How To Globalize Successfully

A Guide for Businesses

Alpha Omega Translations

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Stepping Into the International Business Scene

3. Marketing and the International Business Scene

4. Your Brand’s Online Presence

5. Conclusion

1. Introduction

The idea of taking a business that has been very successful domestically and trying to

duplicate that success internationally can be quite daunting. Many questions may rise

to the surface for business owners, such as “why should I take that risk when I’m doing

well in my own country?” and “how do I even begin to globalize my business?” These

questions, and many more, are completely understandable and legitimate. The purpose

of this guide is to answer any question one might have about going global in a clear

and simple manner.

Supposing this is the sort of predicament you as a reader are currently dealing with,

then this guide is definitely for you. There is really no need to be fearful of the risks

involved, as most bad decisions are prevented simply by staying informed and

researching the best way to introduce your business to the rest of the world. Once you

begin to learn about what it takes to go global, you will see that nowadays it is easier

than ever before, thanks to restrictions that are no longer in place in some countries

regarding global trade. If that isn’t enough to convince you, take a look at the various

companies that have branches in the U.S., but are not American companies. That

should help to give you an idea of just how successful you can be after getting on the

path towards a globalized business.

A helpful hint, however, before we go on: Get to know the cultural traditions and

customs that your prospective customers practice before making any marketing

decisions.

Before we start, let’s take a moment to think about what it really means to globalize. It

does not mean taking the same marketing strategy you have used for your business

and simply dropping it into a different market. Even in instances where the

international market being targeted is English-speaking, this just won’t work. Slogans,

logos, and imagery that work perfectly in the U.S. may fall flat or even be seen as weird

or offensive in countries like England, Australia, and even Canada. That should give you

a better idea about just how much of globalization has to do with language and how

much is just knowing the culture of the target market. Yes, language and translation

will play a huge role in your new marketing strategy if the country you are trying to

drum up business in doesn’t speak English, but without a good understanding of the

culture, and particularly the consumer culture, your efforts will be wasted.

When you decide to market in a country where the majority of the people do not

speak English as their first language, you have extra homework to do before launching

any marketing campaigns. You will want to not only become familiar with the

languages and cultures there, but also the legal system and any business regulations.

Even the political landscape will play a role in how certain marketing campaigns will be

received, or not, in a foreign market. Obviously, having a good idea of what the

economic situation is like in said market makes a huge difference, as well as knowing

how most consumers think. A good example of a company that didn’t do its research

before branching out overseas is Walmart, which tried to find success in Japan.

However, one of Walmart’s slogans, “Every Day Low Prices,” was more than off-

putting for Japanese customers, who come from a culture that believes cheap things

are not good quality.

To make sure you don’t end up botching your whole campaign due to lack of adequate

research, just remember the hint from earlier: Get to know the cultural traditions and

customs that your prospective customers practice before making any marketing

decisions. It may be a bit wordy, but all it really boils down to is “know your

customer/market”. If you keep that as your main credo, you should be able to catch

any problems before they even become problems.

2. Stepping Into the International Business Scene

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As you probably gathered, breaking into the international market is not the simplest of

tasks. Whether you have a product or a service to offer, you will run into problems that

can all be boiled down to “this country is different from your home country, so please

plan accordingly.” Economic status and policies, political landscape, and the culture of a

foreign country can all have a huge impact on just how much you will have to do in

order to make your marketing campaign viable on new turf. The following part of this

guide serves to give you an idea of how to deal with any issue in a timely manner in

order to get the most out of your global marketing campaign.

Preparing to Globalize:

Before you even consider investing time and money in an international marketing

campaign, take some time to acquaint yourself with a good basic understanding of the

country you plan to do business in. Maybe you have your eyes set on Brazil, for

example. Book a flight there and be a business tourist, making sure to get to know the

language and culture while you set up meetings with potential clients and business

partners.

After that, it’s time to dig deep and do some real research. The first thing you will want

to find out is if your product or service is even something that prospective customers

would want or need. Has some other business already laid claim to this market? How

might business restrictions and regulations, as well as consumer culture, affect the

reception of your product or service? If you find out as much as you can ahead of time,

you will save money and time later on. There are two different types of market

research you can do:

Secondary research: This type of research includes sources like market reports,

studies, news articles, and anything else that is part of the public domain. It

would be a good idea to see what is expected of those who intend to export

from the U.S. to other countries. This information is provided on the “Basic

Importing and Exporting” section of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection

website: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export.

Primary research: This is the “straight from the horse’s mouth” kind of research,

where you will want to talk with customers, business owners, and marketing

experts about what to expect when you globalize.

There will be rather unexpected and probably unpleasant results if neither of these

types of research are done properly. This will be the foundation you base your

marketing campaign on, so if there are any holes or weaknesses, the campaign could

come tumbling down. Spend as much time as you feel necessary on this stage before

moving on.

Once you are done researching, select a domain, be it a sector, country, or even one

culture, that is welcoming to new business owners and those who just want to grow.

Pinpoint anything that might be an issue in terms of getting established on foreign soil.

These could range from legal issues to economic or foreign trade policies. You should

also pay careful attention to what is going on politically in your target market, as well

as nail down shipping details.

With the possible risks on hand, you can contact any sort of agency, government-related

or not, as well as company that may have tips on how to reduce these risks.

Trade shows and websites related to your specific trade or business sector are your

best friends. Use them shamelessly for networking, with both domestic and

international partners and clients.

All of the information gathered from the previous steps should be organized in the

form of an export plan, with all of the following:

Company profile, business objectives, information about your product or service,

market analysis of your target market (including market forecast and tendencies),

breakdown of where you stand compared to the competition, global business

strategies, and any sort of fiscal information, like expenses and budgets.

The next kind of plan you need to create is a financial one. This should be a result of

researching different options for how to cover the expenses related to branching out

overseas.

Some information is right in your home country, like at the various foreign government

information centers (embassies, consulates, etc.). Ask to speak with someone who

represents your specific business sector in the country you wish to do business in.

They tend to have information such as buyer directories as well as data on that

particular market.

The Internet is also a great tool to take advantage of. There are plenty of online

courses as well as courses offered by online colleges and even workshops that are

focused on international marketing and everything that goes along with it. Think about

your particular needs and goals before choosing courses and workshops.

Getting Your Feet Wet

Once you have embarked on your globalization journey, there are a few things you

should make sure to do right away. These include:

Getting in contact with a translator or translation agency that will serve as your

linguistic and sometimes cultural guide. A good translator or translation agency will

know exactly what to do in terms of content, formatting, and style to ensure your

marketing campaign is a hit.

Translation, however, is a big task. Start by translating your website and other content

into one language and for one market, and then when you are satisfied, move on to

other languages and markets. The first couple of languages you choose to translate

content into should be languages that have the best business prospects based on the

research you have done. You can also focus on the parts of your website, for example,

that prospective customers are likely to use the most (FAQ page, home page, contact

information, etc.)

Again, the Internet is your friend. Use it to find possible suppliers, and then set times to

meet them in person and check out their factory.

The attitude of a successful global business person includes a combination of many

things. Firstly, one must be gracious and personable when networking, as well as

patient when it comes to establishing connections and business relationships.

Globalization requires a sort of blank slate in terms of prejudices or preconceived

notions regarding new circumstances.

A truly international attitude means you are also shrewd and quick to find

opportunities that others may have missed, and to seize those and make them work for

you.

Some good ways to adjust your attitude include immersing oneself in current world

events, traveling abroad, and reading about other countries.

Getting in touch with people in your home country who are from the country you wish

to branch out to is also a great idea. You can find them online (via sites such as

LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.), or just go out of your way to find them in your own

community, like at the local foreign restaurants.

You can also take some time to learn the language of your target market. This will give

you an upper hand in many situations.

3. Marketing and the International Business Scene

As any shrewd business person would know, advertising plays a huge role in whether

your product or service captures the imagination and attention of your prospective

market. If you neglect to show them exactly why your product or service is the one

that will serve them best, they won’t even bother checking the price. Here we will talk

about methods to use for your marketing campaigns.

Your campaign and the ads that form part of it shouldn’t rely heavily on flashy design

and catchy slogans. In the end, the most important thing for customers is that you will

follow through with the promises you make to them. Sure, the pretty details help to

garner attention, but they do not seal the deal.

Before you get into that, however, stop and figure out these:

1) What is your target market?

Make sure your emphasis is on creating a relationship with prospective customers

by making good on the promises you make to them regarding your product or

service.

Figure out exactly who your model customer is: Are they old? Do they live in the

city or countryside? Do they make a lot of money? What are their priorities? These

are all excellent questions, but there are more as well. Any and all questions will

help you create a sort of profile of your perfect customer, and from there you can

build your marketing campaign around hooking them.

2) The customer always comes first

Be careful to let your customers know exactly what it is you have to offer them,

besides just the product or service itself. If you offer free shipping, or discounts for

regular customers, make sure this is known so they see how focused you are on

customer happiness.

3) Don’t be a promise breaker

As mentioned above, the foundation of your brand is built on promises. If you fall

short of that in any way, be prepared for disillusioned ex customers writing bad

reviews. Take a step back and look at what your product’s strengths and

weaknesses are, and create your promises based on that. If you realize you can’t

deliver on certain things, don’t say that you can.

4) Build a solid strategy for your brand

If you have exactly what you want your brand to be and to portray in mind before

you even hire the first designers, translators, and other personnel, it will be a lot

easier to work with them. You will save time and money relying on others to come

up with a strong plan, and you will also get what you want in the end.

5) Be detail oriented

Every single aspect of your marketing campaign needs to portray the exact same

qualities and promises of your brand. Accentuate what your product or service

affords your customers, including what they will get out of the relationship. Make

sure your understanding of your model customer shines through.

6) An eye for design

The visual aspect of your brand is the first thing a potential customer will register.

This means everything from font, hue, and form to format are vessels used to

transmit your brand’s philosophy. Don’t try to cut corners by designing logos and

web pages yourself if you really aren’t a talented designer. Invest in a professional

and see what a difference it makes.

Planning is the Key to Success

Let this guide serve as an outline for the steps you need to take in formulating your

globalization plan. Everything from cultural differences to customer needs will shape

your plan. Having everything in one organized outline, from company profile and goals

to how the website should be formatted will allow you to worry about the more

unpredictable aspects of international business.

Market research is the key to a good plan, so do not skimp in that department. The

more specific the market research, the better. Get your hands on as much market data

as possible and use it to tweak your plan and brand. Keep an open mind about cultural

differences in every aspect of this process. To keep things under control, it might be a

good idea to have someone whose sole task is to put into action every part of the

marketing plan. They should be by your side from the beginning, and involved in every

part of the process.

4. Your Brand’s Online Presence

This last portion will show you how to make all of the online parts of your global

business work for you to increase your customer base and sales.

1) Make your site easier to find

The number of visitors your brand’s page gets depends greatly on how easily the page

is to find using any search engine, with Google being the most popular. The process of

making a page easier to find, and more likely to be visited, is called Search Engine

Optimization and requires time and effort to get right. There is no bribing anyone to

get your site to the top spot, merely patience and hard work. You can, however, work

with SEO specialists who will make it so your site gets more and more visitors.

2) Search engines can also help you market your brand

Google has a great service called AdWords that lets you choose specific search terms

that will cause an ad for your brand to show up next to the results of a Google search.

The person searching can then click on the ad to find out more, or leave it alone. If

they click, you have to pay Google. If they don’t, you pay nothing and get free

exposure. Google can also help you figure out which keywords are best for attracting

customers.

3) Share info with similar sites

If you happen upon a site that is similar or related to your brand in any way, don’t

hesitate to send them your brand’s information. Then they can display it on their

page, and you can display theirs on yours. This establishes a business relationship

that benefits both parties.

4) Vocabulary

In preparation for creating online content, take some time to research and find

keywords that your potential customers are using in their searches related to your

brand. This will help people find your website or see your ad.

For instance: Depending on your market, you need to make sure you are using the

proper terminology. In Argentina, the word for “skirt” is different from Spain and other

Hispanic countries. If you have a women’s clothing brand, and skirts are a big part of

the collection, you want to make sure customers in Argentina can find your brand’s

page by searching “pollera”, the Argentinian Spanish word for “skirt”, rather than

“falda”, the word used in many other Spanish-speaking countries.

Make sure the words you choose generate a lot of traffic and aren’t used by many

other brands.

5) Technology is your friend

Build websites for each country you plan on doing business in. Make sure the most

common domains are used. For instance, in Italy, the domain .it is the most common,

while in France, .fr is.

Some countries, however, have more than one official language. In the case of Spain,

for example, you will want to use subdomains for Catalán, Basque, and Galician, all

regional languages there.

Software that deals with the stats of your website will help you see where you need to

change things before you do a rehaul on your site. It can even show you the origins of

those who access your site, as well as what Internet companies they use. You can use

this information to see where to expand to later on and which languages you should

focus on next.

6) Online Content

Add more content as regularly as possible, and make sure it is relevant and interesting.

Your future customers will take this as a sign that you are very involved in the brand

and take it seriously.

Maintain your site so that it is top-notch quality and caters to the local market.

A streamlined and logical design and layout will save your customers a lot of frustration

and make them more likely to visit your site again.

Produce unique content that is well-researched and perfectly written.

Keep your model customer in mind when creating and tweaking your site. Everything

on the site should be relevant to the brand and to the model customer, but don’t crowd

it with a bunch of meaningless content.

5. Conclusion

To wrap up: What should you do now?

As you can see, globalizing is not the simplest process in the world. The benefits,

however, outweigh the trouble you may have to go through to get everything just so.

You will enjoy more sales, an expanded and international customer base, a name on an

international level, and access to doors that domestic businesses don’t even bother

opening for fear of failing. If you do your homework and get the right team together,

however, international business is really no more complicated than domestic business.

About Alpha Omega Translations

Alpha Omega Translations founder gained her experience in the technical

translation industry since 1974.

Our experts have been very successful in executing high-end multilingual

projects for two decades. We have over 20 years of experience as an

agency in translation, and localization in all languages.

Our translation services are employed by some of the best companies who

consider us their partner, not just a vendor. With our Translation and

Localization services, we help our clients double their revenues by

enabling them to sell their products globally. Our expertise cover all

aspects of production of international products including legal translation,

website translation and development, multimedia and video translation,

marketing translation.

We strive not only to make each and every client fully satisfied, but also to

ensure that their end-users are satisfied. We raise the standards in the

industry and we have fulfilled our duty when our clients’ end-users are

successful.

For more information about Alpha Omega Translations, please visit our

website as www.alphaomegatranslations.com