Expanding into an international market is one of the most ambitious and challenging steps for any business. While they might have a great product-market fit for the new territory, generating demand in an unfamiliar market is where the key challenge lies. 

Manisha, a 42-year-old deep tech entrepreneur based in India, knows this firsthand. Despite a great product and existing demand, Manisha hit a wall while expanding into the North American market.

Manisha, a 42-year-old deep tech entrepreneur based in India, knows this firsthand. Despite a great product and existing demand, Manisha hit a wall while expanding into the North American market.

How did she turn things around? Keep reading to discover how AI-powered marketing for small businesses helped her find traction faster.

From APAC Acclaim to Global Aspirations: Manisha’s Next Big Leap

Under Manisha’s leadership, her team of techies had successfully launched a deep tech startup offering custom software development services to solve complex challenges across industries like fintech, logistics, chemical manufacturing, etc. 

Her company’s focus on innovation and engineering excellence had already earned recognition in APAC. But Manisha did not want to settle. She figured her biggest market was in North America and decided to make a move on it. 

With the right combination of technical depth, proprietary IP, and strong defensibility, she secure $2 million in seed funding to expand into the North American market.

But moving beyond borders brought new challenges for Manisha. Despite a strong product and a capable team, Manisha struggled to translate that momentum into qualified leads and meaningful pipeline growth through small business marketing in a new and unfamiliar market.

Despite a strong product and a capable team, Manisha struggled to translate that momentum into qualified leads and meaningful pipeline growth through small business marketing in a new and unfamiliar market.

The Struggle of Entering a New Market without Small Business Marketing

When Manisha took her first step towards North American expansion, she was filled with cautious optimism.

She participated in trade shows and conventions to increase exposure. Even though she gathered some early leads and saw initial traction, the prospects soon turned cold. Their conventional strategies for small business marketing failed to connect with their target audience in the US market.   

Even though she gathered some early leads and saw initial traction, the prospects soon turned cold. Their conventional marketing strategies and lead generation techniques failed to connect with their target audience in the US market. 

Though her team had significant marketing experience, they struggled to cope with the new challenges of stepping into an unfamiliar and competitive small business marketing landscape that is spread across several timezones and was culturally diverse.

Over a period of 3 to 4 months, she managed to scrape together a list of 15–20 target prospects she got from running marketing campaigns and attending conventions, and reached out to them with cold emails and follow-up calls. The response? Silence. Her inbox stayed empty, and the pipeline remained dry.

To top that off, she found herself stretched thin between guiding product development, managing investor expectations, and simultaneously trying to navigate marketing for small businesses, an area outside her core expertise. 

In order to course correct, she hired a full-stack marketing agency, signing a six-month retainer that cost her over $60,000. The KPIs they offered were qualified leads, brand visibility, and a firm foothold in the US market. 

She lost almost a year in this journey, wasted thousands of dollars, and had nothing to show for it other than a few branding decks, SEO audits, and sporadic small business blog posts. Manisha was starting to lose patience.

She lost almost a year in this journey, wasted thousands of dollars, and had nothing to show for it other than a few branding decks, SEO audits, and sporadic small business blog posts. Manisha was starting to lose patience.

How an AI-Powered Platform for Small Business Marketing Became Her Marketing Catalyst

Manisha had to find a solution soon. She started talking to her peers and other industry professionals. Finally, someone introduced her to MarketEngine– a one-stop, AI-powered marketing platform that specializes in marketing for small businesses.  

As Manisha explored further, she found that MarketEngine’s platform offered end-to-end marketing for small businesses and startups like her own brand, driving demand 10x faster at a 70% lower cost. 

She decided to partner up and saw the changes immediately. 

In the first week itsleft, MarketEngine team created a differentiated messaging and marketing strategy for Manisha’s startup that would get the word out and communicate its value offerings to the target audience in the US market effectively. 

Next, they focused on content creation. They leveraged their AI-powered digital marketing engine to produce compelling, story driven small business blogs, each refined by their human experts. 

To further increase the extent of the content and iprove search rankings,  they also implemented robust small business SEO strategies. 

Besides small business blogs and SEO they also made the most of other marketing channels like social media and email marketing — setting up and running social media campaigns, email campaigns, and drip nurture sequences to generate high-quality marketing quality leads.

Within four to six weeks, lead scoring started to imove with warm leads pouring in from different channels. With instant follow-ups, her sales team was able to secure meetings with prospects and move them down the sales funnel.

For the first time in months, Manisha felt her pipeline was growing. 

In MarketingEngine she found a partner who not only understood her product but also the path she needed to take to grow in a new market.

How MarketEngine’s Expertise with Small Business Marketing Helps Brands Penetrate New Markets

Partnering with MarketEngine marked a turning point for Manisha. With their extensive experience in the US market and working with over 10,000 SMBs & startups, they were able to help Manisha penetrate the market and generate demand in a fraction of time than traditional agencies.

 With their extensive experience in the US market and working with over 10,000 SMBs & startups, they were able to help Manisha penetrate the market and generate demand in the fraction of time than traditional agencies.

MarketEngine’s unified marketing solution for SMBs, blending generative AI, human expertise, small business seo, and targeted campaigns  gave her the speed, and precision she needed to penetrate the North American market. 

From content and clicks to conversion, every piece was integrated and focused on pipeline growth. What once felt like an uphill battle became a scalable, cost-efficient digital marketing engine — one that matched the pace of her ambition.

Looking to unlock growth in the US market? Discover how MarketEngine’s small business marketing can help you build traction faster.

Get in touch today!

First published on MarketEngine