Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to finally achieve your goal of expanding your company internationally? With the world hopeful to see an increase in travel and the economy bounce back, now is a great time to make that dream a reality. However, expanding into the global market is not an easy feat. Becoming established in a new region or country has many challenges to be considered such as language barriers, local business manners and expectations, and cultural considerations.
Here are three tips to successfully expanding your business into the global market:
1. Hire Local
In order to successfully build a reputable and exceptional brand in a new location, it is imperative to know the target audience and build a strong connection with consumers. This can be difficult without being familiar with the language, culture, and expectations surrounding business practices. Hiring locals, who are experts in their field, will be able to offer guidance and advice when it comes to navigating the local market and customs. Employees will automatically be able to connect with customers and create a solid foundation for the brand’s growth. Rather than struggling to fit a new culture into your brand, it is efficient and effective to hire local experts who will fit your brand into the culture.
2. Recognize the Impact of Social Media
Social media can propel a company’s success, or it can cause long-term detrimental damage. Consumers have the ability to read product reviews and ratings with the tap of an app. If two similar products have an equal number of reviews, but one product has 4.5 stars and the other has 5 stars, most consumers will buy the product with the five star rating. For this reason, unlike before in the 2000s when it was considered successful to have a 90%-95% customer satisfaction rating, it is now standard to aim for a 100% satisfaction rating. Because of social media, marketing strategies have drastically changed over the years. In order to stay on top, a CEO must stay ahead of social media and marketing trends.
3. Listen to Consumers and Follow Current Trends
While a product can currently be trending in one market, it could already be outdated in another. In order to stay ahead of competitors, CEOs must be willing to gear their company and products towards what is currently trending in the local market. At times, adjusting a service or product is sufficient to meet the needs of the consumers. Other times, it is profitable to offer exclusive products and services for a particular region. It is unwise to follow every single marketing trend though. Creative and strategic flexibility is key in order to keep profits rising.
If you are ready to enter the global marketplace, be sure to keep these three tips at the forefront of your mind. If you realize that your company is not quite ready to expand globally, when you revise your expansion plan, integrate these three tips to create an executable plan that is near guaranteed to succeed.