If you want to expand sales to other countries, you start by conducting market research so you can understand what your potential customers care about, want, need, and how to reach them.
To help you put together a global marketing strategy, here are some tips based on global marketing statistics that HubSpot published:
1 – Have a really good mobile strategy
Mobile, mobile, mobile – it’s all you ever hear, right? Well, it’s not just people in the US using our mobile devices for everything – people around the world use their smart phones a lot too.
- 26% of Australians consume media on their smartphones
- 31% of the French spend their smart phone screen time on social networks
- 35% of the Irish access social media mostly on their smartphones
- 33% of Italians with mobile phones use their devices to access the Internet
- 46% of Canadians with mobile phones have smart phones
Tips for success:
- Have a user-friendly mobile site ready to go that is easy to navigate and makes it easy to contact you or buy from you
- Optimize your site
- Integrate social media sharing buttons on the site (see below)
2 – Understand who is using what social network
Even though Twitter and Facebook might be the best way to reach your American customers, make sure you adjust your global social media strategy to include the outlets they use, not the ones you think they use.
Tips for success:
- In Norway, have an active presensce on Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest to reach people under 30. Use LinkedIn to reach those with higher education and income levels.
- In Russia, you’ll reach people who are young, global-minded, and have money with Facebook, while those 25-35 use Odnoklassniki.
- In Spain, college students and recent grads use Tuenti.
- In the UK, those with higher incomes are on Facebook.
3 – Target customers depending on their favorite online activities
Want to engage your customers? Create marketing programs that take into account your audience’s online activities.
Tips for success:
- In India, capture the attention of Facebook users with games, apps, and photos.
- In Russia, create and share movies on V Kontakte.
- In Sweden, engage guys with games and women with an entertaining blog.
- In Brazil, create a video campaign
4 – Boost sales with promotions
Based on the growth of LivingSocial and Groupon, it’s easy to see that people like a discount in the US. Around the world, it’s pretty similar, so if you want to engage your audience, boost brand awareness, and increase sales, offer promotions online.
Tips for success:
- In Brazil, offer special discounts on social media.
- In Ireland, offer promotions to encourage word-of-mouth marketing, as 74% of people talk about a brand thanks to a promotion.
- In Australia, special discounts or coupons will help spur purchasing decisions.
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Is your company global? How do your overseas customers differ from those at home?
Image courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
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