Marketing your ecommerce venture abroad? 7 key ways to prepare

Prepare thoroughly before launching a marketing effort in a new market. Photo credit: Unsplash.

Appealing to a regional or national audience can be a major struggle, particularly given the enormous amount of competition online. So it’s wiser to take smaller steps and reach out towards more tangible, realistic goals.

Only once you’ve succeeded in becoming a widely known and respected ecommerce venture in your own region can you think about marketing to foreign audiences.

More retailers are discovering the potential of taking a global approach, but it requires a great deal of time and careful preparation. Here’s what you should consider:

1. Localize your contact information

When you truly want to penetrate a global market, you’ll need to get local. Provide localized contact information and customer support to show you’re in touch with local audiences and their needs.

Segment your entire marketing strategy, as well as the rest of your business, by region. This way, you can take into account languages, cultural norms, and more.

You’ll need to employ or outsource marketing teams and customer support representatives who are fluent in the required languages and be able to provide local phone numbers, email addresses, and any other contact information that your customers might need.

2. Get professional translations

Avoid awkwardness and get your material translated professionally. Photo credit: Richard Allaway/CC BY 2.0.

Having your website professionally translated is an absolute must, even when it costs a lot of money.

When you think you can take a shortcut simply by integrating Google Translate or something similar into your website, you’re going to damage your credibility with foreign audiences.

Even a cheaper human translation might be of average quality, which in turn will harm your reputation and impact perceptions.

It pays to hire professional and experienced in-house or outsourced translators to translate your website, social media profiles, product demonstrations, and support information.

3. Register country-code TLDs

Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) are the double-digit country codes that form the last part of most web addresses.

4. Adapt your product inventory

5. Know where to find your customers

6. Offer localized payment options

7. Localize your sales campaigns

Key takeaways