The Importance of Global Marketing Strategy
Nowadays, for many businesses, expanding means going global; it means managing to bring your products or services to more and more target markets around the world. The technology, infrastructure, and communications have developed so much that it is no longer impossible or that difficult to open up to new business markets. However, in order to be successful in this endeavor, you need to have a global marketing strategy.
The way you promote your product in the United States will not have the same impact in Australia for example, or in Asia, so you need to come up with a battle plan for each culture. The amazing thing today is that you don’t need to have a very large business or be part of a corporation in order to operate in other countries or continents. All you need is for your product to be valuable, for it to be demanded; or you can create demand for it, and that could be part of your global marketing strategy.
The first thing that you need to understand about it is that it definitely is not something standardized; you need to ply your product for the consumers, you need to adapt the product itself, or the way it is promoted. You can, for example, standardize your logo, thus making it recognizable around the world, but things such as packaging, promotions, commercials, and your advertising strategy have to be adjusted to the culture, economy and society they are intended for.
Your global marketing strategy is only an aspect of your global strategy, and it has to take into consideration several details, such as research and development, finances, market trends, surveys and so on. First of all, you have to define your goals; think of what you are trying to achieve by going global, about the challenges and difficulties you face with a new market, or the competitors you may or may not have. Every detail of this process is important, because the clearer your objectives are, the easier it will be to find solutions and be successful on the global market.
For example, depending on the countries or continents you want to reach, think of what can stay the same and what has to be adapted to that type of society. Perhaps you can keep parts of the packaging, but the way you advertise has to be different; although you’re selling the same product, how you present it can be totally different from country to country. It doesn’t matter if you have to change things drastically for each country; be glad that you have the tools and resources to adapt.
The better you promote your product, the bigger the chances of success. Learn everything you can about each target and see what they respond to; that way you’ll be able to adopt an appropriate position and become “familiar” with your new customers. Today, thanks to the Internet, people know about certain products or services even if they are not currently present in their countries; you can observe whether there is a gap in the market somewhere and go to fill it, knowing that your customers are already lined up.
Moreover, you can easily see how people react to similar products, or what marketing strategies function with them. Global marketing strategy is not important just because it brings your company more money and recognition, but also because it can save the company money in those places where advertising or packaging are standardized. The world already tends towards a globalization of spirit, of culture and ideas, and getting globalized products and services is just a natural step. Start working on your global strategy today and see what it can do for your business.
