How to export your brand's marketing abroad?

Probably many of you are considering, have been considering or dream of opening the international market for your business. It is a very important step and we understand that at first it can feel a little bit scary. - How do I know if we’re ready? Where to start from? What countries should we open to? So many questions that today we hope we can help you with.

Turning your business into an international company and expanding your market, it’s a great way to grow your company. However, it can be complex to understand how to do so and where to start from. There’s no doubt that digital marketing will become a huge ally to internationalise your brand. With no need to open a physical store in international territory, you can reach new customers.

By triggering a digital marketing strategy you can quickly position your brand in a whole new market and today we are bringing you some of the aspects that you should consider to start your international digital marketing strategy.

Set your goals

It seems pretty obvious but, sometimes we fall for dreaming big and although that’s great, when it comes to opening a new market, we need to be as specific as possible when we establish our goals. Maybe you want to compete with a specific brand? Bring a new product to that market?

Choose your right digital marketing tactics

Digital marketing offers you a large number of methods and approaches, but that doesn’t mean that you have to go for all of them. Pick the ones that are more convenient for your goals - that’s why the more specific that your goals are, the better- so don’t get greedy while creating your strategy.

SEO and Social Media marketing are a must

These two digital marketing strategies should be always included in your plan. I’d say that they are the non-negotiable ones. However, you want to make them right. 

• SEO: avoid a mere translation of your own language. I’m sure that you made stunning native language SEO. So to hit a new market you should build your SEO strategy from scratch and make sure that your business information is written in a SEO friendly language, as well as the way that people would type to search for your product. 
• Social media marketing: To smash a social media strategy, just make sure that you know very well what the social media behaviour of your new international market is and act accordingly. Not all social media platforms are used in the same way for the same age segments, gender, and the rest of “your persona” aspects.
  

Establishing the scope

Thinking of internationalising your company can feel very exciting, BUT; don’t try to reach all or too many international markets at the same time. 

Identify the top markets that will most likely give the new customers that you’re seeking. And by this I mean, once again, the more specific you are, the better! For example, if you want to hit the German market, it would be very smart that you try to find those German regions where your product can hit the market more successfully. Germany is a big country, so to open the German market maybe you don’t need to trigger a digital marketing strategy across the whole country. 

So a great way to open a new market is to find your niche regions where to start from. 

Study your options to determine your best next move: once that you have been present for a while in your niche regions. It is time to understand your next move within that market. Maybe you want to focus on becoming a leader brand in those regions, or just expand to new ones.

Developing flexibility and scalability

Remember to always customise your approach depending on the situation in those areas. It is very important that customers feel that you’re in tune with they’re reality. For example, Mother’s day is not celebrated the same day in the whole world. Or maybe there’s a national holiday that you want to include in your communication and content strategy. 

• Get ready to adapt to changes: always keep in mind that new regulations about businesses or products can arise in your new market. 
• Digital marketing strategy scaliably depending on the conditions of the market: avoid creating a plan that is too anchored on certain personalities, places, pop culture references or competing products.
  

Building relationships

One of the main goals of your digital marketing strategy when it comes to internationalisation is to make customers feel special and connected to your brand. If you would seek such a purpose within your own territory, it becomes even more important when you are trying to conquer international lands. 

Make sure that your new audience feels that your brand is on the same page as their reality and their idiosyncrasy. 

Moreover, be responsive to customers' inquiries. Address complaints or questions as soon as possible. If you are trying to attract new customers, don't make them feel that they are taken for granted or just one of the many your business deals with impersonally.

Invest in a multilingual customer service team. When you’re searching for a digital marketing agency to help you open international markets. Make sure that they can offer you multilingual customer service. It is crucial that they offer your business a native approach to your new market. Prospective customers develop a positive first impression when their concerns are addressed in their mother tongue.

Monitoring and evaluating

Document the implementation of your international marketing plan and measure the performance. 

• Record the progress. Seek for a constant update of your strategy  and assess if they have achieved what they were meant to achieve.
• The budget spent on online ads, social media promotions and other forms of digital marketing should translate to something palpable. It could be in the form of increased brand awareness or a bump in sales.
• Be patient: I’m sure that you know very well how to hit your own market but, it doesn’t matter how solid your business and digital marketing strategy is for your national market; you will need to be patient to reach the same results and have the same strong position in a new international market
  

Conclusion

• Define very specific goals before implementing any digital marketing strategy. 
• Keep such goals in mind to choose the right digital marketing path. 
• Focus on a precise international market instead of opening too many broad new markets at the same time. 
• Monitor and evaluate your progress.
• Be patient.