Nowadays, with the rise of globalization and the internet, companies can easily extend their brand into foreign markets and promote their products and services.
To achieve this, you don’t have to be a huge company with thousands of employees and a huge marketing budget. To succeed, both large and small companies must have a well-developed strategy in place.
As the world is becoming increasingly connected, your product or service can easily find demand across borders, but you must think about adopting the best global promotion strategies in order to reach new heights of success.
Below we share some tips on how to get started and implement the best advertising practices that will help your business gain a global foothold.
Do Your Market Research
Your first task when wanting to explore and promote your brand in new markets should be to gain a better understanding of the local and cultural markets. Try to clarify your customers’ needs and consumer behavior so that you can tailor your advertising strategy to suit them.
Don’t forget to identify any potential competition, regardless if it’s local or non-local. See what works for them, how well they’re doing, and most importantly evaluate the areas where they’re lagging behind so that your business can capitalize on that.
Different international markets have different purchasing habits, needs, preferences, and priorities than your home market, and tracking these differences is key to figuring out how to reach your audience.
Use Social Media
Social media, as we already know, is a popular tool that brings people together and allows followers across the world to explore new brands. When looking to advertise your brand internationally, your main focus should be on increasing your follower base and increasing the engagement rate. For instance, Instagram is an excellent channel to find your ideal target audience. However, you must learn how to get Instagram followers because the more followers you have, the better chance you will have at breaking into new markets and making more sales.
Once you have a solid follower base, try to share international content on various social media platforms so you’re not isolating clients. Having multilingual social media accounts is a perfect way to enable non-English speaking consumers to smoothly navigate your products and services.
Invest in Your Website
Your website plays a big role in your company’s identity and how other people will perceive your brand. For international customers, it’s the first point of contact and maybe the closest they may ever come to getting to know you. It forms their first impression of your business and this is the reason why you should focus on making your website as strong as possible to fuel long-term business growth.
One of the main things to consider is to make sure your website performs well within search engines. Search engines are one of the primary ways that potential customers discover new brands so you want your site to appear high on search results. Optimize your website based on specific factors that the search engines look at.
For instance, search engines rank faster websites higher as they offer to provide a better user experience. One way to boost your website’s speed is by using SEO VPS hosting services as it will give a faster load time for your website and better reliability.
Provide Seamless and Secure Payment Method
To keep your product readily available in order markets, you should pay your international distributors through reliable means. You can have the best marketing strategies in place but if your clients are unable to access your products or services, it’s futile. Slow and costly payment systems are a major disadvantage to small businesses that are looking to access international markets.
Providing an efficient payment system is in itself a great advertisement for your brand which your clients and business partners will greatly appreciate.
Understand the Language and Culture
To be able to advertise your brand internationally, you must gain a better understanding of different cultures and languages. You might already have a connection with a certain culture but if you don’t have any experience with that country, you should find a local partner or representative to give you the necessary insight into what makes the market get excited.
The language people speak, the lifestyle they have, and purchasing decisions can vary greatly between countries. So when creating your marketing, make sure to not use any humor that could offend people. Try to gain as much insight into the specificities of each market and use it to your advantage.
Attend Trade Shows
Attending trade shows is a great way to network, make new contacts, and promote your brand. When you meet your contacts in person, it allows you to build and strengthen relationships with prospective clients and move them faster through the sales funnel.
Use these events to better understand your competitors, your target market, and work on finding new suppliers, and don’t miss out on the chance to meet exciting prospects.
Final Thoughts
Branching out into international markets is an exciting journey that requires planning and a good understanding of the buyers and the market. Use social media, build your website and gain a broad understanding of the local and cultural markets and you’ll be able to successfully advertise your brand internationally.
