Guide 10 of 10 in Level 5: Grow

How to plan a go-to-market strategy for a new market

To plan a go-to-market strategy for a new market in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), add the country on your brand’s Strategy tab. Click Plan in the left menu, pick the brand, open Strategy and click + Add a market. Pick the country and click Add market. Blackbox writes that market its own one-page plan: what you sell there and to whom, why you against the competitors it finds there, where you show up, the three moves this quarter and how you will know by day 90. Figures it cannot measure yet are marked where they come from, and a figure carried over from a market you already run reads Measured in that market. Answer the cards marked Needs you, click Change where a card is wrong, and Download the pitch deck as PowerPoint or PDF. Approve this plan puts the market’s moves on the calendar as dated campaigns and posts; nothing is launched until you do it.

You'll need
Time
About 6 minutes 6 steps Updated
You'll end with
A one-page plan and a pitch deck for the new market, approved onto your calendar
Do it in Blackbox Open the Strategy tab, after you sign in
Example
Daybreak Coffee Co. adding Canada as a second market, with its own plan

How to plan a go-to-market strategy for a new market in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:See your markets

    Click Plan in the left menu, pick your brand, then click Strategy.

    You'll see: The countries you sell in as tabs above the page, the current one selected; one market shows as a single tag.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Add the market

    Click + Add a market, pick the country under Country, then click Add market.

    You'll see: The new market’s tab selected, and Blackbox is writing… above the page.

  3. Step 3:Let Blackbox write it

    Wait while the five answers fill in for the new market, from your brand, its sources and what is public about that country.

    You'll see: Drafting from your sources… on each card, then Ready or Needs you.

  4. Step 4:Answer and change

    Answer the cards marked Needs you, and click Change where a card is wrong.

    You'll see: Inside Change, a figure carried over from a market you already run marked Measured in that market; the rest written from this market’s own facts.

  5. Step 5:Download the pitch deck

    Click Download, then PowerPoint or PDF under Pitch deck.

    You'll see: A file named after your brand and the market, ending in pitch.pptx or pitch.pdf.

  6. Step 6:Approve the market’s plan

    Click Approve this plan, read what changes in Plan, then click Approve.

    You'll see: The market’s moves on your calendar as dated campaigns and posts, and Approved. on the bar.

Good to know

  • Each market has its own page, its own deck and its own approval. Switch between them with the tabs above the page.
  • What you sell, your voice and your numbers come from the brand; what is written for the market — the competitors there, where to show up, the moves and the targets — is its own.
  • A figure Blackbox has not measured in the new market yet is marked Assumed or Measured in the market it came from. It turns Measured once that market’s accounts show the numbers.
  • Download also offers Full strategy, every block of the plan, and later an Expansion case: the case for this market with a proven market’s results as proof, once a market has an approved plan.
  • Approving puts the moves into Plan as dated campaigns and posts and lets your CMO suggest changes against the day-90 targets; nothing is scheduled or launched until you accept a suggestion.
  • Only an admin adds a market or approves its plan. Nothing is spent or posted by drafting.

If something doesn't work

I don’t see + Add a market

Only an admin can add a market. Ask an admin, or have them change your role in Settings under Team.

The new market says Nothing here yet

A market with a plan fills this in. Blackbox is still writing the market’s plan; the status line above reads Blackbox is writing… while it does. Give it a few minutes, or open the tab again.

The competitors are wrong for this country

Competitors are edited on the brand’s Competitors tab. Add the ones you meet in the new market and remove the others, then click Change on Why us and redraft it.

Download says Needs a market with an approved play to argue from

That is the Expansion case, which argues from a market you already run. Approve the first market’s plan, then it is available for the new one.

Can I enter a new market before I have any accounts there?

Yes. The plan is written from your brand, your website and public facts about the country. Connected accounts in the new market turn its assumed figures into measured ones later.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 5: Grow