For businesses looking to relocate overseas the rewards can be enormous. However, going global with an offshore company formation can be a difficult transition.
In this article we look at a number of tips to get your international marketing off to the right start.
1 – Research
Cultural differences from state to state can be subtle but their impact can be huge. That’s why research is essential. General Motors discovered the value of research when launching the Chevrolet Nova in South America. They failed to realise that Chevrolet translates as ‘It doesn’t go’. Hardly surprising that the model didn’t sell as well as expected!
Take time to fully understand the preferences and nuances of the new country. Ideally pay a visit to the target country to meet local customers, carry out market research and engage with others in the same field.
2 – Get to Know Your Competition
The basics that apply in your home country will also be applicable in the target location for you. Always look at what your competition is up to.
- What gaps exist in the market that they have overlooked?
- How can your business stand out?
- Why haven’t they addressed certain marketing gaps?
- What do they do well and what are they failing at?
- What is your unique selling point?
You can never know too much about your competitors!
3 – Get Some Local Guidance
In the US there are few regulations regarding terms such as better or best. However, if you were to carry out your marketing in Germany or Belgium there are very strict guidelines referring to these sorts of phrases.
Attaining competent local advice is essential when it comes to marketing your business as you cannot make assumptions that regulations abroad will be the same as your home market. Examples include issues such as comparative marketing.
In addition find out what laws there are relating to sales promotions such as discounting, BOGOFF promotions or contests. Your local advisors may have international experts who can advise you, or alternatively using sites such as LinkedIn can help you access the relevant professionals quickly and easily.
4 – Customise your SEO for the Relevant Market
One of the first steps is to understand which search engines are popular in your target countries. In non-English speaking countries, local search engines are usually preferable as English language search engines such as Google don’t always provide the most accurate local results. Bear in mind that a simple translation is not enough – to optimise your business for SEO you will need to customise the content.
Finally make use of the appropriate native keywords. This is best done by native speakers as keywords are not just a list of words – they are shortened thoughts used by search engines to find particular content. This means keywords are influenced by culture and that is why using a native speaker tends to achieve much better results.