The internet has made the world a very small place. Anyone from the comfort of their home computer can start a legitimate global business. This means the pros and cons of global marketing are something that every business owner should be thinking about. If you’re just thinking about starting your own business, then you’ll want to look at these key points as well to see if there are opportunities for you as well.
What Are the Pros of Global Marketing?
1. You can reach more customers.
It’s a simple practice of supply and demand. If you are able to connect with customers globally instead of locally, then you are able to reach more people. As long as you have some level of demand for what you have, global marketing can allow you to target communities anywhere in the world so that you can make a sell.
2. It can be the inspiration of new ideas.
When you make a push for global marketing, you’re exposing yourself to new ideas because you are involved in new cultures. This can inspire innovation that can take your business to new levels while you’re able to reach out with your existing portfolio to generate revenues. It really can be a win/win situation for everyone involved.
3. It increases the visibility of your brand.
Global marketing is all about branding. When you are able to reach new markets with your brand, then your visibility increases along with it. This makes it a lot easier to take advantage of future opportunities because you’ll have established a cornerstone within global markets. Each new campaign makes it easier to expand upon these opportunities as well.
4. There’s the potential for higher revenues.
If you have a 2% conversion rate and an average sale of $10, then you’ll get two customers out of every 100 prospects with revenues of $20. If you target local customers and reach 1,000 people, that’s potential revenues of $200. If you can target global customers at the level of 1 million people… let’s just say the revenue math gets a whole lot better, doesn’t it?
5. Believe it or not, global marketing reduces your competition.
It’s all about reputation. Customers want the best possible product with the best value proposition from the brand with the most expertise. These three factors will trump local loyalty and transfer the customer to your business. Now if the local business can match just one of those three factors, your brand could lose out to local business, so clear communication within your global marketing strategy is absolutely essential for ongoing success.
6. You can create new relationships that make the process easy to complete.
There are people with local experience around the world which can help your business be able to target specific demographics with ease. Thanks to video calling from Skype or Face Time, Instant Messaging, e-mail services, and other communication platforms, you can work with delegates from around the world instantly to move in real-time with potential customers so that the global marketing process becomes quite simple.
7. It offers greater stability to a business.
Trends in every industry are constantly evolving. What was popular 5 years ago might not be popular today, but every local market is unique. Today’s treasure in North America might be tomorrow’s treasure in Asia, allowing you to create new products for the evolving market while maintaining the value proposition of the older product for the new market.
What Are the Cons of Global Marketing?
1. It can be difficult to determine if there is an available market.
Different cultures and local societies have different needs which need to be met. Although many products perform well globally if they are able to perform well locally, that isn’t always the case for niche products. As Amber Keefer mentions on Chron.com: “If you sell Canadian flags, you might not find much demand in countries outside Canada.”
2. There will always be risk.
The costs of marketing globally are dramatically reduced from what they once were, but they still exist. There is also a time investment involved with marketing that keeps getting larger as you target more potential customers. The risk here is that you can make these time and money investments and wind up not receiving anything in return.
3. There may be different laws and standards which need to be met.
Different countries have different product or service requirements that businesses must meet in order to finalize a sale. Some markets can run up against some very stiff regulations that all but prevent an international business presence. Without due diligence being performed by a business owner before attempting global marketing, unintentionally violating these laws or regulations could bring potentially severe consequences.
4. It can create numerous barriers to entry.
From cultural customs to language differences, there are a number of barriers to entry that must be addressed when creating a global marketing campaign. Programs like Google Translate are helping to reduce the number of barriers which exist, but there will always be obstacles standing in the way, especially for small-to-medium-sized businesses.
5. International politics and market conditions can eliminate profits.
The Brexit vote in 2016 proved that billions of dollars in wealth can be eliminated overnight. Political changes and changing market conditions can cause an immediate elimination of profits, especially for small businesses that are not well diversified. Even something as simple as a strengthening of a currency can make it difficult for a global marketing effort to succeed.
6. It creates a need for international product delivery.
When a business goes global, then it creates a need for international shipping structures. Although you can mail virtually anything to anyone in the world today, there are taxes and tariffs which must be considered. These may apply to the business or the business customer. There are also customs delays, payment guarantees, and other processes that can break down and cause a delay in delivery, canceled orders, and lost revenues.
7. There will still be competition in the market.
You might have the best product in the world and be effective with a global marketing strategy, but eliminating local competition doesn’t mean you’ll eliminate international competition. You might be competing for a target market in China with a business down the block from you. By understanding the markets, you’ll be able to adapt to what the competition is marketing so that you can remain on-point with your message.
The pros and cons of global marketing show that with the right strategy, just about any business can extend their brand to any community on the planet. Carefully consider each key point as the marketing campaign is created, anticipate evolving conditions that might bring a challenge, and there will be a great potential for success.
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