Content Marketing To Reach International Markets

By Cindy King  ·  22 Comments
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In a recent post I explained why “link exchanges” do not entice me as a blogger, and how I use proactive link sharing to develop strong international social networks to get international clients for my business.

But what if you need to get better results in Google searches?

Let me tell you what I did.  Now, I have to warn you, I am going to talk about something most people online want to avoid at all costs…

…Work

But you either do it, or you spend lots of effort trying to avoid it without any long lasting results.  

The Content

Remember, the internet is based on content.  Yes, even for international markets.  What matters?

  • Quantity of content
  • The subject
  • Quality of your content
  • Diversity of content
  • Where you put your content

Google is getting better and better at figuring out the real people results:

  • How popular your content is with real people
  • It’s value to real people
  • And who is trying to cheat to get better Google results

Google looks at your content.

The Google algorithm is used in most countries to decipher your content.  The majority of the different search engines out there use algorithms based on content.

Content For Results

You need to have content to come up in search engine results, and this is the same no matter where you want to get good search engine results.  The more content you have the better it is to be seen.

Of course, things are not simple and links are also important.  Those algorithms are complex.  But people do not like to work and this is how certain practices became popular:

  • Excessive link exchanges
  • Article spinning software

The question is: Do you want to do real work?  Or do you want to hire cheap labor to send out hundreds of emails requesting link exchanges? And the problem with cheap labor is that it does not have the business insights you have to create content that connects with your markets.  Constantly adapting strategic content to new markets will get you international visibility.  I just do not think this is something you cannot outsource.  Even if your outsourcing partner provides content at 80% of the quality you could create, you are still leaving a window open to competition.

How I Got Front Page Results On Google

There is a sure way to get great Google results…. lots of good content online. But this takes time and this is why you need to get started and keep it up over time.

Last year I wrote 2 articles a day, every day.

  • 365 days x 2 = 730 articles.
  • All related to cross-cultural competence and international business.

But that was not the only thing I did.  I also submitted the articles to at least 1 article directory.  During that year, I tested and compared the different article directories to find out what worked. I even tries a software to submit to multiple article directories.  The trouble was that it took a long time to set up and most of the article directories disappeared after a short while or did not bring in traffic.  Now I only really use the leading article directory, EzineArticles.

That is called “Article Marketing”.  It takes work. Try it.  You have to learn how to stay at it for the long haul.

The hard part is that you may not see any results the first 3 months. It might take 6 months for traffic show up, but the results do come in.  And the results stick around just like your articles… until someone else comes in with more content on your subject.

My blog comes up on the first page of Google for many of the topics around my core subject.  I don’t need to chase after Google results as I see some people do. And I don’t need to get into link exchanges.

Article Marketing For International Visibility

Do you remember that I live in France and target English-speaking countries?

Article marketing also works for international markets.  It is extremely easy to do if you are like me: based in a non-English speaking country targeting an English speaking market.

Now if you are saying that I had it easy because you are based in an English speaking country and article marketing would be more difficult for you because you want to come up on the first page of Google in a foreign language… well, you might be wrong.

There are many more pages in English than in many other language.

More pages = more noise = more content needed to be heard

It is very easy to get visibility in certain foreign markets simply by publishing content in the foreign language and on your subject.  The search engines can then do their job.  Remember volume counts.  And you need less volume to sift to the top in many foreign countries simply because there is less volume of content in the foreign language online than in English.

Yes, you will need to produce content in a foreign language… but think of creating foreign content in consistent small steps over time.  This is a great way to approach international business development.

I can imagine some companies tweeting, in French for example, and linking back to an international website in parallel with building strategic foreign language content for online visibility.  Of course, success would depend on what you sell and who your market is.

By the way, if you are interested in a French content creation, email me, I know a native French speaker who offers this service, is good and is at a competitive price range here.

Of course, foreign language content is not a miracle solution to open new foreign markets.  There are other deeper questions about international marketing and adjusting marketing strategies to different cultures.  Nevertheless, foreign language content can be a stepping stone approach to get to know more about a specific foreign market.

Blogs, Twitter, Posterous and other content-based social media platforms popular in other countries can be used strategically to develop foreign market feedback and foreign business intelligence.

Why People Avoid Article Marketing

Maybe article marketing is considered an “old” web marketing tactic.  The truth is that very few people are willing to do the work involved.

First, people try to take short cuts with the content creation:

  • Article writing is outsourced – you need to think of your value proposition when you write your articles to get good business results.  You need more than good content.  You need good content that does something for your business.
  • Too few articles do not get first page Google results – you need to go into article writing for the long run.  Everyone I have spoken with who has done it, says the same thing: you do not see results for months, but over time it is extremely powerful.

Then, there is the justifiable apprehension of entering unknown foreign markets.

It is always best to take things slowly when entering a new foreign market.  This is where strategic foreign content creation offers a great opportunity.

Article marketing is just one aspect of content marketing.  The same content that helps Google to find you online.

Culture-Customized Content Combined With Article Marketing And Social Media

It is possible to use culture-customized content within an international social media marketing strategy… and to take a new foreign market entry in multiple steps.

  • Culture-customized content makes it possible to connect with foreign markets
  • Social media helps you to connect across the distance and get the feedback you need to move forward

Culture-customized content can give you the time to create relationships and connect with people in a new markets to learn how to adapt your sales and marketing for new clients.

For businesses this is a good beginning for international social networking.

What do you think?  Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

  • Have you ever adapted your content to reach for international markets?
  • Would you invest small consistent steps over time to open new foreign markets?
  • How do you adapt your content to connect with your international clients on their social media platforms?
Photos from Shutterstock.

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Cindy King