Writuparna Kakati | 04 Jun, 2008
Effective sales and promotional activities play an important role in the success of any business. As international trade involves more challenges than doing business at the domestic level, careful planning in this field is essential for success.
For any overseas market, you must have thorough knowledge of the customers you target, their requirements, and how to make them buy your products. In this article, our attempt is to offer you some basic idea about all these things.
Researching the target market
- What will be the demand of your products in the overseas market?
- What is the size of the target market?
- Who will buy your products and why?
- How will you reach the customer?
- How will you price your products?
- How much competition you will have to face?
- Who are your competitors and what should you do to beat them?
- What are the legal and financial issues you have to consider?
- Are you aware of the culture of the people?
Positioning in the market
To be successful in exporting, you must position your products before your potential customers in a way that is very attractive. Consider the following factors while doing this-
- What should be the price of your products?
- Why customers will go for your products?
- How are you going to handle customer service and sales operations?
Customer expectations
In any business, the more you will be able to satisfy your customers' expectations, the more success you will grab. In export business, you often face customers with expectations slightly or totally different from those of your domestic customers. Therefore, you need to be very careful in this respect while choosing an export market. For example, an electronic gadget that is regarded necessary in India may be a luxury item in an African country.
- What is the market trend: Understanding the current trend of the target market is very important to succeed in export business. A product that is latest in the domestic market may be seen as outdated one in an overseas market.
- Accessing competition: Before entering into an export market, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your would-be competitors is very important. You must understand to what extent you are going to face competition the market. It will help you to plan how to stand out from local competition.
Smart adaption
- Choose the best channel: In export business, the channel you choose to reach your client plays an important role in determining the success of your business. Try to find the ways the customers prefer to buy your type of products.
- Adapt your business behaviour: In international trade, business etiquette and manners vary widely from market to market. For successful export business, you should be aware of these cultural differences. For example, while dealing with a South African client, you should not rush deals; they are very casual in their business dealings.
- Adapt your product and packaging: Exporting may involve local laws (such as safety standards, health norms, etc.) and you may need to make changes to your product or product packaging to comply with such laws. Consider these things to avoid any problem in the future.
Marketing plan
Prepare a detailed marketing plan for your overseas market. If you going to export to more than one market, then prepare different market plan for each of the market. Consider the following factors while preparing a marketing plan for export-
A. Market entry: Choosing the right way to enter into an overseas market is crucial in export business. You may enter into a market directly or using an agent or distributor.
B. Pricing: Consider the following factors in determining the price of your products-
- Commission you have to pay to your agent
- Cost of transportation, shipping and freight forwarding
- Cost of promotional campaigns and marketing operations
- Cost of product packaging.
Product promotion
Product promotion is an integral part of any business. In export trade also, it is very important and you need to choose the proper promotional media (such as advertising, direct mail, trade shows, the Internet, etc.) to achieve business success. If you enter into an overseas market using agents, you may ask them for help in preparing you product promotion plan. If you cannot speak the local language, you may need to hire a professional language service which can communicate with your clients on your behalf.
A. Some useful advertising media
- The Internet using B2B portals, websites, etc.
- Newspaper and magazines
- Yellow pages, telephone and trade directories
- The radio and television
- Outdoor advertising including signage, billboards, etc.
B. Direct mail: You can directly send promotional materials to your potential customers. Prepare a list of potential customers or collect it from your agent or a direct mail agency. Direct mails allow you to-
- Target customers with greater accuracy
- Measure the effectiveness and success of campaigns analyzing customer responses
- To communicate both with other businesses and end users.
Some direct mail mediums include leaflet drops and handouts, telemarketing, email and fax marketingC. Trade fairs: Participating in a trade fair and exhibiting your products is also a cost effective way to promote your products in an overseas market.
While promoting and selling your products in an overseas market, it is important to research the target market, position your products skillfully, choose the appropriate channel for sales and follow a well planned marketing strategy. These are the keys to boost the performance of your campaign in an overseas market.
