Breaking into New Markets: Strategies from Top European SaaS CMOs

Expanding into new markets represents both the greatest opportunity and the greatest challenge for many ambitious SaaS companies. At G2's Reach Europe event, a panel of go-to-market experts shared their knowledge of what works—and what doesn't—when pursuing international growth.

The session featured Tom Glason (CEO of Scalewise and founder of Pavilion UK), Alice de Courcy (CMO of Cognism), and Steffen Hedebrandt (CMO at DreamData) to discuss the realities of market expansion.

As SaaS companies navigate tightening budgets and increasingly selective buyers, these leaders offered an honest look at their successes and failures across European markets.

The reality of market expansion

Tom Glason started the discussion by highlighting a fundamental truth about market expansion, "Entering a new market isn't just about opening a local office or translating a website. It's about how you go and plan effectively, how you de-risk the investment, how you prove demand, and how you ultimately execute in a way that drives efficient growth."

This sentiment echoed throughout the conversation as the panelists shared their experiences navigating the high-stakes world of international growth. Companies often feel they can copy and paste their existing strategy into a new region, only to find that what works in one area doesn’t necessarily work in another.

Common mistakes when expanding into new markets

Both panelists shared candid experiences about their market expansion missteps, offering valuable lessons for other SaaS companies.

Alice de Courcy described Cognism's initial approach to the Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) regions, in addition to France and North America, sharing, "We didn’t lead with marketing first. Some would say we didn't dip our toes… we ran head first into the DACH market. The issue was we didn't validate that there was market opportunity in that region first, and we didn't focus on marketing to understand what resonated and what the product market fit looked like for that region."

The consequences were felt immediately – while they thought they could lean on hiring experts in the region, plus the considerable investment into ensuring these hires were successful, there was too much risk on the line. She explains, “We didn’t plan for the time lag required for establishing market presence and went too heavy, too quickly.”

Steffen Hedebrandt reinforced this point, "It's probably a lot harder than you expect. It's easy to pull up a spreadsheet, find the number of ICPs in the market, and then say that you'll capture 10% of those." 

The reality, he explained, includes numerous cold starts: zero brand recognition, messaging that might not resonate, potential product feature gaps, and unfamiliar local regulations.

The marketing-first approach to new markets that works

A key theme throughout the discussion was the importance of a measured, marketing-led approach to testing and entering new markets that is informed with trusted data to ensure you are enhancing your chances of success.

For Steffen, he has leaned into strategies at Dreamdata like:

• Plan upfront: Study the market in the region and what an ICP looks like in the market you’re looking to target.
• Make a list: Come up with the experiments you want to run to reach these personas.
• Learning loops: Try things with minimal resources to see how the market reacts. When you know what works, keep with that strategy as you move forward.
• Use G2 Intent Data: Use this data to run LinkedIn ads targeting specific ICP accounts that have done product level research on G2. By targeting in-market ICP accounts you’ll deliver better ROAS.

Alice also shared how Cognism refined their approach when entering the French market, "I think of things in terms of low effort but high impact. From a marketing perspective, first and foremost, we needed to see if we could bring in French traffic through having a localized approach to our SEO and website efforts through translation."

Measuring success: the right metrics at the right time

Both Alice and Steffen shared their unique perspectives on measuring market expansion success.

Steffen highlighted the importance of patience and looking at early signals: "The average journey is 192 days from first touch to an account being won. I think it’s crucial for people to consider what the earliest signals are that they can study to show that this expansion is moving in the right direction."

Alice shared Cognism's crucial planning perspective: "Make sure you don't hold too much weight on a new region. They should be the additional upside, and if it works, that's great. But you shouldn’t build your whole plan around their success because that's where you can get into trouble."

Regarding budget allocation, Alice suggests, "It should be 80/20 or 90/10, depending on your risk level or appetite, which is usually dictated by your resources and the risk appetite of your CEO and your board."

Alice also highlighted that different regions operate in different ways, which need to be applied to how you set benchmarks. She noted, "In the DACH region, if people say they're going to attend a demo, they tend to attend a demo. The drop-off rates are so much lower than you get in the UK and America."

This highlights the importance of developing region-specific benchmarks rather than applying home market expectations universally.

How to build credibility for your brand in new markets

To wrap things up, Steffan and Alice shared tactics for establishing trust in unfamiliar territories:

Steffen recommended:

• Collecting and showcasing customer reviews to help create new pipeline with prospects
• Creating communities where prospects can see existing users
• Developing regional case studies as soon as possible
• Leveraging local thought leaders for credibility

Alice added:

• Attending events when you're building a brand in a region to start to gain brand awareness that otherwise you may not get access to that audience.
• Using tools like Noble that allow prospects to speak with existing customers

The path forward into new markets

Successful market expansion requires patience, methodical testing, and a willingness to adapt. As Tom Glason stated, "The expansion efforts need to have the right strategy, the right execution, and, importantly, the right success measures."

By understanding and following the measured, marketing-first approach outlined by these experienced leaders, B2B SaaS companies can significantly reduce the risks of entering new markets as they maximize their chances of sustainable growth.

If you missed G2 Reach Europe, you’re in luck! You can watch on-demand videos of all of our sessions here.