in today's marketplaces global business and international marketing have never been easier with so many options and tools online brands can expand their operations into nations and reach untapped markets creating an international marketing strategy however is not easy there are many fundamental issues that need to be considered when marketing to different cultures some big brands have made embarrassing blunders when trying to cross over into new markets so what is international marketing exactly what are the fundamentals for creating an international marketing strategy let's dive in international marketing can be defined as the tactics and methods used to
market products and services in multiple countries this could be in the form of import or export franchising licensing and online sales each country represents a unique challenge for marketers because of culture language laws and other factors these challenges can also be present on regional and local levels which require even more targeted techniques the decisions to do business internationally and launch an international marketing campaign could be any of these examples expanding brand awareness economic growth in a new country new commerce laws untapped or underserved markets and international partnerships or joint ventures launching a global operation can
be simple or extremely complicated consider a us business expanding into canada versus expanding into romania for example there are much wider cultural and linguistic differences time and distance considerations as well as wider differences in economic structures and regulations what are the fundamentals of international marketing as with any new project or campaign thorough research is essential when entering a new market that is vastly different from your own this is even more true overall you want to gain a deep understanding of your international target market let's check some of the fundamentals of international marketing to consider before
moving forward number one understand the language and culture it may go without saying but in order to market to other nations you need to gain a better understanding of their culture and language perhaps you have already established a connection with that culture and that's why you've decided to enter the market if not it will serve you well to have a local partner or representative that can give you an insight into what makes the market tick europe is a great example of a continent that has many different cultures and languages within a relatively small geographic area
people's languages lifestyles daily routines and purchasing decisions can change greatly between countries and even regions of the same nation humor isn't universal either and marketing attempts at humor could fall flat or even offend people so having as much insight into the specificities of each market as possible is a major advantage for example lays has mastered regional marketing by creating regional flavors like magic masala in india or hit the ham flavor in spain one way to lower the barrier to international expansion is by first entering countries similar to your own these could be nations with the
same language ones that are close to you or ones that have similar demographics still there are plenty of cultural and regional linguistic differences between countries like the us and the uk and this is where market research pays off two do thorough market research market research is vital to any marketing campaign there are numerous factors that should be taken into account when considering or assessing a foreign market for example cultural differences it's vital that you understand customs traditions religious beliefs and how they fit or clash with what your brand represents economics is there an ongoing recession
or a surge in investment in growth economic timing is an important factor to take into account legalities and regulations laws vary from country to country this is especially true when it comes to alcohol or vehicle modifications for example certain food preservatives that are legal in the us are illegal in europe so doing thorough research before expanding is always a wise choice politics is your target region more conservative or more liberal is there political stability these factors play a huge role in whether it's worth your investment if stability is an issue cost how expensive is it
to do business in the country shipping licenses and translation services can quickly add to your overhead some nations have prohibitive taxes and fees on businesses which might be pitfalls demographics some countries have much older or younger populations than others buying power is also an important consideration can enough people even afford your products or services number three global seo with proflang and canonical links while legally targeted social ads are a great way to market internationally building up your global seo is a better long-term approach if you've already established a foreign market for your products investing in
your seo is highly recommended international marketing will likely require you to have separate language versions of your website maximize your seo and provide a smooth user experience for consumers by using ruffling tags in your code a good practice is using canonical links to let google know that your versions of the same site are not duplicate content riffling tags serve up the appropriate version of your site to users based on their location and therefore reduce bounce rates number four create specific social accounts just like having multiple language versions of your site you might also consider doing
the same for social accounts people want content in their native language and it may help you as a marketer to connect with them in any and every way possible that being said if you run a relatively small operation it might be overkill to maintain international social accounts but if you're receiving many requests and communications in a foreign language you may want to set up a social account for that language or region now that you have a better image of how international marketing works and its fundamentals let's see four examples of successful international marketing strategies dunkin
donuts dunkin donuts now has around 3 200 stores in more than 30 countries how has a donut chain become so successful on a global scale because they adapt their donuts to appeal to local tastes in china they serve up pork and seaweed donuts and in india it's saffron and pistachio donuts if your budget allows for it customize your offerings to match unique regional tastes spotify spotify has grown into one of the most successful brands that's because they don't simply offer genres of music for their listeners they offer music suggestions based on activities like exercise or
relaxation this crosses borders and allows new artists to reach audiences while they might not otherwise have connected with airbnb airbnb harnessed the power of hashtags on social media to generate engagement and spread brand awareness the oneless stranger encouraged people in the airbnb community to perform acts of hospitality and take photos or videos with their guests the social campaign was an incredible success with around 3 million people participating around the world so creating a viral social strategy could also work for you and put you on the spot red bull red bull is extremely good at making
people think it's a local brand they do this by hosting events all around the world like their air race in the uk grand prix in indianapolis and rally events and rotating locals redbull also has their site and content in many languages with localized content and that's all for today i hope you found the information useful and you learned more about international marketing strategies and their fundamental aspects don't forget to like or comment or even subscribe to our channel if you want to learn more about digital marketing see you soon
