What’s the best growth strategy for a mature product portfolio?
The best growth strategy depends on your current market position. Here are two considerations.
1. Market Penetration Strategy
If you’ve been operating in the “be everything to everyone” mode your products probably have a lot of features that serve customers in many industry segments but they may lack closed loop business solutions that address industry specific needs.
If this is the case, look at the vertical industry segments that make up the largest chunks of your revenue and determine how much growth potential exists in each. Then focus your product enhancement efforts on features that form closed-loop solutions for those market segments, or determine other functional areas for which you can deliver new solutions and enlarge your footprint to drive new growth. Be sure to market and sell those solutions in industry-specific parlance instead of generic positioning.
2. Market Expansion Strategy
If the markets that are lining your coffers are pretty well saturated, it may be time to expand your focus into new market segments where your existing solutions have high relevance and high value. Just be sure to understand your position in the competitive landscape so that you can set realistic expectations for revenue.