Getting your message across in a small market is always a challenge. While you might understand how to make yourself heard at home, doing the same in a foreign jurisdiction isn’t always straightforward.
The trick here is to understand the digital landscape. Once you can deploy effective digital marketing strategies, you will be better positioned to engage local audiences.
But how do you do this? Let’s get into it.
Understanding the digital landscape
In order to understand the digital landscape you must understand the popular platforms in small markets and how people get their information.
For example, Weibo is the dominant channel in China, while Facebook is the most popular in the Philippines and Indonesia.
As you do this, double-check the search engines consumers are using. Some countries have national platforms that are more popular than Google, Bing, and the others we’re used to in the West.
When exploring the digital landscape, also consider key trends and user behaviours. Examine the type of content your audience consumes and their shopping habits. Do they prefer to go to the local market, or are they comfortable ordering online?
Effective digital marketing strategies
With this context, you are ready to build effective digital marketing strategies. These should reflect the needs and preferences of your audience.
For social media marketing and engagement, you could:
- Partner with local influencers who already have an audience you want to target
- Run various ad campaigns on social media that speak to local issues people face (and how your products and services can help)
- Add online content about local issues people care about
Invest in search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing as you do this. Digital marketing in small markets often requires extensive outreach. Ensure you optimize your website and fulfill technical SEO requirements for the country’s dominant search engines. Write articles and blog posts that inspire users to try your brand or use your products and services more effectively.
Tailoring products and campaigns
During this process, tailor your products and campaign for local audiences. First, run ads past panels of local people to check they are suitable. Get them to tell you if you are misunderstanding local idioms.
Also, check the cultural sensitivity of the messages you craft. Sometimes, something that seems unremarkable to your marketing team is offensive to local people.
Running ad campaigns during festivals and events in small markets can also be effective. This approach helps to get more eyes on your branding in a short space of time.
Nike does this all the time. It runs ads featuring Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal, Tiger Woods in the U.S., and Liverpool FC in the UK.
Similarly, KFC expanded to more than 145 countries worldwide using social media. Its digital marketing campaign wowed local markets with its quality.
Conclusion
Leveraging digital marketing is essential for companies selling tailored products to small markets. It helps communicate how you bring a similar (but not identical) service to the location. Getting it right requires developing an effective strategy and ensuring your campaigns are culturally sensitive.
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