Your International Marketing Choice

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.

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• My Own Case Study – Small Business Flexibility In An Online World
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• What Is Your Definition Of International Web Marketing
• Your International Marketing Choice

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