Technology has made the world a small marketplace – and to be precise, the internet is the marketplace. It’s the tool that allows your business to reach international clients.
However, most businesses don’t leverage the internet for global clients, solely because they don’t understand international digital marketing. And even those that do don’t have the right strategy to make the most of it.
But all that is about to change.
Below, I’ve outlined for you the five secrets to unlocking your international market.
- Work on your website
Your website is your floodgate to the world. It’s the only thing that international clients can use to discover your services and products. If you want to expand your reach to this new market, you need to improve some aspects of your website.
For one, you’ll need to increase the number of languages available on your site.
You may have excellent products and a good advertising strategy, but if the website can’t be translated into different foreign languages, most international customers will bounce.
Furthermore, the layout and media content on your website should support the international audience. Ensure that all of your images and videos are culturally sensitive and that they are diverse enough to cover most cultures.
- Focus on international SEO
Your website may be targeting particular countries, but unless you tell Google your intention, your content may never reach the intended audience.
The best way to do this is through international SEO.
Unlike what most people believe, international SEO is not complicated. With the right optimization strategies, you’ll quickly build an international audience for your products. However, you need to understand that Google isn’t the no. 1 search engine in every country.
Countries like China and Russia use Baidu and Yandex, respectively, as their primary search engines. So, trying to optimize for Google in these countries will be a waste of time. Paid advertising may be a better option in such a case.
- Build a relationship
Maintaining an international audience may seem like a tough feat, but it’s really not. The secret is to ensure that your customer feels special. You can do this by engaging with them on social media, replying to their emails, and occasionally giving them discounts.
The more engagement time you have with your audience, the closer they’ll feel to you, and so, they’ll be more obliged to purchase your products.
Another crucial way of ensuring your audience feels special, is by creating content that works with their culture. Different countries have different cultures, and so, even the slightest of jokes can mess up your entire business.
You also need to ensure that the content you’re putting out considers your audience’s gender and age. When your international content is good, marketing is much easier.
- Research, Research
The biggest challenge yet, when opting for international marketing is research. There are a number of things that could be happening in your target country which affect market trends and consumer behavior.
This means that to stay relevant in their market, you need to constantly research on consumer behavior of your audience.
As this can be a tedious and daunting task, hiring an international digital marketing team like the Media Group Worldwide greatly reduces the workload. Furthermore, international digital marketing agencies have a better understanding of the different markets, so they are better placed to help you.
- Have a flexible, scalable plan
The international audience can be a massive success for your business, but it can also be a big flop. So, you need to develop a flexible yet scalable plan for your international marketing strategy.
Your plan should allow you to adapt quickly to market changes, without losing out on customers. It should also allow you to reach more customers once you find your ideal market.
Final thoughts
With international digital marketing, there’s never a full-proof or a proven strategy. What’s important is to ensure that your strategy is flexible enough to handle all the changes that come within the market.