International Market Research
As an international marketer, I often encounter businesses that are not using their website effectively within an international marketing strategy.
Good web marketing practices will get your website to work well. But if you are really serious about developing your international business you need more than a website. You need to touch your international prospects and clients at different levels.
You need multichannel marketing for several important reasons:
- This is how you will get to understand these new markets without having foreign staff.
- This is how you will get more foreign market feedback and interaction.
- A website alone just does not break through certain cross cultural barriers.
So how do you go about finding the right channels you should use to reach one particular country?
There is no easy way to get the answer. The right marketing channels for your business depend on many different factors.
The good news, is that finding the right channels is something you can do yourself… but only once you jump in an start interacting with your foreign markets.
Do some quick research to make the best educated guess you can. Then start communicating with your foreign market, and plan to re-focus, re-target and adapt your communication as you interact with your new markets.
Need some ideas on where to get some international market research? Here is one.
I read an interesting post on the Duct Tape Marketing Blog yesterday and came across a report I have not seen before.
If you are deciding which marketing channels to use online, this report is worth a read.
There are a two things I noticed in this report.
- Different countries have different speeds of adopting new media.
- Last years trends have changed dramatically in some countries.
Is this report the best out there? No, but it is a good start. Do a some more research… and get on the phone and confirm your findings with appropriate people in your target countries.
Here are a few more International Market Research articles:
- Target Market Research Versus Persona Marketing, Or Both?
- Here’s A Blog To Help Your International Market Research
- Why Is International Market Research So Important?
- How Do You Learn About Your International Markets?
- How To Know Where Your International Markets Really Are With Business Blogging
- How Do Your Foreign Prospects Use Their Search Engines
- 5 Factors To Consider When Marketing To Different Cultures
- Target Your Global Market With A Good Understanding Of Their Demographics
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Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural Marketer and International Sales Specialist, with over 25 years field experience in international business development.
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