthcare providers and insurance companies. By constantly refining its strategy based on real-time insights, Amazon Pharmacy has been able to turn itself into an online pharmacy. Who would’ve thought that would be a thing 25 years ago from an online bookstore.
Mitigate Risk
Vertical expansion inherently involves risks, but a proactive approach to risk management minimizes potential pitfalls. Diversify your portfolio by not relying solely on one industry vertical. Maintain an agile mindset that embraces experimentation and rapid iteration. Be prepared to pivot or refine your strategy based on market feedback and emerging trends, ensuring that you remain adaptable and resilient in the face of challenges.
Rev Up that Revenue…
If your revenue generation engine is stuck in neutral, vertical expansion presents a remarkable opportunity to drive sustained growth. To master vertical expansion and unlock new avenues for revenue growth, businesses should take a multi-pronged approach.
Start by conducting thorough market research to understand the unique challenges and opportunities in the targeted industry vertical. Customize your offerings to meet these specific needs, ensuring your solutions are flexible and adaptable. Forge strategic partnerships to gain credibility and insights that can fine-tune your approach. Prioritize customer engagement through surveys, focus groups, and pilot programs to refine your product based on real-world feedback. Support the transition to a new vertical with comprehensive onboarding resources and maintain a data-driven strategy to continually optimize your offerings. Lastly, adopt a proactive risk management strategy to mitigate potential pitfalls, keeping an agile mindset for quick pivots based on market feedback.
By following these principles, you'll be well-equipped to diversify your customer base, enhance your brand, and grow your enterprise value. As industries continue to evolve, expanding into new verticals will be a crucial skill set that propels a business to new heights, faster.
If you're ready to leverage vertical expansion to meet your growth goals, contact Orchid Black’s business transformation consultants today.
Orchid Black is a boutique advisory of former CEOs, CROs, CMOs, strategy execs, and board members. We are accomplished operators with an investor mindset and deep M&A experience.
Like an orchid, a company’s maximum value emerges from cultivating growth. Orchid Black’s unique business model not only accelerates value, but aligns our compensation with our partners’ success. We invest together, betting on a collective vision, using shared skills and expertise.
If you would like to learn more please contact: grow@orchid.black.
