Successful and growing businesses all eventually reach a point where their product or service is doing well in the domestic market but growth is beginning to stagnate. What you need to do in such circumstances is to spread your wings and begin to take on the world. However, before you can do that, you need to be able to market your business internationally. Here is how you can start reaching out to other potential markets.
Enlist experts
If you already have a diverse team with backgrounds in other countries, then now is the time to talk to them about their ideas. If not, then you will have to get some outside help from experts in the market you are trying to break into. You could also make a concerted effort to recruit new staff who have knowledge of the new market, especially since this is going to be a long-term strategy.
Make sure you do not offend
The worst way to start your foray into a new market is to offend your target audience by saying the wrong thing or by using the wrong imagery. Every country has a unique culture and it is your responsibility to know something about that before you embark on a marketing campaign abroad. For example, if you are looking to get into the American market, don’t make light of religion or patriotism in your branding.
Prepare for differences in technology
This is an issue that is very important when it comes to China. That is because, in China, they have different social media platforms from most of the rest of the world. Instead of Twitter, they have Weibo and instead of Facebook, there is Renren. This means that your successful Twitter, Instagram and Facebook profiles mean nothing in China and you will need to concentrate your efforts on building a presence on the Chinese social media channels.
Learn from other companies
Plenty of other companies have failed or succeeded in trying to take their brand global and you should learn from all of the examples. Football teams are great at marketing themselves internationally and they have good reason to do so – if they want to attract foreign talent then they need to make themselves well-known, as well as playing good football. Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who took over in 2017, brought with him much hope from Forest fans that he would help provide the funds for the club to increase its global marketing.
Invest in translation
If you want to avoid embarrassment and get your message across clearly, then this is absolutely essential. There is a long list of brand mistranslations and you would do well to avoid joining them. A couple of choice examples include Colgate launching a new toothpaste in France called Cue, without realising it was also the name of a French pornographic magazine, and KFC leaving Chinese consumers a bit concerned when “Finger licking good” was translated as “eat your fingers off.”