Global Marketing 2014 - How Deep or Wide Should I Go?

Global Marketing – Part 1 of a 3-Part Series

Going global has become a huge buzzword in business. Let’s face it, the potential benefits of global marketing are obvious: more customers = more revenue.

While some localization providers may tell you “Yes! Translate everything into as many languages as possible,” we want to help you do it smarter.

After all, Medialocate is here to help our customers localize the smart way

So, without further ado, here are three helpful hints on going global:

(Oh, and do check back with us soon for Parts 2 and 3 of this mini-series)

Hint #1: Keep tabs on the competition

Do you know what your competitors are doing? More importantly, do you know where they are doing it? The better you understand your competitors’ global marketing efforts, the easier you can beat them at their own game.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Are your competitors successful in global markets that have eluded you?
What is their share in these markets?
How are they positioning themselves?
Are they localizing into these foreign markets?
If so, what content are they localizing?
What do the “locals” in those markets think of your competitors?
How can you benefit from this knowledge?

Medialocate can help you answer these questions.

Hint #2: Go wide or go deep?

So how wide or deep should you go with global marketing? Should you opt for total world domination? Or should you just go for the low-hanging fruit?

You may already know where your low-hanging fruit is. You may have strategically important B2B customers in specific countries, or your products may be very popular with consumers in certain key markets.

Going deep and staying fresh…

We recommend that you provide a deeper and richer local experience in a few well-selected markets rather than spreading yourself too thinly around the world.

Part of that richer experience is keeping your localized content fresh so that your customers keep coming back to you for repeat business.

Where, exactly, are the key Internet markets? Jorden Woods wrote an excellent post on the top Web markets.

You may not need to localize into each of these markets, but the list below is a good indicator of where the action is:

G-7 Countries: US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan
BRIC Countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China
CIVETS Countries: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa

Hint #3: Web or Product?

Do you only need to market your Web presence? Then you might opt for a larger number of languages.

Or do you need to fully localize all of your documentation, software manuals and user guides? In that case, you may need to aim for a smaller set of languages.

Ready to go global the smart way?

Medialocate can help you define and execute on your ideal “going global” strategy.