Exporting with Strategy

The Plan

Exporters will need to answer the following key questions first, in order to develop an international marketing plan, says Potter:

•         What are the market’s characteristics? For example, where is this product going to best sell? You need to have some geographical understanding as to where the population sits.

•         What is the actual process of entering that market? Are you going to do a joint venture; are you going to be targeting a retail market; are you going to use a distributor or agent, or put your own people in place? The option you choose will affect the type of marketing program you will implement.

•         What are your sales expectations? What do you want to achieve sales-wise; what’s the cost of going into the market; what is the cost to your business to make these markets effective? The most important part is thinking long term. Sometimes getting a short-term hit is great for the bottom line and sales figures, but you’ve then got to ask how it will affect what you want to do in that particular marketplace, because it could lock you out of other opportunities.

Once these key questions are answered, then comes the task of deciding exactly how you will market yourself, which is sometimes challenging when there is a plethora of marketing channels to consider. From traditional direct mail, advertising, public relations and trade fairs, to the newer e-marketing channels, matching the most effective marketing method with the individual target market will be critical.

While Potter believes direct mail doesn’t work internationally—perhaps the cost is prohibitive when email and websites can provide an effective ‘brochure’ at minimal cost and time—word-of-mouth is one age-old strategy that will never die. By prompting people to talk about your business or product due to quirky branding, or perhaps you’ve generated some viral marketing by conjuring debate in an online chat room or blog, it doesn’t take long for the word to spread, especially with today’s electronic communications.

Potter believes attending trade fairs as a visitor or exhibitor is one of the most effective ways to understand the local market and meet potential buyers and distributors. This can be expensive if you go it alone, so it’s worth checking with your industry association or Austrade who may be able represent your product for you at a much lower cost.

There’s no doubting new information communication technologies have benefited export marketing efforts, particularly for small businesses with smaller marketing budgets. As Potter says, it has diluted the boundaries, especially thanks to the internet.

Key Stages

Gary Gregory, senior lecturer in the school of marketing at the University of New South Wales’ Australian Business School, believes a business’ international marketing strategy is tied directly to their ability to reach markets electronically. “The internet has created a paradigm shift in the business world, in which the success of firms, especially SMEs engaged in e-commerce, depends on their ability to understand and exploit the dynamic of the market through e-commerce tools and technologies. I don’t see it as an option, I see it as a requirement,” he says. “Relationships are facilitated and maintained electronically, and while there are still people-to-people transactions and trips made overseas a lot of the relationships, especially in providing training or distribution support, are maintained through the internet and websites.”

Certainly online social media, such as the popular YouTube, are a good way for businesses to generate discussion groups and awareness about their business and products, essentially, for free. “Even our university has developed a YouTube video and I think everyone is jumping on board with that,” says Gregory.

He cites three key stages businesses can go through with their e-commerce strategy, each of which involves different marketing and market capabilities:

1. * Sales and marketing. This is where most small businesses are at today and involves such things as putting up a website, promoting and advertising products online, providing an online catalogue, gathering market information, enabling salespeople to access product/performance/price information online. Search engine optimisation and search engine marketing come into play here. Essentially, getting your website picked up by search engines (whether for paid or organic listings) will be vital to getting qualified leads to your online shopfront to the world.
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3. * Electronic transaction processing. This stage involves things such as receiving orders online, real-time ordering, online payments, and so forth. Given that transactions will actually occur online, this level of e-commerce requires greater security, greater knowledge, and other legal considerations.
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5. * Supply chain and distribution. This is where most large firms are today and this stage involves ordering supplies online, e-procurement, participating in electronic marketplaces, e-fulfilment—the delivery of product and services online—24-7 service, and so on.

No matter what stage your business might be at in terms e-commerce and e-marketing globally, Gregory says a key finding of his research has been that exporters who use e-commerce as part of their export strategy are more successful than those who don’t. “While that seems like a fairly generic statement, it is true.”