Cindy King's International Business Blog » article marketing

5 Tips For Great International Search Marketing

Cindy King — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:00:27 +0000

In international business your clients will look for you online because they expect a certain form of communication online from an international business. But they’ll need to find you online first and this is why search marketing is critical for your international marketing success today.

I recently came back from a trip to Toronto where I attended the Search Engine Strategies Conference. At the summit much of the talk on international search was about language and how many people fail to get the “translation” right for search marketing and this causes businesses to lose money.

But international marketers know that language is just the visible part of the challenge. Mastering the navigation among different languages while keeping your business focus requires a deeper skill set. And beyond this, there are the fundamental cross-cultural challenges of doing business with people who are different to your home market. This is where businesses are challenged to deepen their knowledge of marketing and how to learn about their own markets.

With this is mind, here are five tips for successful international search marketing that go beyond language skills and translation.

#1: Get To Know Your International Audiences

This is where your international business begins. People from different cultures are different. There are often opposing differences in how people like to do business. You can’t expect to connect with people in any meaningful manner unless you understand them well.

First you need to research your market. You also need to stimulate as much feedback as you can from each of your international markets. And while doing both of these you need to adopt a sort of cross-cultural lens to ensure that you come to the right conclusions.

Understanding your international audience starts with language and communication, but you also need cross-cultural competency to connect on a level deep enough to develop an international business.

#2: Get Your Research Right

There are a few ways where you can get your research wrong right from the beginning.

How you carry out your international search marketing campaign will depend on your business objectives. You’ll have different strategies for branding, selling products or qualifying leads. And you’ll need to adapt the research you carry out for each of these different business objectives.
There are a variety of reasons why it’s not always easy to interpret statistics and research in an international context. Most of these reasons relate back to cultural differences, different ways of doing things and differences in markets. Although you may get more traffic from one country, your best business opportunities may be within another country.
These cultural differences also impact language translations. The translations you use may not be the ones you need to obtain the information you need. This is why you need a local marketer to help find the right keywords to use. There are jobs where you absolutely must use humans… and humans with the right professional background.
And to complicate things, you also need to have a good understanding of how local markets use the web in your particular industry. The web continues to evolve for everyone and you need to have this local knowledge to get your international search marketing right.

It’s not easy to research international markets without actual international business experience and local expertise in both your particular market and in search marketing. You can save time and avoid potential blunders by working with people with these skills. If you don’t have this option, start small, take your time doing your international market research, and above all question all of your own assumptions. (Learning how to recognize your assumptions is a skill by itself.)

#3: Learn About Local Search Engines

The Google algorithm is used by most of the search engines out there. The only exceptions are for a few countries with non-Latin alphabets. It’s easy enough to find out the leading search engines in the countries you are targeting. But don’t assume that just because they use the same Google algorithm as you are used to in your own country that everything’s the same.

Spend a bit of time looking at how the local search engines work and monitor this regularly. Keep your search marketer’s hat on while doing this and you’ll probably notice some little differences. Use these little differences can help you strengthen your own international search marketing campaigns.

It’s often easier to rank for keywords in countries outside of the US, simply because there is less content, which means less competition for those keywords. So you need some fine skills in analyzing which keywords to target in different countries.

#4: Use Multiple Competencies

Language competency is essential to getting good international search results. But so is are good marketing skills, and marketing skills are needed both in understanding the local market and also in how this is applied online specifically for search marketing. This is why a successful international search marketing campaign is the fruit of good:

Translation
Search marketing
Local marketing expertise in your industry

Keep this in mind. You don’t want to rely solely on a translator or a search marketer or a local marketing expert. You’ll need to find the right balance within your international marketing team.

#5: Invest In Localization

This is just a reminder… For best results you’ll always need to have a localized web presence and this means:

Local language content
Local web host
Local domain registered locally
Local currency
Local address and shipping practices
Local physical address
And anything else that’s specific to your industry that needs to be local

Although it’s usually not possible to begin with 100% localization, you should keep striving towards this goal. Think local until it becomes second nature and you’ll get better results from your international marketing.

Now it’s your turn…

What tips can you share for successful international search marketing?
How important is search marketing to your international business success?
How does language impact your current international search marketing results?

International Web Marketing Specialties

Cindy King — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:00:30 +0000

International Web Marketing

I just read Tamar Weinberg’s internet marketing advice and noticed the different internet marketing specialties she listed:

Search Engine Optimization
Link Building
Affiliate Marketing
Pay Per Click Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Email Marketing
Content Marketing

I agree with Tamar when she says you can’t be an expert in every one of these. Most web marketers have one area they are really good at.

This got me thinking about the specialties I use to reach international audiences for my own business. The first thing I noticed is that I don’t use Link Building, Affiliate Marketing and Pay Per Click Marketing. And this is probably because I tend to jump right into new markets to learn everything I can about them first.

I don’t see myself getting into link building as it’s done by most people today. I tend to approach link building through social networking, more about that in a minute. But I do see link building changing in the future and I’ll probably be right there when it does because it will involve more meaningful networking.
And I don’t see myself ever getting big into pay per click marketing. But having said that, I’m closely following the results others get with Facebook advertising and may use something similar in small doses in the future.
Although I’m not really interested in the traditional affiliate marketing practices, I do a lot of networking and do use similar practices to build business networks. I can see myself joining in when this morphs into the business networking world a bit more.

After looking at the web marketing I do not specialize in, here is how I see my own international web marketing specialties.

International Social Networking

It all starts here for me. This is how I learn what to do next, the other tactics I need to use and whether my web marketing is on target or not. I rely on the feedback and constantly analyze results to learn more about my new international markets.

Social networking is a mindset and a way of being. It’s what you need for successful international web marketing.

Although Tamar doesn’t have social networking on her list, it is a part of good link building, affiliate marketing and social media marketing. And I think it is essential in international web marketing and needs to be in a category all by itself.

I would definitely say this is my strongest international web marketing specialty.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing goes hand in hand with international social networking because much of the social networking starts on social media.

Social media marketing is not always a big component of international web marketing. It really depends on where you’re based and which markets you want to reach. And you need to keep your finger on the social media pulse of the countries you’re interested in reaching, because things change rapidly.

I’m based in France and target an English speaking audience. So I use social media extensively to develop my international business network and everyone in a similar situation should do so too.

Social media marketing works very well for me. I’ve written before about how surprised I was when I realized my social media marketing was always 100% on target. And I’ve come to realize this is because of the similarities between my international business skills and the cross-cultural people skills.

My strong international business development skills make it easy for me to adapt business objectives into new environments.
And my strong cross-cultural skills come in very handy in this social environment. I know myself well enough to navigate between the social and the business focus, skills you pick up when doing business with people from different cultures.

I would say this is my second strongest web marketing specialty.

Content Marketing

I love the results you get from content marketing. There are organic search results of course. But you also get lots of feedback through content marketing, and this feedback is important when you are trying to develop new markets in different countries.

And once you get feedback there’s so much more you can do to try to develop the relationships you create. First there’s listening and paying attention to the whole conversation. And then even if the content is static once it’s published online, you can still bounce back with more content and use different formats to see what the reactions this brings about. It’s a game about finding out more about your audience.

I really find this fun and I’m good at it on subjects where I have enough knowledge to see the whole game.

Search Engine Optimization

Many businesses that want to develop international markets worry about the cultural differences in SEO and there are a few other search engines besides Google out there. But the reality is that the Google algorithm does makes the vast majority of the world’s search engines tick.

So it makes sense to get great at SEO in the Google world first. And then once you’ve mastered this you can work on improving SEO results in other countries. And the truth is that if you understand your international clients, if you know the words they use when they need help online, and you have a good understanding of SEO, then you’ll know how to get good search engine results throughout most of the world.

SEO is important for everyone online and I spend a fair bit of time improving my skills and learning enough to follow the well-known SEO geeks and understand what they are talking about.

Email Marketing

This is my weakest skill because I don’t do enough of it myself and also because I barely read a handful of email marketing messages sent my way on a regular basis.

Instead of building an email list for all of my blog readers when I first started, I jumped in at the deep end and focused on building segmented marketing lists:

Professionals interested in developing their cultural skills
Businesses needing how to advice on getting international clients
French people interested in copywriting
French people interested in article marketing

This is not something I necessarily recommend you do, after all the funnel does start off with a wide end and then goes narrow. But I like testing and playing around with marketing to learn more about my markets, that’s why I did things this way.

But I do follow a few people who use culturally targeted email marketing to develop international markets. I’m not sure how much this works in other cultures, but it’s definitely something I’ll probably spend some time looking into in the future.

International Web Marketing

Of course, after doing this exercise reviewing my own personal specialties, this has me thinking about international web marketing in general:

What are the different specialties in international web marketing?
How are the specialties in web marketing different for international marketing?
How is international web marketing evolving and how does this impact what we do?

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please start the conversation below.

Content Marketing To Reach International Markets

Cindy King — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:00:16 +0000

Social Media In International Web Marketing

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?

What Is Marketing?

Cindy King — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:00:08 +0000

International Marketing Basics

I recently received a flow of questions online around the topic of marketing from people with a website who want to get international clients.

Now…

There are many definitions of marketing. There are countless books and marketing experts that can give you an accurate definition of marketing.

What Is Marketing?

And today, I really only want to raise the question.

But here is a short definition:

Marketing makes people want what you have. It makes your product or services desirable. In fact, marketing should make your product or services so desirable that your prospects are ready to buy it.

Lack Of Marketing

You see, the problem is…

Some internet marketers do not seem to take marketing into their international business equation. This is often because

They confuse an online presence and online visibility with international web marketing
The think domestic marketing online is equivalent to international marketing

Marketing Actions

So what does marketing entail?

You define a strategy
You use marketing tactics

For example…

Article marketing is more than the marketing tactics:

Writing articles and publishing them online.

You also need to include the article marketing strategy if you want to make your readers want to take action.

You need to think through your article marketing strategy:

Who are you writing for?
How well do you know this audience?
What can you write that will interest them?
What do you want them to do?
How can you get them to do this?
Do you know how your audience will respond to your strategy?
How will your audience find your articles online?
Will your audience find you?

A Good Marketing Strategy

A good marketing strategy is based on how you well you know your audience.

Your communication must be right for your marketing to make your audience want what you have to offer.

International Article Marketing

Cindy King — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:00:42 +0000

International Web Marketing

Yesterday an American reader on Facebook asked me a series of questions about article marketing to develop Canadian and British markets.

Visibility Is Not Marketing

Sure, slapping a series of articles up on the web with the right keywords and keyword density might get you some online visibility. But there are two things you need to think about.

A Numbers Game

In many cases you will need more than a dozen articles.

In fact, you might even need a couple hundred articles on the same subject. Article marketing for online visibility is a numbers game.

If you have the highest number of articles online on a specific subject, you will get good search engine results for your keywords.

Marketing Strategy

The internet does provide an opportunity for international visibility. But it still astounds me how people try to have an international business without… well… any business activities.

The promises of the “get rich quick” style of online marketing are part of the reason why many “online businesses” do not realize you need more to develop an international clientele. You need marketing.

One Marketing Does Not Fit All

There are two assumptions I see experienced marketers make:

First Assumption

“I have international clients, therefore I have an international business”.

These are usually successful businesses that market to their domestic market, or one broad market.

They know their domestic market very well.

But they base their foreign market knowledge solely on their own experience of the international clients they have. Imagine the increase in sales if they were to market to each country.

Second Assumption

This is an automatic assumption that other English speaking countries will respond in the same way.

Most people can see cultural differences between Americans, Canadians, Australians and the British.

Why would you think of marketing to them in the same way?

An easy way to pick up cultural differences is to watch television from different countries.

Every time you visit a foreign country and turn on their television, you experience a culture shock. I found Sunday afternoons the best time to see just how different television can be in different cultures. It is also interesting to compare differences in television series.

Try to put aside your own personal reactions, and then notice the different emotional buttons their television commercials hit for different products.

Their television shows and commercials are different. Because different cultures want different things, and they respond differently.

International Article Marketing

So what about international article marketing?

Well, if you are serious about marketing to different countries, you need to adjust your article marketing in two ways.

1 – Country-Specific Web Marketing

You need to research each country you are targeting. Yes, even if they speak the same language as you do. Here are some questions you need to ask:

What keywords do you need in this country?
How do you international prospects respond to these keywords?
How do they use their search engines when they are looking for your product or services?

Several things may change:

Your keywords
The leading search engines

2 – Country-Specific Marketing

If you want your articles to bring in international leads, you need to write them with your foreign markets in mind. Here are some questions you need to ask:

Is your foreign market interested in your product?
What is the competition in this country?
What is it about my product that interests my prospect in this country?
How do they want to hear about what I have to say?

You may increase your leads by:

Emphasizing different features and benefits of your product
Hitting different emotions
Adjusting your vocabulary and your communication

Understanding Your International Markets

International business is all about understanding your clients in different markets, in different countries.

A shared language can be deceiving. You many think you know foreign cultures, simply because you can easily communicate with them.

But, do you know these foreign markets well enough to you sell to them?

Understanding your international markets is key to more effective marketing to bring in more international sales.

Your International Marketing Choice

Cindy King — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:00:36 +0000

International Marketing Basics

Are you marketing to an international audience? Then one of your first decisions is how do you want to market to them.

Are you going to communicate in English?
Or in a foreign language?

Of course, traditional wisdom dictates communication in your target market’s native language. But there are many reasons why businesses choose a stepping stone approach. The most obvious reasons are:

Insufficient foreign market intelligence
Budget

And, let’s face it… Many businesses get international sales through their English language website. They assume they have an international business. And they simply forget to market specifically to their international audience. And this is a shame… Better international marketing gets you more international sales. And the good news is that you have a choice in how to start marketing to an international audience.

Improve Your Current Marketing

Many English language websites could increase their international sales if they tweaked their current marketing. This is because many websites have either a strong national flavor or very narrow focus. And this can cost you international sales… without you even knowing it. Tweaking your website to make it less abrasive, and more appealing might be an option.

Get A Specific International Website

If you are committed to developing your international market, you should seriously consider a separate “international” website, or sub-domain. An international website is a good starting point for country-specific websites.

How To Choose

But, how can you find the best option for your business? First you need to figure out what is working and what is not. If you are already getting international sales from your current website, ask yourself why.

Is your company well known, and your notoriety is driving in international sales?
Do your company values appeal to other cultures, despite apparent cultural differences?
Are there apparent affinities somewhere between you and a specific culture, and what are these affinities?

These questions may be difficult to answer. But it is worth a little investigation. As always systematic follow-up with all foreign prospects and clients can help you identify any cultural triggers.

Country-Specific Marketing

Whether you are able to identify a cultural affinity or trigger or not, you then need to evaluate whether you are losing any international sales. As I said above, traditional wisdom says that you need to communicate in your foreign prospects native language. This means country-specific marketing. Country-specific marketing is a bigger investment than internationalizing your communication or creating an international website. This means:

Country-specific marketing
A country-specific website
Country-specific content

For each foreign country you are targeting. So, can you identify a foreign country where you think you could make more international sales with country-specific marketing?

An Intelligent Choice

You need to establish a value for your current international markets, and bring in as much information as you can. This is not an easy task. The questions above can help you. Your particular business situation can also give you other ideas on how to estimate the value of your international markets. There will always be elements of uncertainty. An improved, two-sided understanding of your current international sales can help you plan your future steps. Internationalized marketing, international marketing or country-specific marketing… the choice comes down to your current relationship with your international markets, and how well you are currently communicating. And to find out, you can only get the answer from your international prospects and clients.

International SEO For Quick Results

Cindy King — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:00:38 +0000

International Web Marketing

Several readers have asked how to go about international SEO recently.

Now… I am not going to go into any details here. You probably would not get much out of it even if I tried. You see, I learn technical things on my own, as I need them and make up my own vocabulary in my head as I go.

But…

Good SEO Practices Are Needed Everywhere

Good SEO practices are the same everywhere. Of course, there are:

Different places you go to register your country specific URLs
Different search engines

But the fun is actually in:

Different cultural quirks with languages and grammar

There are even:

Different cultural quirks in how people search, use abbreviations, and possibly even different approaches to the internet as a whole.

And this is why you need someone who has an intimate knowledge of your foreign market. And preferably with a marketing or communication background. And if you are targeting a foreign market that is not very reached a certain internet maturity, you may also need a local web marketer to help you with key words.

Less Competition For Foreign Keywords

All this may seem daunting. But it is not that difficult to jump in and get started. In fact, that is probably the best thing to do.

You see…

There is one very good bit of news.

Many companies marketing online in a foreign language seem surprised at the quick web marketing results they get.

These fast results are mainly due to less competition. There are usually fewer foreign language websites. And this also translates into less overall competition for good search engine results.

Fast Results For A Little Effort

The main thing to take away, is that international SEO is not that different from your current SEO best practices.

Yes, you will probably take more time identifying the best foreign keywords.

But, good search engines results usually come much faster than in English. So you can afford to take your time to start with basic keywords and tweak them as you get more feedback.

The Secret To Finding The Right International Marketing Tactics For Your Business

Cindy King — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:00:24 +0000

International Marketing Basics

What marketing tactics can you use to begin international marketing? How do you find the right ones for your business?

Variety In Marketing Tactics

In theory, you can begin with the list of marketing tactics available to you for your domestic marketing. This is what I hear people talk about today:

Article Marketing
Association Marketing
Content Marketing
Educational Marketing
Email Marketing
Event Marketing
Joint Venture Marketing
Post Card Marketing
Referral Marketing
Video Marketing

…And this is by no means a complete list. There seems to be new phrases coined every year for different marketing tactics. You may find all of these choices confusing.

There are many different ways to market to your foreign prospects. The choice is more complicated when you think of the different cultural aspects.

There may be other marketing tactics popular in different countries.
Some marketing tactics may work more than others in different countries.

What marketing tactic is best suited for international marketing? First of all, let’s not cloud the issue with these cultural differences. Let’s stay focused on a couple of business basics.

What is the one marketing platform you should not ignore for international audiences?

How To Use International Web Marketing

It is true that today no business can afford to overlook web marketing to reach international markets. The trouble is that as the web is global, most people consider that international web marketing is:

Not difficult
Cheap
Easy
“Global”

And this is usually where confusion really sets in.

You see, if you consider all of your web marketing to be “international”, and you make no difference between your domestic marketing and your international marketing, what results can you really expect?

Are you just trying to catch the stray customer?
Or do you want to develop your business abroad?

Althoug you may make an occasional international sales, are you really marketing to people in different countries and from different cultures?

To get the most out of any market, you always need to adapt your marketing to each particular market. The narrower your focus and the more targeted your marketing and communication, the better results you will get and the more sales you make.

To make your international web marketing work for your business you need to:

Focus on one country or culture at a time
Target and adjust your communication to try to connect with this one culture

Once you decide what you want to sell and where you want to sell it, how do you choose the marketing tactic you need?

Your Choice Of Marketing Tactics Depends On Your Business

The truth is, no one really knows the best marketing tactic you need to use, and how to use it, to reach your international markets. This is something you need to find out for yourself. You will need to try and test many different tactics before you find what works for your business.

The best marketing tactics will depend on your foreign markets. There are several factors that come into play.

You can begin with the marketing methods that work well in your domestic markets.
You can also try the marketing methods easiest for you to reach your international markets.
Remember to think out of the box and look for different ways of connecting with people.

Good businesses regularly test different marketing methods on a small scale first. International marketing is the same.

How do you find out which marketing tactics work best for your business and your markets?

Market Research Integrated Into All Of Your Marketing Actions

There is one important difference between starting a domestic marketing strategy and an international marketing strategy.

International marketing requires more research… and this research is ongoing. You need to spend more time on your international market research to:

Dig deeper, question your results and keep this research open in a cross-cultural business environment
Investigate avenues that come up as your understanding deepens and be able to adapt your marketing tactics

In fact, ongoing market research is the secret to international marketing. International market research needs to be an integral part of your international marketing and sales tactics.

In your domestic market, market research is fairly straight forward. You do not need to question your findings systematically, you can be reasonably sure your understanding is accurate.

But things are different in your international markets where cultural differences impact your understanding throughout the whole marketing process.

Different countries have different cultures
Different cultures have different ways they like to be sold

If you are just starting to market your products and services internationally, internatinal market research is critical.

Test Different Marketing Tactics And Add Market Research

Try different marketing tactics until you find what works for your business, but…

Don’t forget to add in ways to stimulate and to get feedback back from every communication with your international market. Include market research across as many of the marketing tactics you use as possible. This will help you to connect with your each of your international markets.

What is your secret to finding the right international marketing tactic for your business?
Which international marketing tactics does your business use?
How do you connect with your international markets?

More On International Web Marketing

Copyright Cindy King 2006-2010 - International Business Blog

The Secret To Finding The Right International Marketing Tactics For Your Business

Cindy King's International Business Blog » article marketing

5 Tips For Great International Search Marketing

#1: Get To Know Your International Audiences

#2: Get Your Research Right

#3: Learn About Local Search Engines

#4: Use Multiple Competencies

#5: Invest In Localization

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International Web Marketing Specialties

International Social Networking

Social Media Marketing

Content Marketing

Search Engine Optimization

Email Marketing

International Web Marketing

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Content Marketing To Reach International Markets

The Content

Content For Results

How I Got Front Page Results On Google

Article Marketing For International Visibility

Why People Avoid Article Marketing

Culture-Customized Content Combined With Article Marketing And Social Media

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More in the Get International Clients Business Guides

What Is Marketing?

What Is Marketing?

Lack Of Marketing

Marketing Actions

A Good Marketing Strategy

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International Article Marketing

Visibility Is Not Marketing

One Marketing Does Not Fit All

International Article Marketing

Understanding Your International Markets

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Your International Marketing Choice

Improve Your Current Marketing

Get A Specific International Website

How To Choose

Country-Specific Marketing

An Intelligent Choice

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International SEO For Quick Results

Good SEO Practices Are Needed Everywhere

Less Competition For Foreign Keywords

Fast Results For A Little Effort

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The Secret To Finding The Right International Marketing Tactics For Your Business

Variety In Marketing Tactics

How To Use International Web Marketing

Your Choice Of Marketing Tactics Depends On Your Business

Market Research Integrated Into All Of Your Marketing Actions

Test Different Marketing Tactics And Add Market Research

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