Make the Right Mark

When you own or work at a business that operates internationally, your marketing strategies are going to vary a little bit from that of local business strategies. Yet, a budget still needs to be established. To do that, the right questions need to be asked and answered. What options do you have, and how do you know if the money you are investing for marketing is giving you the return you want?

Work meetings may not always be the most exciting place to be at eight o’clock in the morning, but it is crucial that everyone understand the company’s goals. Each employee should know how the company is doing. How is your brand awareness? Would cutting the marketing efforts in half cause sales to plummet? How would this affect your business goals? Take advantage of having everyone present. They will want to know what works and what doesn’t.

Do you want to save money and get the word out about your products or services at the same time? Use of social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter may be just what you need. The services are free, fast, and are able to reach people of various demographics. Take a look at the marketing efforts of your competitors using these sites. Are they finding success? An example of a business using Twitter to market its products, is Woot, an online store that sells a different product every day. Customers can sign into Twitter to discover the great deals and steals. Their business works because of the mass amounts of people who are exposed to the offers. Also, by using social networking sites, you can track the correlation of your marketing approach with the increase of the company’s exposure.

The key to marketing and advertising is to keep things short and impactful. Your message is more likely to be remembered if it is catchy and concise. Play with the frequency of the message. Maybe you should have it sent out on specific day of the week or time of day. Diversify your styles of marketing messages paired with various outreach vehicles like newsletters, or email lists. Make sure you test your response rates! Tie these responses to sales activity.

Overall, smart planning, clear communication, and frequent feedback will place you on the right track to market your international business effectively. After all, you want to make the right mark.

To learn more, take a look at our Global Marketing module!