In a previous post we talked about global marketing and how to grow your business beyond boundaries.
This post touches on a similar topic or identical topic depending on how you want to look at it. We’ll take things in a little different direction and expand on the idea of International Marketing.
In today’s world, every business has the opportunity to market their business to the world. You can think locally and serve your target customers worldwide, but for most businesses you can think even bigger.
We’re All Connected
The Internet has been great for connecting people. Boundaries are no longer an issues. We’re all connected in an instant with the Web. We can send messages and email in an instant. There is no barrier for location. Time can still be an issue for syncing things up totally, but people get around it pretty easily.
We’re All Different and We’re All The Same
We all like to think we’re different from everyone else in the world and in many ways we are. But we’re also very much alike in quite a few ways. Evidence of this is how marketers are able to target segments of the population. We’re all connected by our age, interests and a few other things. People can be different, but if we have similar interests we’re connected. That’s why people all over the world can be marketed to the same way; because of age, interest and other factors.
International Marketing Strategy
I’ll try to pick a business here that would seem extremely local on the surface. I purchase eggs from a local farm every month. I love it because I know where the eggs are coming from and it supports a local business.
It would be hard for that business to ship eggs all over the world, but there is always room for expansion in some way. If that business wanted to use their expertise to grow they could offer their insight in blog form or in newsletter form by sharing farming tips.
There are people all over the world interested in farming. People need to eat and the farmer is more important today than ever before. I know the business is booming here in the US and it’s probably booming elsewhere around the world.
People are growing their own crops and having knowledge is a huge boost.
You could even create a community of farmers from around the world. It could be a blog or forum where people go to find information about farming. They can also share their own advice about how to farm.
Community and connection are things every human looks for in life. When we find people that like the same things as us we’re naturally drawn to it.
That’s one example of how a business can market itself internationally. That farm could even use that reputation for being international to expand their local market and sell more goods locally.
The other example is what we talked about in the global marketing article. You have all these businesses today dealing in software and other goods. Even physical goods are being shipped all over the world today.
Search and social media connect us all. Things like blogging and creating content fuel those two areas. If you’re not creating content you’re not participating in international marketing and you’re leaving money on the table.
More companies are working remotely with co-workers and employees. You could have a team in the US located across various states and others located throughout the world.
Conclusion
You don’t have to think about your business in terms of being local anymore. Well, you can think local, but you can use that mentality to help you grow internationally. There is opportunity today with the Internet to connect with potential customers all over the world.
The location barrier is no longer an issue. You can grow as big as you want by taking your business across boundaries.
Image: o palsson