It’s natural for business owners to strive to expand their business, and, thanks to the internet, it has never been simpler to do so globally than today. More than half of the world’s population uses mobile devices in their everyday lives.
So, if you find a way to reach those in the hands of your potential clients, attract their attention, make them want to open your online store, social media profile, or blog, and keep them interested; becoming the next global business success story may not be such an impossible dream. Many companies before you have achieved it but although you can learn from their journeys, you have to go through your own experience and build the strategy most suitable for your particular situation.
1. Understand your target audience
Many businesses today may choose to invest in social media services such as High Social to increase their organic followers on popular social networks like TikTok and make sure the right people see their content. And the way they know that this is the right approach for their expansion is through thorough research that helps them understand their target audience. This isn’t the simple task you may think it is, especially when you are trying to enter foreign markets. However, finding the appropriate channel to communicate with them is essential.
Keep in mind that, for instance, while individuals may prefer the video content offered by TikTok or Instagram, business owners will often choose a more serious network like LinkedIn; or different generations may prefer different platforms, and so on. So, it’s safe to assume that in different countries, different social media may be more popular.
Therefore, you must spend time researching each target market to find out which social media platform is the most appropriate to help you create the most powerful marketing strategy that will help you fulfill your global expansion goals.
In addition to understanding your target audience and identifying the most appropriate social media platforms for global expansion, another effective strategy is to leverage the expertise of online language tutors. These tutors can help bridge the communication gap between your business and international customers, ensuring seamless interactions and stronger connections. By enlisting their assistance, you can enhance your global expansion efforts and build fruitful relationships with diverse markets.
2. Make sure the new audience talks about your brand
Social media’s influence on consumer behavior has led to a resurgence in the age-old marketing tactic of using testimonials from satisfied customers as a kind of social proof. This approach is based on the “contagion effect,” which argues that people are more inclined to take action if others have already done so. This is because the most effective kind of advertising is word-of-mouth, which occurs when a satisfied client recommends a product or service to others.
Recommendation marketing encourages happy consumers to become brand champions to spread the word about a company’s quality and trustworthiness. The key to the success of this strategy is collecting the references, testimonies, opinions, and experiences of satisfied customers and sharing them with potential customers through physical or online channels.
Building a content-rich, engaging social media presence is a fantastic way to incorporate this tactic into your global expansion strategy. Along with that, you should also make sure that your brand keeps building strong relationships with the new audiences it tries to reach. If your clients are other businesses, you can set up LinkedIn messaging automation to maximize lead generation, targeting as many users that fit your buyer persona as possible and strengthening your overall social marketing strategy.
3. Adapt your content for new target markets
Depending on the type of business you are running, thanks to some incredible advances in technology, there are many ways to communicate with cross-border prospects. Many small businesses opt for the easily available automatic machine translation, thanks to tools such as Google Translate or those on social media platforms.
This can be very useful in some cases, as it allows potential customers from other countries and cultures to understand the basic information about your products or services, read comments, etc. Many other software solutions can make your website more comprehensible for foreign visitors, changing the prices to their local currency, changing the time to their local time, etc.
Nevertheless, if your goal is to truly conquer a foreign market, and become an authority in your field, you must invest in a more complex and very comprehensive process, which involves much more than automatic translation. To reach customers that speak other languages or belong to different cultures, you must adapt everything your business uses to communicate with them to their expectations.
This refers to not only the language you use on your channels but sometimes maybe even the content you create for your blog posts, videos, etc., the visuals you use (colors, symbols, flags, etc.), the currency, and so much more. This adaptation is an important part of a process called localization, which is crucial for the strategy of any business that desires to expand globally.
Conclusion
One of the most attractive ways to grow a business and increase your profits is to expand into new markets. However, this is no easy feat. Remember that not every market will be right for your company and not every company can succeed everywhere.
Research is essential in any facet of the business, whether it’s merely launching a company, developing a marketing strategy, or releasing products or services. And even more so when it comes to a feat as big as expanding your business globally.
These three steps will get you ready to face the difficulties and setbacks that you’re bound to meet. And while they’re key, they’re also only the first ones you must take to enter a market successfully.
