You’ve heard people talk about the global marketplace, and today digital advertising makes it easy for almost any business to think beyond borders when seeking new customers.
We’re going to look at the opportunities and realities of international marketing, focusing on how to evaluate international markets for your product and which practical and cultural issues you need to be ready for.
Let’s say you have a vintage record shop with a stellar reputation. Your high-end equipment and expertise have helped you stand out and attract an elite customer base. Business is good, but you want to reach more of those customers. You’ve eyed some of the markets abroad and reckon it’d be a good move to sell your products in Europe—and beyond.
So where do you start? First, you need to learn about the target market in each area you’re considering, and find out how best to reach them.
For instance, with digital advertising, look at search traffic, competition and pricing. This will give you a clear view of your potential markets, so you can decide where your products will be well-received.
You can use search trend reports, geographic data in your web analytics, and marketing insight tools to help determine which markets would be the best place to start expanding your business.
Once you know where you want to go, you may need to overcome language barriers. How do you communicate and market to customers and prospects without losing anything in translation?
You might need to translate and localise your website’s content. Automated translation services are rarely 100% accurate, so it’s probably a good idea to have a native speaker who can help you confirm the content has the right tone.
Your new customers and prospects from different cultures and languages will need to communicate with you, too. Be ready from the start with a plan to support those customer service needs. Next, think about your infrastructure and the systems you’ll need to properly support your expansion into international markets.
Don’t forget about packaging considerations for fragile components, VAT, and any legal or regulatory issues. Once that’s resolved, it’s time to review your e-commerce and payment solutions.
Although many e-commerce systems are able to set up multinational transactions, you’ll have to customise payment options and other settings. We’ll discuss this further in a later video.
Even with great cross-border e-commerce systems, you’ll still want to think ahead to the next step—getting your products to your new international customers.
What’s required to ship and deliver your orders? What about refunds? Customer service and support?
Marketing to new customers in international markets is an exciting prospect and one that could expand your business tremendously. Mapping out your plan in advance sets the stage for success. Are you ready to fully explore international expansion?
In the next videos, we’ll explain how to research and validate the market for your product in new countries. Then we’ll help you handle translation and localisation, and discuss the infrastructure and support you’ll need.
Finally, we’ll go over adapting your e-commerce and delivery processes for an international market.
Stay tuned, and your business will be positioned for success in these exciting new markets!