Did you know that the colour yellow has drastically different meanings in the US and in Japan?
Marketing is complex business. Beyond automation and targeting, there’s also a lot of psychology involved. You need to craft your offers and promotions in such a way to intrigue your audience enough to check out your product. But more than just offers, you also have to make sure you have a top-quality product or service, backed by great customer service and guarantees.
Of course, you will need to build your sales funnel just the right way, in order to make sure your platform converts.
Add a global aspect to all this, and your marketing efforts suddenly become more complex. There are additional variables involved, especially as you expand to more diverse target markets. Here are some tips and best practices in setting up your global marketing campaign for success.
#1: Launch a globally-appealing brand
Branding is a critical part of your business strategy, and it becomes tricky when you intend to work on a global scale. For example, did you know that colour theory plays a big role in your brand’s success? That’s because people have different opinions and customs when it comes to colour.
For example, American customers might associate yellow with cowardice – it is actually a synonym for “coward” – but the Japanese associate the colour yellow with bravery. Therefore, you might want to conceptualise your brand such that it will be appealing to wherever your main target market lies.
Symbolism is another aspect to consider. Brands like Nike and Apple have global appeal and recognition – the bitten apple and swoosh logo are now very powerful symbols that transcend language barriers. This means you will need to consider logos or symbols that will not be easily confused across cultural barriers.
It becomes worse if your brand translates as silly or even offensive in other languages. Did you know that Microsoft’s ‘Lumia’ brand translates to ‘prostitute’ in Spanish? There’s a Finnish brand of potato chips called ‘Megapussi’. Go figure!
Also Read: How rebranding can enhance a successful business
It’s perhaps important to focus on your brand story when making marketing material. No matter the niche, product, service or audience, your brand’s story should take centre stage with the audience.
When your story is compelling and uniquely crafted, people will remember how engaging it is, instead of whatever unfortunate circumstance came with it. Go with a globally-appealing name, image or story, in order to expand your reach.
#2: Localise your messaging
Thinking global also means acting ‘local’, especially if you want to engage with your customers on an individual basis. Make sure your service supports the countries you are working in. This includes email marketing, social media engagement, CRM and other automation platforms.
Localisation enables you to personalize campaigns. Otherwise, having generic campaigns will negatively affect customer perception. Display prices in the local currency. Email customers in their own time zones, and speak their own language, whenever possible. The tools and platforms you use should be able to automatically handle this work for you.
This goes beyond language settings, of course. Consider including payment solutions and currencies that support each of your target countries. Localisation should also include other aspects of the business, including logistics, fulfilment and customer service. True enough, not all businesses can be expected to employ customer service agents in hundreds of languages – but, at least cover your major markets.
#3: Optimise for speed
Website and application speeds are important when you are marketing to a global audience. You should expect traffic to come from different parts of the world, and your infrastructure should support this.
Cheap datacenter hosting might be a good idea for a very small business with low traffic. However, if you intend to scale your e-commerce business on a global level, for example, you will need to consider a more robust solution. These include cloud hosting or application providers like AWS or Microsoft Azure. You should also consider running a CDN like Akamai, Cloudflare or Incapsula.
Also Read: For content-driven startups, speed (or the lack of it) can kill
Of course, such optimisation goes beyond your application’s hosting provider. You should also build and design the app itself with speed in mind. Remember that global audiences expect their apps or websites to load within two to three seconds — otherwise, they simply leave and even advise their friends to avoid you at all cost. Speedy and agile development methodologies are already becoming popular in the startup community. Why not make sure your app is quick, too?
#4: Respect local laws and legulations
Laws vary from country to country, whether it involves internet marketing, e-commerce, payments, and the like. You need to be familiar with the rules and regulations in all areas you will be promoting your products and services in. You can consult with lawyers or trade groups before entering into markets different from your own.
Consider for example South Africa, which has three laws that regulate spam. These three different pieces of legislation state that individuals should be able to opt-out of marketing communications at any time – this gives users the right to pre-emptively block direct marketing. The country also has a do-not-contact registry, which places some limitations on which personal information marketers can use when sending unsolicited contacts.
The US also has the CAN-SPAM Act, which stipulates that subscribers must opt-in to marketing messages and have the option to opt-out at any time. Opt-outs must also be processed within 10 business days. Additionally, all marketing content should have accurate sender and subject information, proper adult content labeling where available, and an ‘unsubscribe’ option. Marketing material should also have physical address information, among other requirements.
In addition to federal laws, each State in the US also have its own laws, many of which are related to telemarketing and advertising via other media, such as text messaging.
Also Read: Essential legal considerations for online marketplaces
Laws may vary according to country, so better craft a marketing strategy that either meets all these requirements, or which would adjust automatically depending on the location of the recipient. Generally speaking, you are okay, as long as consumers opt-in to receive communication from your business. You also need to honor customers’ requests to opt-out.
Regardless of what the laws and regulations require of marketers, it’s important to follow the guidelines exactly. There are potentially steep penalties for failing to abide by the law. Consumers are able to report anyone who sends unsolicited marketing communications.
The takeaway
One key marketing trend this year is the omni-channel experience. Having a global marketing campaign is part of this trend, as it involves making sure you have the right branding, logistics and infrastructure. Remember: scaling on a global level means you also need to address users’ needs on a local level.
—-
The views expressed here are of the author’s, and e27 may not necessarily subscribe to them. e27 invites members from Asia’s tech industry and startup community to share their honest opinions and expert knowledge with our readers. If you are interested in sharing your point of view, submit your post here.
The post 4 things you need to know about marketing your startup to a global audience appeared first on e27.