We’ve all participated in conversations about the global market place, and every business aspires to optimize opportunities to go global. Fortunately, digital marketing makes it easy to do so.

So where do you start?

1.     Learn about the target market in the areas you’d like to expand to. You can use search traffic trend reports, geographic data in your website analytics engine, pricing, incumbents and competition, and other marketing insight tools to help you determine which of your options will be a best place to start. 

2.     Develop contextual sensitivity. Once you know where you’d like to start from, you’d find that you may need to overcome language barriers, localize your website, and translate key phrases and/or messages. It’s good practice to hire a native speaker to help here. But before all these, first, you’ll need to ensure that the regulatory environment, the tax policies are favorable; as well as the ease of profit repatriation where necessary.

3.     Design fulfillment and support framework: Here you’ll need to consider things like packaging, delivery logistics and post-sale customer support where appropriate. Refunds and refund policy may also be important to consider. Of course, getting paid is important, so you may need to customize payment options and other settings.

4.     Consider quick-win marketing approaches: Your regular social media platforms in your own country may not be the prevalent ones in the market you’ve chosen to expand to, so you should research to determine the most appropriate channels, the publishers and/or influencers that already have high engagement with your target customer demographic, and the kind of content and content styles that appeal to them.

      Expanding beyond borders can be very exciting, and it can be very rewarding. It can also go sideways very quickly if it is not heralded by proper due diligence. Mapping out your plan in advance, and getting help with thorough objective research and analysis sets the stage for success.

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