Marketing Your Business Overseas With Bartercard

In today’s global economy, it is a ‘given’ that a large part of your business will be transacted overseas, as the world-wide web has opened up opportunities we couldn’t have dreamt about years ago.  Similarly, online retail stores are replacing the high street walk in boutiques.  With so many opportunities presented to us, where do you start to market your business overseas?

Firstly, you need to identify your market and decide who is your target audience. Bartercard advises that just because your product is popular in your home country, it won’t always have the same impact elsewhere, and they say, start small and then grow big.  Maybe consider piloting it in one country first and see what the response is like. It’s obviously better to learn from any mistakes and adapt your approach before going global.

They also recommend you do your research, endeavouring to understand the cultural differences of those countries you’re targeting.  Each market may need a different approach and so your sales and marketing efforts will need to reflect this, and you will soon learn that there’s no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to marketing your business overseas.  You’ll need to consider pricing and any currency variations, shipping, payment terms and packaging.

Make sure you fully research the countries you’ll be exporting to – each country will be different, and the last thing you want is an unhappy customer who is suddenly faced with an unexpected bill just to have their parcel accepted into the country. While English is accepted as a universal language, you should consider translating your marketing approach into different languages, and if you want to be noticed and for your products to sell, don’t expect people to buy from you in your own language.

Expanding is great, and necessary, but you need to ensure your own infrastructure is set up to cope with the demand – both from a resource perspective and a systems and processes point of view.  Ensure those involved in the process are fully informed of expectations, and the timescales by which orders should be turned around.

Entering the international arena needs careful consideration, and a great deal of planning and strategising must take place before you embark on your global journey.  However, the flip-slide is there are a great number of benefits, so for more information on increased sales, increasing sales and excess stock please go to www.bartercard.co.nz .