How to market your exports
International markets can be difficult to crack, especially if you’re a small business with a limited budget. Here’s how to plan your global marketing campaign for best effect.
Exporters who have done well in Australia will often believe that their domestic campaign will work just as well overseas. But international markets are markedly different and exporters need to be aware of certain purchasing triggers and cultural factors before beginning their international assault.
“Many SMEs think if they are successful domestically, they will be successful internationally, but they need to work on the target market, that is, culture, language, branding, pricing, competitive positioning, product life cycle, climate conditions and local marketing regulations,” says Mohammad Khan, Australia Post’s international business development manager (NSW/ACT). “One key factor for succeeding in a new market is understanding the local requirements and marketing it to the right audience.”
The fundamental difference between SMEs and multinationals is that SMEs generally seek a market that already exists because it is expensive to create and educate a market from scratch. Therefore, the existence of competitors is actually a good sign, because it means there is a market for your product; you just have to be wary of where your business might position itself in that competitive environment.
“Essentially SMEs are market takers rather than market makers,” says Nick Scott, lecturer in international business at the University of Western Sydney. “Foreign consumers are very different from Australian consumers in where they see value, so you have to look at your product and what triggers their purchasing behaviour.”
Language and culture
Exporters should tailor their marketing campaign to accommodate language and cultural differences that may affect the acceptability of marketing material. The first thing you should check is whether your brand or business name has any unexpected connotations, which may occur even in English-speaking countries due to local slang.
Also be aware that in non-English-speaking countries, or in countries where there is more than one official language, the law may require that any information about your product or service, including your brand name, be in the local language/s, even if English is widely spoken and understood.
“If your market is in a foreign language, there’s no alternative but to find some partner or agency that can localise the message,” Scott advises. “Language is not just literal translation, it’s the tone and the references.”
He recommends exporters keep advertising visual to prevent lost nuance and mistranslation in spoken and written languages, and avoid trying to translate humour. “Humour is something that seldom crosses borders. Americans are irony-deficient; they don’t get the self-deprecating humour of Australians. What the Swedes find side-splitting, we don’t get and so forth,” he says. “Humour just doesn’t translate.”
In countries where religion dominates culture, you need to consider the style of advertising you might employ; for example, Boost Juice found they had to replace the midriff of the ‘Boost girl’ on their store design in some countries. Countries with a sophisticated media environment will often have an advertising code of conduct you can follow to avoid controversy.
For countries where marketing isn’t as well developed, Scott says exporters may have to rethink their campaign. “Promotion usually has to be expressed in simpler terms and sometimes the media you’d expect in Australia aren’t there, for example, print advertising would be largely distributed in urban areas and may be affected by illiteracy,” he notes. “On the other hand, studies have shown that in developing countries, consumers haven’t yet been bombarded by advertising and tend to be a lot more believing of it.”
Market preferences may also play a role in your presentation. Elements such as colour scheme, and the kinds of models you choose to represent your product or service may affect the way potential customers perceive your offering. However, this is more applicable to marketing consumer products rather than promoting business-to-business, says Scott: “There’s a big distinction between consumer products and industrial products where you don’t have to worry about the cultural acceptability of the product and its promotion.”
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