The Ansoff matrix is a strategic planning tool that provides a framework to help executives, senior managers, and marketers devise strategies for future business growth. It is named after Russian American Igor Ansoff, an applied mathematician and business manager, who created the concept.

Ansoff, in his 1957 paper, "Strategies for Diversification", provided a definition for product-market strategy as "a joint statement of a product line and the corresponding set of missions which the products are designed to fulfill". He describes four growth alternatives for growing an organization in existing or new markets, with existing or new products. Each alternative poses differing levels of risk for an organization.

Market penetration is a growth strategy where an organization aims to expand using its existing offerings (products and services) within current markets. In simpler terms, it seeks to increase its market share in the existing market landscape. It involves attracting new customers, retaining existing ones, or acquiring competitors to capture more of the existing market. To achieve increased sales for its current products, the company adopts more assertive promotion and distribution strategies.

This can be accomplished by:

Market penetration is generally considered the least risky of the four options, as it leverages the company's established strengths and market knowledge.

In a market development strategy, an organization tries to expand into new markets, geographies or countries. It does not require significant investment in R&D or product development and the management team can leverage existing products and take them to a different market.

This can be accomplished by:

This strategy is moderately risky by virtue of the fact that they're selling a products with proven strategies.