Increasing sales and profits is the ultimate aim for most business owners. Advancements in technology have opened up fantastic opportunities to increase revenue potential by expanding your business globally. Advertising to a global audience and doing business overseas, can be a highly effective way to boost sales, increase profits, and access a more diverse marketplace.

If you’re considering expanding your business to a worldwide audience and selling internationally, then here’s a useful step-by-step guide on how to take your business global.

Register with a global selling platform

Fortunately, selling to overseas customers is now easier than ever with the help of global selling platforms like Amazon, eBay and Etsy. These international marketplaces allow you to access a far larger and more diverse market, thus increasing your revenue potential while reducing your dependence on local markets. International selling platforms allow you to reach a global audience and advertise your product and services in hundreds of different countries all around the world.

For instance, global giant Amazon currently sells and ships to over 100 countries and regions all around the world. Setting up a global Amazon account is quick and easy, plus you will be able to review orders and message customers worldwide from one single selling platform. Using a global selling platform can be an extremely effective way to increase sales and profits within your business.

Joining an international marketplace is an essential step if you want to expand your business globally.

Focus on building your brand image

It is important to keep in mind that you are unlikely to ever meet your overseas customers. For that reason, brand image is an extremely important factor in convincing international customers why they should trust your business and choose you over established companies in their local area. Before you expand your business globally, it’s vital that you have a high-quality website that is professional and easy to use.

Try to include customer reviews and feedback to demonstrate the positive experience that customers have had with your business. This will help give new customers confidence in the fact that they will receive quality service at all stages of the purchasing process. Remember that most international customers will use your website to help them determine whether to spend money with your business.

Fortunately, there are a number of specialist IT organizations offering fully managed solutions to ensure that your company website is fully optimized, and able to offer the best customer experience possible. Digivante offer a variety of services designed to enhance the digital experience, build trust with your customers, and help you stand out from the competition when expanding your business overseas.

Conduct foreign market research

Whenever you start advertising and selling in a new geographical area, it’s crucial that you conduct thorough market research in order to identify international markets, and understand local consumer trends. This will give you the opportunity to understand your customer’s needs, tailor your marketing and services to suit different target audiences, and provide the highest-quality customer service.

Translating your content should also form an important part of your market research. According to DIY Marketers – “While you can use Google Translate for the purposes of market research, it’s worth investing in a quality translation service for any countries that are crucial to the success of your business” Fortunately, there are many companies offering quality translation service for great prices.

When conducting market research, it is also important that you research your competition. Find out what makes these companies so popular and what they currently offer and don’t offer. You can then use this valuable information to help you look for a niche in the local market. Offering something your competition cannot currently provide is an effective way to attract new customers, and boost sales and revenue potential within your business.

Network and build local connections

When you are planning on expanding your business globally, it’s important to network and build local connections in the countries you are expanding to. Doing this will help you speed up order fulfillment, negotiate better prices with local suppliers, understand the competition, find foreign distribution channels, and hire skilled employees from the local workforce. You should consider traveling to new countries in order to meet important people in your industry, attend local events, and make valuable business connections.

Understanding the local customs and culture will also help give you a competitive edge when your expand your business overseas. Networking events can be an excellent way to connect with international clients and customers. Make sure you look for any global business events taking place near you and be proactive in building your international network.

Design effective marketing strategies

Technological advancements have made is far easier to expand your business overseas and connect with a worldwide audience. However, this has also increased competition as many businesses are now operating internationally. For that reason, it’s more important than ever to find ways to differentiate your business.

When you are selling internationally, it’s important to tailor your advertising and marketing efforts to suit the local audience in different locations. Remember that a marketing strategy that works in one area, may not be as effective in another country or region. Make sure you research your target audience in order to determine what marketing techniques will be most effective. It is important to experiment with different marketing strategies and to then monitor their success carefully. This will help you identify necessary changes to enhance your marketing efforts in the future. You can find plenty of useful advice and tips on how to improve your international marketing strategy.

Final thought

Taking your business global offers a huge number of benefits – it allows you to access a larger, more diverse marketplace, increase sales, build your brand image and gain new revenue potential. Expanding your business overseas takes careful planning, but is now fairly simple with the help of global selling platforms like Amazon.

Use the above strategies to help you reach a global audience and expand your business internationally.

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