Today the Internet has radically changed the behavior of potential customers: did you know that 80% of buying decisions today originate and develop online? So let's find out what digital tools to use to export and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet.
Most first-approach business actions with a foreign customer (emails, phone calls, etc.) are based on getting his or her attention by interrupting what he or she is doing. A solution is proposed to the customer before he or she even expresses an interest or need toward the products or services offered.
However, this approach ignores the new decision-making process that potential customers today have adopted, namely, precisely searching for information on the Internet.
Therefore, to stay one step ahead of the competition and gain a true competitive advantage, it is important to exploit this gap and meet the needs of demand.
It is in this context that what is called the inbound marketing. It is a sales and marketing approach that relies on the production and promotion of valuable content to attract online those who are genuinely interested in our products or services, as opposed to the traditional business contact made by emails and phone calls, known as outbound marketing.
At this point many companies may believe that simply being online with a website is enough to get immediate feedback. Or that simply setting up an e-commerce is enough, as this mode of purchasing has exploded with the pandemic.
Both are certainly important parts of a digital strategy, but they cannot be implemented in isolation. The reality is that digital tools for exporting must be framed within a simultaneous, precise and effective approach.
It goes without saying that alongside this we must continue to carry out traditional business activity (customer visits, phone calls, trade shows). But this approach today must be accompanied by a digital strategy to intercept those who, at that moment, are looking for the same products or services that your company offers.
This strategy for exporting with digital tools involves the simultaneous use of several important tools, which we outline below.
Having a nice corporate site is not enough if we do not take care of its visibility, especially if we work with foreign countries: having a good language site does not make much sense if it is not visited.
Since visits to the company page come mainly from keyword searches on the Internet, it is imperative for a company eager to expand abroad to implement an international SEO strategy, which is a set of activities aimed at promoting the site to be found more easily by potential customers.
To do this, if you want to rank well in search engines you must rely on the correct keywords, that is, specific words that identify your company's products and industry.
In this way, the company will be listed among the top search results on the Internet, going on to create a huge visibility advantage over the competition.
For more information read the article on international SEO by clicking here.
Marketplaces represent those virtual places that enable the meeting and transactions between a company interested in selling its products and a counterpart interested in buying them.
Examples of marketplaces may be Amazon Business, Alibaba or the Shop section of Facebook.
There are different types and with different characteristics, but normally the classic distinction between B2B marketplaces and B2C marketplaces applies: the former are accessed by companies that are part of a specific supply chain, while companies interested in selling directly to end consumers operate on the latter type. In addition, there is also the distinction between generalist marketplaces, i.e., those that do not have a target market or sell a unique and precise product, and specific marketplaces, i.e., those platforms dedicated to a single sector or industry.
E-commerce is nothing more than a platform that simulates an online store, and allows any user to sell and buy products anywhere in the world. For example, Amazon and Ebay are the main e-commerce sites in Europe.
The main advantage of this distribution channel is its very low cost, especially when compared with the costs of a real physical store: in fact, it is only necessary to pay a membership fee, or a given percentage of the product sold, depending on the specific e-commerce.
The most difficult disadvantage to overcome, however, is the fact that you are competing on a global scale: numerous companies in the same industry and in different parts of the world will want to take advantage of this channel to gain more visibility at a low cost, and therefore it is necessary to implement the right marketing strategies to differentiate and stand out in the market.
Read the full article on marketplaces and e-commerce by clicking here.
In short, a Customer Relationship Management, commonly abbreviated to CRM, is a software system that helps you manage your customer relationships. In other words, it is a program that encapsulates all the most valuable information about an active customer or prospect in one place, such as master data, history, any notes, communications and offers sent.
CRM therefore allows for better dialogue with customers, making it faster and more effective: without it, it is in fact very difficult if not impossible to focus on several customers at once with the same level of attention for all of them.
In fact, you can use CRM to capture and manage leads coming directly from your company website, email marketing campaigns, social networks, or events or trade shows.
In addition, this software can be used to automate sales or marketing processes, removing manual activities such as sending emails, without neglecting the aspect of intimacy and direct relationship with the customer: through CRM you can in fact create marketing campaigns tailored to the customer, developing even better products and sales activities.ù
Read the article dedicated to CRMs by clicking here
In this article we showed What are the main tools for exporting with digital channels. By using international SEO, marketplaces, e-commerce and a CRM system at the same time, your business will have a truly effective method and thus create a competitive advantage that can outperform the competition. In this way, you will also be able to increase the turnover of your business and increase profits from foreign markets.
Make the most of this opportunity: adopt an effective digital method for your export. Find out how: click below and contact us. Tell us about your plan to internationalize and receive a free initial consultation: we will study with you the best solution for your company.
The main tools are four: international SEO, marketplaces, e-commerce, and CRM. They work best when used together in a coordinated digital strategy. They should also be combined with traditional business activities, such as visits to customers, phone calls, and trade shows, to reach out to those who are already looking for products or services like yours.
Inbound marketing attracts online customers who are genuinely interested by producing and promoting valuable content. Outbound marketing is traditional business contact, made up of emails and phone calls, which interrupts the customer by offering a solution before they express a need. Inbound responds to the new decision-making process: according to the article, 80% of purchases are made online.
A multilingual website is of little use if no one visits it. Visits come primarily from keyword searches, so international SEO promotes the site to make it found by potential foreign customers. By using keywords that identify products and industry, the company appears among the top results and gains visibility over its competitors.
B2B marketplaces are reserved for companies within a supply chain, while B2C marketplaces allow for selling directly to end consumers. They are also distinguished by being generalist, without a specific target audience, and specific, dedicated to a single sector. Examples cited are Amazon Business, Alibaba, and the Facebook Store section.
The main advantage is the reduced cost compared to a physical store: you only pay a membership fee or a percentage on the product sold, depending on the platform. The disadvantage is the global competition from companies in the same industry, which forces you to adopt marketing strategies to differentiate yourself.
A CRM, Customer Relationship Management, is software that collects customer and prospect data in one place, including their demographics, history, notes, communications, and offers sent to them. It allows you to acquire leads from websites, email marketing, social media, and events, automate tasks such as sending emails, and create personalized campaigns while maintaining the same level of attention to each customer.
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