Certainly, when you have a business, you want it to grow, solidify in the market and one day fly higher.
Thanks to the Internet, it is possible that this flight reaches distances that we could never imagine a few decades ago.
Today, those distances are covered with just a click and any entrepreneur, no matter how ambitious, must have an international marketing plan in mind in order to take their brand beyond the borders of their homeland.
When we talk about, we don’t want you to think about attacking the European market, for example, in the same way that you do it nationally.
What we want to show here is that, thinking strategically, you must be prepared to act in other countries. After all, we never know when an opportunity like that may arise.
So why not prepare beforehand to have everything under control from the start?
What is international marketing?
When we talk about international marketing we are referring to strategies for planning marketing actions, production, disclosure and promotion of your product and service in an international sphere that are suitable for diverse audiences and cultures.
It seems complicated, but we are going to give you an example so that you can see it more clearly:
Uber, a North American transportation app, discovered an opportunity in other countries to make a difference when it comes to locomotion.
How was it possible?
Only after a lot of research to find out which other countries had problems similar to the app’s country of origin and still didn’t have a solution.
But do not think that Uber did not need to adapt to the cultures of the countries where it entered.
In Brazil, for example, it was necessary to understand political, cultural, economic and even social issues to offer this transportation service. And after some adjustments (which continue to be made) the company managed to establish itself in the territory.
Also, don’t think that international marketing was only possible after the Internet.
Coca-Cola, for example, has been in the global market for years and there are few countries that do not have this giant North American beverage brand in their economy.
However, with the automation and acceleration that some tools allow, it is now possible for you to think about ways of globalization from the beginning of your business.
What is the exact time to internationalize?
You must understand that the moment of expansion of your brand can be a great challenge.
There are two big mistakes that many entrepreneurs make:
- They miss the opportunity to attack a certain market;
- They internationalize before they are really ready.
To avoid these problems and find the right moment to globalize your business, you need to keep a few things in mind:
Find out if the new market needs your brand
- Is there room for your growth in such a country?
- Who are your competitors?
- What are the peculiarities of your audience?
You need to understand that the populations of the countries are totally different from each other. So do your research thoroughly before going to the new market.
Make sure you already have a loyal following in your country
It is necessary to have a consolidated base in your market to be able to invest abroad.
Businesses that prematurely go to other countries are lost in the middle of the road precisely because they do not have a loyal public that supports them at the time of expansion.
Evaluate the loyalty of that public and the profit it gave you in the last quarter (or a longer period) to understand if you really have the necessary financial investment to expand.
Keep your team motivated and prepared to perform in another country
That means that you must make clear your intention to go somewhere else and see who wants to be by your side on that new journey.
Your team needs to be aware of the new responsibilities and challenges and know that it will be a new beginning for the company, in a totally different place than they are used to.
Your finances must be organized
If you are still going through a restructuring process in that sector, it is better to calm down and wait a bit.
The world economy may have unforeseen events that if your finances are not structured, you may not be able to overcome.
A good strategy that unites all these suggestions is the concept of:
- Product
- Price
- Square
- Promotion
Align these concepts and you will have a good outlook to reach a new market.
How to start your international marketing?
If you’ve come this far, I’m sure you’re ready to start investing outside your country. Then get ready for another series of suggestions that are essential to start structuring your international marketing strategy:
1. Research the local culture
Are we insisting on that? Yes. And we have to insist, because that is the most important part of your entire international marketing strategy.
Research the people in your new market.
Do not stop learning the language of the place. Not only speak the native language, but also maintain your Internet presence in that language.
Also, find out about the political moment in the country, what the social indicators are and how the people of the country behave on the Internet.
All this will help you when it comes to acting in that new market.
2. Adapt your brand or your product
By learning more about the local culture, you will be able to perceive if your brand can behave differently by offering new products or services that meet a new demand.
Therefore it is necessary to carry out adaptations.
Do not be afraid to reinvent yourself and learn to act according to the customs of the place.
3. Find out about the country’s bureaucratic rules
Bureaucracy… that unfriendly word, isn’t it?
But it is unavoidable and you need to understand what you have to do so that your trademark is in accordance with the laws of the country in question.
- What tax documents do you need?
- What taxes do you have to pay?
The rules for selling, hiring employees and distributing your product vary from country to country. In this case, having a local employee can be an effective solution.
4. Replicate strategies that work
As we have already said, you need to be aware that your business is well established in your country.
Then, check what strategies you used and filter the ones you can use elsewhere.
Replicable strategies are those that serve a global demand in the same way. For example:
But do not think that all this will work in any country.
As we already said, it all depends on the local culture. If you research the market and realize that people do not use email constantly, it is worthless to invest in that strategy, because it will not bring you any benefit.
5. Target paid campaigns
We talk about social networks because they can be essential to be present in the new place.
That is, before acting in loco, see if the public reacts well on your networks.
But don’t be left expecting only organic results.
Invest in some targeted campaigns for that location. Evaluate in their media, without forgetting other suggestions that we already gave here (the language and culture of the place).
Unwrap yourself with confidence and without fear!
With all these suggestions we believe that you can achieve success in this new bet in your entrepreneurial career.
Do not stop risking when you think you manage to meet a demand that really needs your product or your services.
Invest in a strong marketing strategy that the chances of mistakes abroad will be less. But, as we said, always be sure that the moment is ideal for you and that you are really ready for this new challenge.
It will be a new beginning, but one that will count on your experience in the business to overcome each challenge.
This will help you structure each step of the day, in your research and stay closer to the public you want to retain.
It examines successful cases, those that went through some difficulty to establish themselves in other countries and also those that failed. This way you will be able to foresee some possible obstacles and you will have time to think about how to overcome them.
You may have already realized that we are talking all the time about a business that already has some experience in the market.
If you feel attracted and want to look for new challenges in other countries, but you don’t have your own business yet and you think that internationalization can only be done with physical products, discover that there is an entire online market that you can explore.
Don’t you know what we’re talking about?
Read our post and learn.
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