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International Inbound Marketing Tips

Updated on March 24, 2024
Posted on October 5, 2018 by Brent Wildman

Blog International Inbound TipsSo, you’re ready to take on the world.

In your company, ‘expansion’ isn’t a word to be used lightly. You’re literally spreading across the globe. International trade and the information age have made this a common spot for businesses to find themselves in, so, with that in mind, here’s your primer on international inbound marketing strategy.

K.I.S.S.

It almost goes without saying that when your market is international, you want to keep things simple. This depends on region and the level of linguistic and cultural fluency that you can expect of your target market, but this is not the time to whip out the SAT words. Simple language and sentence structure are the way to go.

Cultural Sensitivity

But really, you should take things one step further. ‘Cultural sensitivity’ may sound like the title of an HR meeting that no one wants to go to, but this concept now exerts tangible influence over your revenue stream.

In the event that you’re targeting a broad global market with a scattershot approach, this may not be a feasible strategy. However, in the more likely event that you are dealing with an identifiable handful of cultures, it’s worth taking the time to acquaint yourself with these people. Your brand and messaging may not translate well in a different cultural landscape. If your market is narrow enough, it may even be worth publishing content in a different language.

Understand Regional Regulations

Worse than offending people, insufficient research in international markets can land you in legal trouble. For a while there, you couldn’t open a tech news website without being greeted by some report, analysis, or op-ed about GDPR. Luckily, there have been steps to reel in the regulations of proposed EU copyright laws, but it’s still an important illustration of the complex nature of international marketing: different nations – different regulations.

Perform your due diligence to ensure that you’re not violating any regional laws with your business model or marketing campaign.

Reach Out to People

Influencer marketing isn’t a foreign concept to content publishers. In the United States, it’s widespread enough to have official regulations under the Federal Trade Commission as a form of paid endorsement. Think of marketing in terms of influencers in the real world. Many world cultures, even with widespread access to the internet, still disperse a tremendous amount of information through word of mouth. Make the right connections to the right people to get them talking. This can spark an interest in your content marketing campaign that other strategies cannot.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

With all the new variables introduced by marketing to an international audience, don’t lose sight of the big picture. Create relevant, valuable content to capture the attention of your audience and use a permission based model to proceed throughout the buyer’s journey. The underlying structure of an inbound marketing model still applies in international markets.

 

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