The rise of the Internet has enabled a lot of businesses to open up their products and services to a global audience. To do this effectively, though, you’re going to need to put together a marketing plan that targets an overseas audience. With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at a number of steps that you can take to ensure you market your business to another territory successfully.
Choose your market with care
The first step is to choose your market with care. The global landscape is changing all of the time. There are emerging markets that you may not have even considered a few years ago, such as the United Arab Emirates.
You need to conduct extensive research to ensure the market you choose is fit for purpose. There are a number of factors that will determine this, including the market sector and size.
Some of the different areas you should look into include:
- Suitable market size and demand
- Ensuring the market has adequate business in English and there are cultural similarities
- Products and packaging do not need to be changed
- Straightforward distribution with a suitable supply chain, infrastructure, and climate
- Your product can command the gross profit required
- You are able to tap into a market that already exists
- Your product is culturally appropriate and/or you can see a clear path for your product to be introduced into the market without offending anyone
Revise your digital marketing strategy to reflect the environment
There is no denying that international marketing is more complicated than domestic marketing. It requires a different kind of market research combined with resources and commitment. Above all, though, it needs a different set of strategies.
To attain your global marketing objectives, you need to develop an appreciation and understanding of the following:
- Differences in business practices and different levels of competitive intensity.
- Legal and political differences.
- Cultural differences, such as aesthetics, values, and languages.
- Differences in technological, economic, and industrial levels amongst countries and their varying skills, capabilities, expectations, and standards.
Invest in relevant content
You have no doubt heard the phrase that “content is king” before, and this is definitely the case! However, you will need to make sure your content connects with your new audience on their terms. This means communicating in their native language and using their preferred digital channels.
Yes, this does mean making an investment in the localization and translation of your content. You may want to consider transcreation, which involves creating entirely new content for a certain region.
The chances are that you are already creating content of some sort at your business. This could be blog posts, podcasts, image galleries, or YouTube videos. Hopefully, the format you have selected reflects the content preferences of your audience. From that main platform, you can then strategically share your content through digital channels, i.e. messaging apps, social networks, and email.
When done effectively, you can grow your business to the next level with global content marketing. This is so long as you understand how important it is to adapt your content to every regional market.
Make sure your ideas and messages translate accurately
If you want to avoid intercultural blunders overseas, your marketing teams need to work together with translators.
Your marketing materials are designed to elicit specific emotions from your target audience. If you are to resonate with your target market, you need to go beyond simple translation. Your content may contain auditory, visual, verbal or non-verbal, olfactory, and tactile elements that demand expert translation services.
Expert translators will understand the key messages that you are trying to get across and they will ensure perfect translation so that you are able to resonate with the audience and capture their attention and emotion. After all, it is the nuances of language that makes all of the difference.
Your digital marketing framework must be scalable and sustainable
Your overseas marketing campaign is like adding a room onto a house whenever there is a new family member, rather than working from a master plan.
It is imperative that your marketing framework is sustainable AND scalable at the same time. Your program must be maintained with your current and future resources, yet it needs to work with you, expanding and growing as your business does.
It is also imperative to ensure that you test your efforts so that you can view and experience them from the eyes of your audience. This is something that can be achieved with a VPN, as VPNs will enable you to bypass any country-based restrictions in place. VPNGeeks have reviewed all of the VPNs available today, helping you to find the right one for your needs.
So there you have it: an insight into the different steps that you can take to market your business to another territory. If you follow the advice that has been provided, you can give your business a great shot at making it on a global scale.
