While most exporters compete on features and price, few tap into a more powerful differentiator: a clear strategic narrative that communicates who you are, how you work, and why you’re worth trusting. In global markets, where norms and expectations vary widely, storytelling shouldn’t be seen as just a branding exercise. Rather, it should be considered a strategic business tool for turning cross-border skepticism into confidence.

The trust deficit in global B2B relationships

For those working in international trade, uncertainty is a constant. Geographic distance, cultural gaps, legal differences, and communication barriers all feed into a persistent “trust deficit” that hinders cross-border business. This often manifests as a reluctance to enter long-term partnerships.

The problem is especially acute in complex B2B sectors where deals involve high investment, customization, or sustained collaboration.

When millions of dollars and company reputations are on the line, technical specs alone aren’t enough to inspire the trust needed for major commitments.

Why storytelling works where data alone falls short

The human brain is wired for story. Studies consistently show that stories are more memorable than facts alone, and this is true whether professionals are in the boardroom or reviewing an export proposal.

Although technical specs, certifications, and financials are essential in B2B relationships, they lack one critical element: context. Stories provide that missing layer. They help international partners grasp not only what you offer but also who you are, how you work, and why they can trust you.

Effective B2B storytelling relies on substance, not spin.

By strategically sharing real experiences and company history, you reveal the deeper purpose behind your organization. When partners understand why your company exists, what values guide your decisions, and how you approach challenges, they gain valuable insight into the people behind the product. That understanding builds trust and lays the foundation for long-term, successful relationships.

Five stories that build trust across borders

Certain types of stories consistently resonate in global B2B relationships. These five are especially effective in building credibility across cultures.

1. Origin stories

Every established company has a founding narrative. A strong origin story explains why your business was created, what problem it set out to solve, and how early challenges shaped its mission. These stories aren’t just about nostalgia; they show purpose, perseverance, and long-term thinking. In markets where legacy and intent matter, your origin story is a powerful trust-builder.

2. Problem-resolution narratives

Traditional case studies often focus on results. But in global relationships, the process matters just as much. Emphasize how your team collaborated across borders, adapted to local needs, or innovated under pressure. When prospects see themselves in your past successes, they’re more likely to trust you with their future challenges.

3. Failure and recovery stories

Sharing a well-chosen story of failure and recovery can be disarming, but in a good way. It shows humility, accountability, and a willingness to learn. When you demonstrate how your company responded to a misstep and came out stronger, you reveal depth of character and adaptability, two qualities global partners look for.

4. Values-in-action stories

Stating your company values isn’t enough. You need to show them. A story about putting a partner’s needs first during a supply chain disruption, for example, proves you’ll do the right thing even when it’s hard. These stories turn abstract principles into lived experiences that international buyers can believe in.

5. Founder transformation stories

In many regions, business is personal. Founder stories—especially those that show how personal history or cultural heritage shaped the business—can create meaningful emotional resonance. These stories humanize your company and offer a glimpse into the mindset behind it, which is especially persuasive in trust-based markets.

Integrating storytelling into export strategy

If you want to harness storytelling as a tool for building trust and driving engagement in global markets, it’s essential to move beyond theory into structured implementation. Storytelling works best when treated as both a narrative asset and a strategic communications function, integrated into daily operations, marketing content, and partner interactions.

The following approaches show how to embed storytelling across your export strategy.

• Identify your narrative assets: Start by gathering your organization’s most compelling experiences, particularly those that reflect reliability, creative problem-solving, and cross-cultural adaptability. Document these as narratives, focusing not just on outcomes but on the human journey involved. These stories are the raw materials of trust and connection.
• Map stories to business objectives: Different narratives play different roles in relationship building. Some stories demonstrate technical excellence, others reinforce ethical commitments or cultural fluency. Map your collected stories to specific goals in each target market. For example, an origin story may support brand awareness, while a partner success story might build credibility in a new vertical.
• Embed stories into core communications: Storytelling doesn’t have to be limited to marketing content. Technical proposals, capability statements, and presentations can all benefit from brief, relevant stories. A one-page technical spec could include a sidebar detailing how the product evolved through collaboration with an international partner. These small narrative touches reinforce credibility and make communications more relatable without sacrificing professionalism.
• Train technical teams in narrative communication: In many B2B relationships, it’s not the marketers but the engineers, developers, or project managers who interact most with international partners. Training these team members to integrate storytelling into their communication can turn routine updates into trust-building opportunities. Even short anecdotes about shared problem-solving or responsiveness can make a difference.

Putting storytelling to work: Content strategy in action

Modern digital tools allow companies to tell their stories across markets, but effective global storytelling requires more than just content creation—it needs content strategy. A well-planned narrative approach ensures that storytelling supports your export goals and resonates across cultural and linguistic boundaries.

Strategic content planning

Start with a content audit to identify which narrative assets you already have and where the gaps are. Then map those assets against your export priorities.

Which stories best support entry into specific markets? Which ones resonate universally, and which need regional tailoring?

From there, create an editorial calendar that sequences key narrative themes to build trust gradually and consistently.

Multichannel narrative distribution

Different content formats serve different stages of the relationship journey. Consider using:

• Episodic content: A serialized series of short case studies or client stories delivered via email can nurture international leads over time. Each piece should stand alone while contributing to a broader narrative arc.
• Visual storytelling: Infographics, videos, or interactive timelines can convey company history, global presence, or problem-solving processes in a way that crosses language barriers. Maintain visual brand consistency while adjusting to local aesthetic preferences.
• Virtual facility tours: Let international partners “visit” your operation through immersive video or interactive media. Showcasing your team and processes can enhance transparency and build comfort, especially when tailored to cultural expectations around professionalism and openness.

Content localization vs. globalization

Decide which narratives should remain globally consistent (such as your core values and origin story) and which should be localized for maximum impact. Problem-resolution narratives, for example, often benefit from regional specificity, highlighting how your team addressed particular market challenges. 

By combining storytelling with strategic content planning, you transform one-off stories into a scalable trust-building system.

The result is not just greater engagement but deeper, longer-lasting relationships that are rooted in narrative authenticity and delivered with consistency across global markets.

The competitive advantage of narrative fluency

In international business, trust is your real competitive edge. And trust doesn’t grow from pricing sheets or capability decks, but from the stories you choose to tell.

While data and technical specs may open doors, it’s the human stories behind them that build the enduring trust necessary for long-term partnerships

Export managers who cultivate narrative fluency—the ability to strategically share real, resonant stories that align with local expectations—are more likely to build meaningful relationships and outperform those who rely solely on product features and pricing.

Thoughtful storytelling bridges cultural gaps and showcases your organization’s character, competence, and long-term commitment to shared success.

The post How exporters can build global trust through strategic storytelling appeared first on Trade Ready.

While international expansion presents exciting growth opportunities, it also comes with significant challenges. Businesses must navigate different languages, cultures, and market preferences that affect how well their brand will resonate in international markets. Managing localization across multiple regions is crucial, yet traditional marketing approaches can be costly and time-intensive when adapted for multiple international markets.

This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help. AI-based tools can support businesses eyeing internationalization, particularly those that might not otherwise have the human or financial resources to create, manage, and localize the content needed for international marketing campaigns.

The challenges of global content marketing and localization

Content that performs well in one market may not resonate in another due to unique regional values, customs, and language preferences. But translation, localization, and transcreation can be a lengthy, complex process.

Cultural and language differences demand carefully adapted messaging; without thoughtful adaptation, messaging can come across as off-brand, insensitive, or even offensive.

Additionally, multi-market content management requires extensive time and resources to maintain brand consistency while catering to the unique needs of each locale. This can result in delays, resource strain, and inconsistent brand messaging. The process—once managed manually—can now be streamlined and automated by adopting AI.

How AI is transforming content marketing

Maybe your team has started dabbling with AI-assisted writing, or maybe they’re already proficient at producing a range of content using AI. Regardless, AI can streamline content marketing operations by enabling faster content creation, better distribution, and real-time optimization.

AI models trained on audience data, brand guidelines, and industry trends can generate relevant, on-brand content faster than a human, making it easier—and faster—to produce geo-targeted marketing copy, social media posts, product descriptions, and other content at scale.

In addition, AI-driven platforms can provide insights into trending topics and formats that resonate with specific audiences. By helping to identify what works best in each market, these tools keep content relevant and boost audience engagement.

Once created, content must be distributed effectively to ensure it reaches the right audiences. AI-based content management systems (CMS) can automate scheduling and posting across platforms. Because these systems have the ability to analyze audience behaviour and peak times, they can optimize delivery by ensuring content reaches audiences when they’re most active.

Predictive tools can also forecast audience behavior and help companies identify the most effective platforms and timing for each region, improving both visibility and engagement.

Finally, one key advantage worth mentioning is that AI can track and optimize global marketing campaign performance across regions. AI-powered tools make it easy to collect and analyze data on engagement, click-through rates, and conversions, as well as conduct A/B testing at scale, enabling marketers to see what resonates in each market, test variations of content simultaneously, and adjust strategies to reach the target audience effectively.

The role of AI in localization

Localization involves adapting content to fit each region’s language, culture, and legal requirements. One considered a long, expensive endeavor, localization has become faster and more cost-effective thanks to AI

AI-based tools such as Natural Language Processing (NLP), for example, use deep learning to understand the context within sentences, making it possible to produce natural translations much faster than traditional methods. Companies can use NLP for initial translations and have human editors refine the final output for accuracy. This approach results in a significantly accelerated localization process and cost reduction.

But AI tools go beyond translation; they can also adapt language based on cultural context.

AI systems analyze regional dialects, tone preferences, and formality, making content feel authentic to local audiences.

By easily scaling localization across multiple languages, AI platforms enable companies to launch in different markets simultaneously without needing a dedicated team for each language.

As for optimizing content for local search engines, with AI-powered SEO tools, companies can identify locally relevant keywords to optimize for regional search engines, improving visibility. For example, AI can optimize content for Baidu in China or Yandex in Russia, which may require different strategies than Google. AI systems also automate the creation of localized metadata, such as titles and descriptions, ensuring that content is searchable and relevant to each geographic location.

AI in market research and consumer insights

For companies expanding into new regions, AI-powered market research offers valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences.

Social listening and sentiment analysis tools allow companies to monitor online conversations about their brand or industry.

By identifying regional sentiment, businesses can adjust marketing campaigns to better align with local audiences.

AI tools analyze regional consumer behavior from different touchpoints, creating accurate customer profiles that reveal preferences and behaviors in specific markets.

However, AI doesn’t just analyze current trends; it also predicts future ones. Predictive analytics can help companies anticipate demand based on historical data (for example, purchase history) and seasonal factors, allowing them to plan inventory, adjust marketing strategies, and tailor products accordingly. Predictive tools also help identify hidden opportunities in emerging regions, allowing companies to enter these markets confidently, with targeted strategies, while mitigating potential risks.

AI for workflow automation in global marketing

Managing multi-region campaigns involves extensive workflows. AI tools can integrate with CRM and CMS systems to create a centralized platform that connects teams and facilitates cross-market coordination, enabling a unified workflow between teams in different markets.

For content marketers, these tools offer a way to reduce manual work by automating the scheduling, approval, and distribution of content. As an example, workflow tools can streamline the approval process by automatically routing content to relevant stakeholders and sending reminders to ensure timely campaign launches. AI can also reduce errors by automating quality checks and ensuring content aligns with regional regulations, SEO standards, and brand guidelines before publication.

AI-driven analytics further enhance multi-market campaigns by automatically generating reports that track performance across regions. Marketers can quickly see metrics on engagement, conversions, and other key indicators, allowing for data-driven adjustments and efficient campaign optimization.

The future of AI in global marketing and localization

Still unsure about adopting AI? AI technologies have the potential to transform global marketing by automating time-consuming tasks and reducing costs. And for companies new to international markets, AI offers the ability to localize content quickly, personalize messaging, and gain insights into regional preferences, leveling the playing field and providing a competitive edge for businesses.

One word of caution, however: while AI adoption helps speed up processes that would typically require significant manual effort, it does not remove the need for human intervention.

As AI continues to evolve, it will enable even greater advancements in personalization, cultural adaptation, and global marketing. Companies that embrace AI tools can expect to deepen customer connections worldwide and optimize their marketing efforts for a rapidly changing landscape.

The post How AI can power your international marketing from localization to market insights appeared first on Trade Ready.

Your business is up and running and things are going great. Now it is time to begin the process of internationalization, taking your business to new, untapped global markets. Everything looks great! And then you get hit by COVID-19 and the resultant global economic downturn.

How do you ensure that not only will your business survive, but ensure that it can maximize its gain during this (or the next) disastrous global crisis?

There is a lot that can be done, and it will take a great deal of work, but the results and returns are well worth the effort invested in ensuring your international business is both literally and figuratively virus-proof.

Rather than panic, the business owner whose company is properly positioned both domestically and internationally can thrive, even amidst these historic economic anomalies.

A major part of any international campaign revolves around language. This is just as true in the global fight against COVID-19 as it is in any global marketing campaign. Medical translators from around the world are working hand-in-hand with academic, scientific and medical institutions. Their role is indispensable. They are providing medical translation services day and night to ensure that all research and information about COVID-19 is translated quickly and accurately and made ready for immediate global distribution. The best part is, they can provide the same service for you and your business, even during a global pandemic.

Now’s the time to bring your business online

According to many sources, not only is the “Internet Economy” one of the largest, in various studies, the overall growth of the internet economy, most notably in terms of ecommerce, has outpaced other economic growth by a wide margin. According to Statista,“In 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to $3.53 trillion”. Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide. The chances are pretty good that if you are ready to take your business international, you have already established an online presence.

This is not always the case though, as some companies will always be springing up with innovative concepts, and moving directly onto the international stage. In such cases, there may be a good deal more work involved, but it is still possible to rapidly move online and establish a business designed to capture a large portion of the potential markets.

Ready to explore ecommerce? Learn how to set up and optimize each step of your e-commerce process to meet the ever-changing demands of customers

Live interpretations and even translation agency offices have suffered just as much as most brick and mortar businesses during the current global pandemic. Those that have been thriving have an established presence online. Most of them have already taken their online presence international, but for those companies who have not yet established an online presence, this may not be immediately possible.

Some businesses may be incapable of moving completely online, and as such, may suffer some during these times of global economic turmoil. That does not mean that they cannot move portions of their business online.

For those companies that do have an established online presence, there is a host of benefits and different ways to ensure that the company is on solid ground. The key to a successful international campaign is going to be in how well you can utilize your current marketing strategies and materials, and where you must tweak them and adjust them to reach a larger global audience.

Repurpose traditional marketing strategies

Once you know there is a demand in a new market, then it is the job of the marketing and advertising materials to create the desire to fulfill that demand with your products and/or services. You likely already have a website, some videos, maybe some podcasts and other marketing materials online, but now all of those have to be made anew so that they are ready for the new market, right? Wrong.

Your website can be converted into numerous languages using a number of different tools and methods. However, translating is not enough. Take some time while translating to look at all of the little personal cues that are in the website content, and replace them with cues that will be equally effective in the target language.

Certain analogies, and even some words, will not translate well into other languages, and these points should be taken into consideration as well. Replacing the details in order to meet the expectations of a new audience, speaking to them on their own terms, is known as “localization”, and it is all about creating the ultimate customer experience on a very personal level.

If you have a video marketing campaign already going, so much the better. While it may sound like a great idea to begin an entirely new video marketing campaign in your efforts to internationalize, it is not only unnecessary, but may prove to be more detrimental than actively working to adjust your existing video selections.

Posting all brand new materials in any online advertising campaign that ages is probably not a great idea, especially if there is already some finely aged and tuned marketing material already posted. Brand new videos with only a few hundred views will not be viewed from the same perspective as older videos with thousands or more views. Fortunately, there is a very simple solution that will help you to internationalize the videos without much effort at all. There are numerous benefits to using video translation services to create closed captioning for all of your videos.

On Facebook, 85% of videos are viewed without sound, so the first and most direct benefit is the ability for your potential customers to watch your videos without sound while still gaining all of the relevant information.

The SRT files for closed captioning are also indexed by the search engines, both on YouTube and on the individual search engines. The number of keywords will increase, the ranking on the search engine results page will increase, and so will the number of times your video makes the YouTube recommended list. It is also remarkably easy to include closed captioning in additional languages for all of your video campaigns online.

Now, your videos will also rank for the relevant keywords in any foreign languages that you are targeting in your internationalization efforts, replete with well-aged videos and the increased consumer confidence that comes along with it. These same principles can also apply to podcasting through the use of transcription and translation services.

Maximize your international marketing campaign with split testing

Once all of the preceding steps have been taken, there are two final steps that should be an ongoing part of your internationalization in terms of marketing and advertising. As mentioned, localization is all about creating the ultimate customer experience. It may be ensuring a smooth transition for the user as they begin their journey on their home computer, and continue it on their cell phone on the go. The continuity of connection is key to successfully engaging your customers in that regard.

Have you ever seen a grandchild out with their grandparent? The child, seeing something amazing, may shout out a current expression that the grandparents are absolutely clueless about.

Even in the same geographic regions, with the same accents and the same tendencies, each generation will have its own common phrases and expressions, idioms and vernacular.

What is the target demographic for your international campaign? Find and target that market, but continue using the process of split testing in order to ensure that all of your localization efforts are as effective as possible.

Split testing is all about setting up dual advertising campaigns and running them for a set length of time. After the time has expired, the results will be tallied up and the best campaign kept, while the poorer performing campaign is discarded and replaced by the better performing one. Ensure none of your discarded campaigns are lost, as some campaigns may still perform well, even if not as well as the winner. There may also be key factors that will help to indicate which portions of the marketing and localization campaigns are effective and which portions are not. Combining the more effective portions into one can also produce very positive results.

The safest investment of all at present, seems to be reinvesting in your company. The potential of the Internet Economy is endless and international. So why not put your resources to use online, and bring your business to a whole world of customers?

The post Going global online in times of crisis appeared first on Trade Ready.

It’s that time again where we like to look ahead at the incoming year and pinpoint the biggest trends to keep an eye on in the global trade environment. 2019 was another year full of challenges, surprises, and continued volatility. This year looks to be less explosive, with fewer conflicts but a general slowdown in trade growth. However, more small businesses are jumping into international markets than ever before, and new trade deals and tech continue to bring ample opportunities for those willing to make the leap.

Here’s what we’ll be watching in 2020.

1. Slowing economic growth

After a difficult 2019, most global outlooks were projecting subdued 2020 global trade growth late this year. This was largely due to a sharp downturn in manufacturing activity and global trade volatility with Brexit and China-US relations.

“The weakness in growth is driven by … higher tariffs and prolonged trade policy uncertainty damaging investment and demand for capital goods,” stated the IMF blog.

In Canada, specifically, global growth forecasts were downshifted in EDC’s fall update to the 2020 outlook.

“With the slowing global economy and lingering trade tensions weighing more heavily on Canada’s exports than previously expected. EDC now forecasts export growth to moderate further to 2.6% in 2020, revised down from the 3.4% growth forecast in spring 2019.” – EDC Global Export Forecast 2019

However, with the very recent and significant progress made on the Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement and the “phase one” US-China trade deal, growth forecasts into 2020 may soon be revised again, to the positive this time.

2. Service export opportunities growing in new regions

Canadian trade in services continued to grow for the 9^th year in a row, with industries such as travel, finance, resource development, technology, transportation, and agriculture presenting the best opportunities. While the U.S. is still the biggest importer of Canadian services, the fastest growing relationship in commercial service exports was with African nations (13%).

In the U.S. service exports are increasing as well, reaching $71.1 billion for the year as of October.

Service exports also seem to have been immune to the downturn weakening goods exports.

“Goods exports have been more negatively impacted by softening global conditions and are expected to grow at a modest 3.3% in 2019, slowing further to 2.3% in 2020. ”

“Alternatively, services – exports have been resilient, and continue to be steady with forecasted growth of 5.1% this year and 3.9% next year.” –EDC Global Export Forecast 2019

3. China – “Decoupling,” or in “phase one” of renewing trade relations?

After almost three years of escalating tensions and retaliatory tariffs between the US-China and Canada-China, talk began to emerge of a “decoupling” strategy. This would see China drastically reduce trade with North America, replacing it with domestic inter-regional trade.

Already, China’s foreign direct investments in the U.S. dropped 88% from 2016-2018. The potential for a drastic drop in China-U.S. trade is raising alarms about possible tech wars, and remapping supply chains to leave out the west all together.

However, this fall saw the U.S. and China put much of the contention behind them and most recently, sign off on “phase one” of a China-U.S. trade deal. Details have yet to be released, but during a press conference it was announced that,

“Trump agreed to scale back some tariffs (which was China’s top demand and was cheered on Wall Street). In exchange, China said it will buy more U.S. farm products (which Beijing had wanted to do anyway), enhance its intellectual property protections and allow U.S. banks and credit card companies full access to China.” – according to the Washington Post

Canada is watching the developments between China and the U.S. closely, as increased trade between the two nations could have either a positive or negative effect on Canada’s energy and agricultural exports.

The shifting dynamics between China and North America will send shockwaves through the global market so we will certainly be watching for any developments.

4. Tariff workarounds

Because of the continued uncertainty between China – North America trade, companies have started looking for workarounds to avoid getting caught by tariffs. Other nearby regions, such as Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as Mexico have been seeing increased imports as North American companies have tweaked their supply chains to reroute around China.

A little less on the up-and-up, some North American-based companies have been exploiting loopholes in trade policy to circumvent paying increased tariffs on Chinese-manufactured goods. Specifically, section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1920’s de minimis rule. Some are stretching the legitimate rules, which U.S. Customs is aware of and claims to be cracking down on. Others are using the rule to apply correctly to their goods.

Either way, some of those that can’t avoid China-North American trade uncertainty are finding ways around paying the tariffs, for now. We’re keeping an eye on new manufacturing hot spots as they pop up and trade policy continues to shift. It’s a good time to be a trade lawyer.

5. More new supply chain tech

The adoption of buzzworthy technology, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, drones and robotics have been revolutionizing supply chains for the past few years. This is reaching a new level of maturity as companies big and small take agility and automation to the next level into 2020.

Some predictions we’re seeing illustrate the level of adoption of this technology,

“By the end of 2021, half of all manufacturing supply chains will have invested in supply chain resiliency and artificial intelligence (AI), resulting in productivity improvements of 15%. And,

By the end of 2020, half of all large manufacturers will have automated supplier and spend data analysis, resulting in a 15% procurement productivity gain.” – MH&L Magazine

Shippers are recognizing this and have gotten on board in a big way. Two of the world’s leaders in moving containers, Maersk and DAMCO, are doubling down on streamlining logistics processes with higher integration of inland services. This will help shippers to route their transportation at reduced cost, as the two companies connect sea and land, beyond the port of call. Digitization plays a huge role in this integration, giving them access to real-time data and creating more agile and efficient processes and operations.

See more 2020 supply chain trends to watch here.

6. Beyond greenwashing – Demand for truly sustainable products/services increasing

Research is showing that people are voting for sustainability with their wallets. According to a 2019 study by NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business, 50% of the growth in consumer packaged goods from 2012-2018 came from sustainable products, accounting for 16.6% of the total market. That’s a 29% jump in that five year time period.

A recent report from the International Trade Centre found that consumers in the EU are increasingly seeking sustainable and ethical products and have increased savviness on what makes a product or company truly “sustainable.”

The numbers are compelling –

85% of retailers report increased sales of sustainable products over the past five years and 92% of retailers expect sales in sustainable products to increase in the next five years.

The message from the report is clearly summed up by Arancha González, Executive Director, ITC in the introduction:

“This report carries an important message for small businesses seeking to export to major industrial nations in the European Union: Retailers consider sustainability key, when buying from suppliers.”

We’ll be watching to see how impactful the growth of sustainable business practices and purchasing behavior is in 2020, and how businesses respond.

7. Localization in supply chains and communications

The last three trends – tariff work arounds, new supply chain tech, and increased demand for green/sustainable goods – together usher in a new era of localization. Businesses are looking for ways to bring manufacturing closer to their consumers, allowing them to sidestep tariff uncertainty. They are engaging new tech in wringing every last drop of inefficiency and waste out of their supply chains, a move that will please their climate conscious consumers.

As consumers are getting increased access to a wider range brands and products and the concern for climate issues accelerates, many are also turning to products and services that speak more directly to them and come from closer by. Here’s where the other type of localization – adapting your product or service to a local market – will be increasingly important into 2020.

The need for proper translation and transcreation is growing, alongside machine translation and video creation.

8. SMEs going global from the outset

Today, more companies are born with a global mindset than ever before. Companies are often factoring in global market entry from the outset, and a majority are planning on going into at least one international market within the first five years. This is a major change from the recent past where international business was seen as a large corporation’s game.

According to Rochester PR Group’s UK Market Entry Index,

“64% of Canadian respondents stated that the vision for their companies had always been global rather than local. The peak age of a Canadian business first starting to trade overseas was 2–5 years at 39%, compared to 23% for under a year.”

In an article for Hockeystick Deanna Horton, a Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy explains further,

“One always thinks that companies, especially small companies, need to be a certain size before they expand to other markets. But the digital economy is different. Canadian tech companies in particular are going global from a very early stage. For them, going global means opening a small office with a few people in another country. So, it’s not always as complex as it can be for manufacturers.”

But many SMEs still feel too intimidated or unprepared to make the international leap. Here’s where training in the right areas can make a big difference in a company’s global market entry success. Doing the right research to be prepared to face the local competition, draft your business plan, build the right team, and adapt your products/services are the main keys to success. Fortunately, there are a multitude of training, resources and support for businesses preparing to make the journey.

9. Consumer-driven data privacy

Privacy issues have been in the spotlight over 2019 with several large organizations being scrutinized for data leaks and questionable practices. With the implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May, 2018 companies were more or less forced to sit up and take data protection seriously.

Into 2020 companies will continue to feel the implications of GDPR around the world, and other regulations are making their way through approval processes as well, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) which will come into effect on January 1, 2020. South Korea and Brazil are also working on similar protection policies.

E-Privacy and the transferring of personal data will also be under the microscope this year, along with the application of artificial intelligence technology. Companies who have put little priority into complying with privacy regulations should re-evaluate their stance, as more companies are being outed for breaches in privacy and data leaks, which comes with fines, fees, and often significant losses.

We’ll be watching to see how oversight and consumer behaviour changes alongside the developments in online technology in 2020.

10. Global trade volatility easing

After a few years of increasing uncertainty and upheaval, most outlooks are finally showing a trend for an easing of global trade volatility into 2020.

Towards the end of 2019 massive uncertainty around the state of North American trade relations started to dissipate with some of the last hurdles being cleared in the ratification of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. Canada and the U.S. agreed to revised terms in December and it is expected to be signed in early 2020.

Tensions between China and U.S. that have seen the U.S. impose tariffs on more than $350 million worth of Chinese goods have been eased by “phase one” trade agreement reached last week. Already additionally scheduled tariffs have been cancelled and  some of the existing ones have been cleared as well. Exporters dealing in the regions can breathe a tentative sigh of relief for the year ahead.

In the UK, Brexit uncertainty seems to be clearing as well after a decisive election has paved the way for the conservative party to move forward on their plans to leave the European Union. It remains to be seen what Canada’s trade relationship with the UK may look like after the UK-EU split.

Another massive piece of trade policy is on track to be signed in 2020. The world’s largest ever trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP, is made up of 15 mostly Asian nations and includes all 10 ASEAN members as well as China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that in the global trade environment, nothing is certain and staying on top of the latest developments is the best way to plan for the years ahead.

Here’s to a peaceful and prosperous new decade!

The post 10 global trade trends we’ll be watching in 2020 appeared first on Trade Ready.

E-commerce presents opportunities worth exploring. An e-commerce operation can overcome key challenges presented by exporting and importing.

The need to travel to other countries to negotiate sales with customers and contracts with partners is reduced, and in some cases, eliminated. The need for organizational representatives and infrastructure in international markets is not necessary in many cases, depending on the nature of the industry and the products and services being sold.

E-commerce is not without its own challenges and those considering setting up this type of operation should inform themselves about the required components and recommended practices.

Things to consider and prepare for include setting up an integrated model and localizing sites for international markets.

Using an integrated e-commerce model

The goal of an integrated solution is to increase revenue and reduce costs by introducing operating efficiencies. A well-designed integrated model can help e-commerce operations achieve efficiencies by allowing them to reuse product data in several different operations. An integrated model provides fast access to customer history and information for online, call centre and physical operations. It can refer to past purchases and potentially upsell from an automated system. If an order management system is connected to the accounting system, there is no need to manually post order information.

Having product data centralized allows organizations to use it in feeds, on their website, in the call centre and in the physical stores of multichannel operations. Finally, data can be integrated and automation introduced for fulfillment and back office processes. A well-designed integrated system minimizes the number of places where an organization stores data. Ideally, there is a single database for all operational systems.

The more integrated the systems, the more likely the organization’s processes will be simplified. Five recommended data systems for integration into the e-commerce platform include:

• Customer relations, e.g. name, address, order history
• Marketing, e.g. ad feeds, email, social media, analytics
• Product management, e.g. vendor data, product details, inventory control
• Fulfillment, e.g. picking and packing orders, warehouse management
• Accounting and finance, e.g. sales, purchases, expenses, payroll, budgeting, reporting

E-commerce operations wanting to link their online sales and data to other business operations such as inventory and accounting are advised to seek software with integration abilities. Traditionally, e-commerce functions have been managed by separate software systems, creating silos that suffered from a lack of information sharing and consistency.

To set-up e-commerce operations in the past, businesses would purchase on-site, standalone e-commerce software that required extensive ICT setup and in-house management. E-commerce software was purchased to provide the customer-facing, front-end component of online businesses. Additional software was needed to manage back end functions such as accounting, order processing, inventory management and customer service.

Piecing together the different types of software to create a complete e-commerce business platform was complicated, required frequent maintenance and rarely functioned efficiently. On top of that, this approach was often costly, not scalable and time consuming to customize.

New software, known as software-as-a-service or SaaS, allows integration of e-commerce and business functions into a single e-commerce platform.

SaaS provides infrastructure that unifies business applications and feeds them data that enables personalized online customer experiences. There are additional benefits of the integrated SaaS model. It allows customer service representatives to follow customers across all channels. It provides a centralized order and inventory management system that can efficiently fulfill orders from all sales channels. It can use a customer’s order history data to provide relevant offers.

Want to learn more about how to assess your position in the e-commerce marketplace by understanding your operational needs, capabilities, opportunities and challenges? Check out the FITTskills E-commerce online workshop!

Localizing sites for international markets

Localization is important to e-commerce operations that target international markets. Elements to consider in the design of an international e-commerce operation include:

• Region-specific payment options, including the use of local currencies and applicable local taxes, and the provision of payment options based on local practices and preferences
• The ability to manage multiple languages, which can be automatically determined via IP address or can be selected when the visitor lands at a site
• Support of a single product catalogue that can service any country
• Use of region-specific search engine marketing
• Provision of customer support services such as a help lines and live chat features which can handle inquiries in different languages
• Adaption of the website so its image and content appeal to cultural preferences of each international market, e.g. colours and sports teams
• Establish distribution channels to the international market

A more advanced strategy is to create a new website for each country the organization targets and purchase the Top Level Domain (TLD) of that country. For example, for a website targeted at Mexico, the organization would seek the same domain name but use the .mx extension. It is important to acquire the relevant domain name for the local market. Someone who is fluent in both the language of the original content and the destination language should translate the website content, along with the meta tags.

Organizations should consider collaborating with native speakers, who, in addition to language fluency, have an understanding of language variations, colloquialisms and cultural context that can help ensure key information and marketing messages are conveyed online accordingly.

In addition, an organization that is ready to allocate extensive resources towards globalizing their e-commerce operations will want to consider tailoring the promotions and featured products to the needs of the local market. Furthermore, they will adjust the user experience to suit the culture. For instance, in Sweden, simplicity and speed are most important, whereas the French online shopper prefers a more design-led experience.

All these localization activities help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as well as creating a positive impression with customers in the international market. Search engines and people generally prefer websites that represent the home country.

When selecting an e-commerce platform, its localization capabilities should be considered, such as the ability to:

• • Create localized online content and sales processes.
  • Create subdirectories or separate websites for each language targeted.
  • Include a Content Management System (CMS) or capability that allows the organization to make unique adaptations for each country.
  • Address problems at a global level rather than requiring individual country-level remediation.
  • Host additional country sites within its environment.
  • Integrate third-party applications, such as a fulfillment company, as the organization adds new localized sites.
  • Route IP addresses to the relevant website.

The post Use an integrated e-commerce model to set your business up for online success appeared first on Trade Ready.

Gone are the days of building products for domestic markets only. In a typical product development scenario, a good deal of time and effort is spent focusing on local customers.

While taking a local-first approach is a solid strategy for some businesses, for those looking to new markets, this approach no longer works. Companies that have any hope of growing, competing, and succeeding internationally will need to think outside their home country—and this means adopting a global-first mindset.

If you’re looking to sell your products in international markets, it pays to think global from day one.

In this case, a product internationalization strategy is essential for global growth. Internationalized products can be adapted to reach a wider audience, both domestically and internationally, making them easier to deploy on a global scale.

So, if you’re ready to conquer new international markets, here are five tips to get you started.

1. Design for the world

What better time is there to guide internationalization decisions than at the design stage? Toyota is an example of how manufacturers can use product design to scale globally. The Japanese automaker has realigned its product development to incorporate a new global architecture, a platform that serves as the foundation for most of its vehicles around the world.

Though this new process is delivering expected results (such as cost savings, improved production, shortened development cycles, and reduced plant waste), perhaps the most impressive of all is how it allows for scalability. In other words, this new global framework effectively enables the automaker to leverage a basic automobile design in different markets around the world, with minimal reengineering efforts, while maintaining a consistent quality and experience.

Can this design approach be applied to digital products as well? Indeed, it can. When it comes to web design, for example, web globalization expert John Yunker recommends using global web design templates. These “master” templates of provide the basic infrastructure for the overall web design; they’re meant to cover a broad range of locales, dictating only the global page and navigation elements. This global template can then be rolled out to local templates and adjusted to accommodate locale-specific requirements.

According to Yunker, starting with a global template offers significant advantages, such as ensuring that each regional version of the website has the same look and feel, providing a consistent user experience across regional and country websites, and delivering incremental time and cost savings. For a company, the value of this approach increases exponentially as the number of its local websites increases.

2. Create a global content strategy

If you’re creating content for non-English speaking countries, you know how difficult it can be to communicate your message and stay on brand across different languages and cultures. That’s why it’s critical to start with high-quality source content.

When it comes to writing for global audiences, a good rule of thumb is to create content that can appeal to a wider audience.

In other words, focus on overarching content themes, and keep your content neutral by avoiding any cultural, economic, and regional specifics. This makes the content easier to translate and localize.

When creating content for global audiences, here are three more things to keep in mind:

• Write bigger pieces of content. Small pieces of content have their place in a strategy, but for global audiences, bigger is better. Big content assets can be fragmented into smaller chunks, adapted, and repurposed (as needed) by the local teams.
• Create global personas. Developing user personas for each target locale can be time consuming and expensive. Content marketer Pam Didner recommends using informal, global personas, which instead focus on the commonalities among target audiences.
• Have a governance program. Global content production requires the efforts of both headquarters and regional teams. Consider who will be responsible for creating, localizing, managing, and maintaining the content. Most importantly, involve all the teams in figuring out how content processes and performance will be measured.

3. Implement a global style guide

Is your branding consistent across all channels? Are you getting your message across clearly? When working with multiple authors and designers, especially in different countries, it can be a struggle to keep your branding and messaging consistent.

A good first step is to put the right tools and guidelines in place. Creating style guides, glossaries, and communication guidelines that define when and how specific elements (such as colors, typeface, logo, core terminology, style, voice and tone) should be used ensures your team stays on brand.

And don’t forget your translators and linguists! Reference aids are crucial for maintaining messaging and style consistency in your translated materials, too. So be sure to create specific guidelines for translation and transcreation, and include any cultural considerations of the target country.

4. Work with local teams

Understanding your audience is central to any good marketing effort. But it can be especially challenging when targeting global markets, because not every concept resonates equally around the world.

Taking a global approach to product and content development may serve to provide strategic oversight, but it doesn’t exclude the importance of thorough localization. The reality is that the world isn’t homogeneous, so applying a universal solution to heterogeneous markets is sure to fail.

This is where your local team comes in: who better to understand the culture and provide a truly localized experience? Needless to say, the local team is indispensable for:

• personalizing the product for their geographic region
• delivering content that’s relevant and useful to the target audience
• performing in-country reviews, and ensuring proper localized messaging
• validating the local user and customer experience

As marketing strategist Rebecca Lieb points out, “global enables local.” In other words, a successful global rollout hinges on striking the right balance between the central strategy initiated by headquarters and the local insights provided by the regional teams. So work with your local teams, engage them in the process, and iterate locally.

5. Invest in technology

As your market reach grows, so will the amount of content you’ll have to store, publish, manage, and maintain. To efficiently scale your marketing programs across borders, you’ll need to invest in tools that can streamline your translation and localization workflows, help maintain consistency across content assets, and improve content output.

The two primary tools used for this are content management systems (CMS) and translation management systems (TMS):

• A CMS is used to create, manage, store, and publish content across the enterprise.
• A TMS is used to manage translation assets and automate the globalization workflow.

When used together, these tools help companies integrate the entire workflow into a collaborative process, making it easier to create and edit content, translate and localize it, and push it to the web.

The result? Better experiences for your customers and more cost savings for you.

Typical product development processes still focus largely on building products for domestic markets. But for companies looking to launch their products internationally, taking a local-first approach to product development no longer works.

Finding success in today’s globalized economy hinges on designing world-ready products and content, and collaborating with your regional teams to scale your efforts globally.

The post 5 tips to create products and content that scale globally appeared first on Trade Ready.

Between 1998 and 2006, I was the international sales director for a small but very rapidly growing tech company. During that period, I opened up 12 international subsidiaries and appointed another 12 master distributors in other countries.

Whilst sales grew exceptionally on the back of this international expansion, our firm had to overcome many local challenges, including complicated tax, regulatory, and operational frameworks, hiring, firing and retaining talent, and the management of multiple service providers worldwide.

Despite these challenges my company went public in 2005, buoyed by this global success. After exiting the company, I reflected on the international success my firm had achieved, particularly on how we were able to successfully enter challenging foreign markets. None of the major international advisory firms wanted to support us because we were too small, and it was so difficult managing multiple local service providers.

Sometimes it felt like I was spending more time managing vendors than I was winning new business.

After looking at a number of new business opportunities I decided that the best use of my experience was to establish an international market entry and expansion firm that was designed to deal with exactly the challenges and opportunities that my own company had faced.

Why a company succeeds or fails in emerging markets

During this journey, I had gained tremendous insights and learned many lessons on the issues that really impact whether a company succeeds or fails internationally. These lessons included truly understanding local cultural nuances, getting to grips with different regulatory and tax frameworks, and knowing who to hire to deal with them.

I had to learn to be wise to where and when a company should establish a local presence in a foreign market.

My journey, whilst ultimately successful, faced some spectacular failures and startling episodes along the way, which I had to overcome. I once arrived several days early to a meeting in Hong Kong only to find our “exclusive” distributor was actually fully representing our main competitor!

Then, there was the time I hired local staff in one of our international markets, only to later realize our appointed GM had hired three of his immediate family members into our local business, but used different surnames for them all. And so the adventure went on!

Ultimately the success or failure of expanding into emerging markets is no different to the recipe you would adopt in your home market. A business needs to have a great product or service which is well-priced and of good quality, and crucially, isn’t immediately replicable, possessing unique some competitive advantage. To sell to and service a customer base, any company needs great people; people who can communicate your company’s value proposition, provide after sales support, and help with the general administration and logistics of cross border trade.

Any company needs to deliver its message locally. Whether this is by establishing a distribution channel, having your own boots on the ground, or leveraging the increasingly important route to market that is ecommerce, companies need to cover all the bases to ensure success.

Online retail sales in India, for example, have risen tenfold in just seven years, from $3.8bn in 2009, to $38bn last year, and yet still this represents only 2.2% of total retail sales in the country.

If you don’t truly understand your new market, you’ll become a cautionary tale

Globalization is often misconstrued as being synonymous with standardization. In fact, localization is most commonly what creates success for SMEs going global.

Whether it be the tweak of a design, the shade of a color, product name, or how it is packaged, these details are more often than not the key to successful market entry.

Consider the following examples:

A British rice cooker manufacturer who succeeds in China – not because they necessarily know a lot about rice, but because they emblazoned the Union Jack on each of their rice cookers accompanied by the slogan “Made in Britain”.

McDonald’s expanded into India, secretly hoping they could convert the local population to become beef-eaters. Several restaurants were burnt to the ground by angry mobs, and would be customers protested outside the remaining restaurants. It took MacDonald’s years before they could respond and finally came up with a localized vegetarian menu – hence the veg Maharaja Mac was born.

Consider the U.S. motor company that introduced a car named the “Matador” in Puerto Rico, only to find out that their bleak sales results were caused by the translation of “matador” to “killer”.

5 ingredients to a successful emerging market strategy

There’s much to be learned from the market entry failures, but put simply, the key ingredients required for achieving success in emerging markets are:

• Avoiding the threat of duplicity;
• Competing in highly price sensitive environments;
• Finding and managing the right sales channels ;
• Recruiting quality talent across multiple time zones and at a great distance, and;
• Genuine localization

There is no quick fix to international success, and a single sales order does not mean that you are an expert exporter. Global expansion requires patience, consistency and long term commitment. If you are planning on expanding in emerging markets, be sure to give all areas of your global business the same focus you would to your business at home.

The post What I learned from 20 years of experience in tough emerging markets appeared first on Trade Ready.

A new buzz word is born

In the mid 20^th century, many translation theories were brewing around the world, and Brazilian translator and poet Haroldo Campos added his theory and neologism, transcriaÇão (transcreation), to the author-oriented vs audience-oriented debate.

Decades later, in her book “Puentes sobre el mundo: (Bridges over the world..)”, Dora Sales Salvador provided perhaps the best description of  what transcreation allows:

[…] transcreation is a conscious act of aesthetic recreation, in which the translator makes use of all possible aesthetic devices and deviations for communicating the ideas of the original text effectively to the target audience. In this way, transcreation can be said to be a target-oriented, aesthetic recreation.

Campos resorts to any deviation necessary to make his works readable and to obtain the intended effect. This conscious act, also called ‘free’ adaptation, brings up the question about faithfulness to the original text as well.

Transcreation has become a trendy word among translation companies seeking to differentiate themselves from their competition and machine translation. In the same manner as localization, transcreation fits under the umbrella of terms for the many cognitive processes that take place during the act of translating.

But unlike straight up translating, transcreation goes beyond simply word-for-word translation. With the growth of globalization, the ability to translate local content for a global audience becomes a great opportunity to step into new markets, however it also brings new challenges:

• Consumers’ access to the Internet changes their buying behavior;
• Specialized translation professionals are insufficient to deal with the huge volumes of content produced every day;
• Business executives need any help they can get to optimize conversion rates and accelerate sales cycles.

So, if international businesses want to succeed in passing their message across borders with even more precision, they have to revisit their communications strategies. No wonder then, translation companies have recognized this need and started marketing transcreation services.

Translating complete ideas

In a western fashion, these translation providers choose to position their offerings in dichotomies: translation vs. transcreation, translation vs. localization, transcreation vs. marketing translation, a few of them sometimes even undermining translation. But I believe that an interdisciplinary approach to the internationalization of products and/or services, fostering creative teams to complement each other in favor of an idea, produces the best results.

If international businesses want to avoid intercultural blunders overseas, their marketing teams should work together with translators. As transcreators the two disciplines should compromise and meet in the middle, in pursuit of the same goal – that is meeting the client’s expectations.

The backbone of the idea behind the message should elicit certain emotions from, and resonate with, the target audience. It may contain visual, verbal or non-verbal, auditory, olfactory, tactile elements, requiring skills beyond simple translation, focused on results and benefits to persuade consumers to change their perception about a product or service.

For the purpose of transcreating these elements, expert translators will take the key elements of an idea and creatively adapt them across media, whether printed or digital. You may find especially useful Rachel Weissbrod’s article “From Translation to Transfer” to understand how transcreation works its way from the literary field into the film-making and computer games, among other media.

As mentioned earlier, to effectively allure consumers with words requires trained minds specializing in marketing that sells, particularly relevant in these days of digital marketing, and copywriting. That is, translators as transcreators should train in the art of persuading with words and be able to culturally resonate with the target audience in their mother tongue. During the creative process of bringing the fundamental idea of your marketing campaign into words, transcreators will employ:

• their cross-cultural competences in translation;
• their business mindset and persuasive skills with words in copywriting;
• their competence in the local nuances of the target language in localization;
• and, on occasion, their skills of standardization to, for example, tone down certain elements in the message;
• as well as their comprehension of any other complementary discipline they deem important for the project.

The benefits transcreation brings for your business

Transcreation does not work as a one-time order that will bring immediate success. Businesses should approach this service as a strategy to resort to when planning their international marketing campaigns. When bringing your message across different media, it may require a few deviations in the process, but the fundamental idea should still remain – eliciting the expected reaction from the target audience. This means that you will benefit from:

• branding consistency over time;
• improvement in retention levels—for example, product descriptions is the second reason why 7 out of 10 Argentineans become repeat buyers from the same website.
• and an increase in time to market, and profit.

This list is not at all exhaustive, but it can show you the difference between cutting corners and viewing language services as a strategic investment. So, what would you do if you only have a few-second chance to attract your target audience into a buying decision? And why would you risk it to a poorly written message?

The post How translators and marketers can work together to sell your products internationally appeared first on Trade Ready.

It’s no secret that starting a business from the ground up comes with an abundance of challenges. Founders must face and overcome challenges in financing, risk mitigation, market entry and recruitment, to name only a few. But global entrepreneurs add to that laundry list of obstacles with cross-border shipping, global supply chain management, international laws and regulations, language and culture differences – I could go on!

Fortunately, there are some brave, ambitious souls out there who face these challenges head-on and boldly stride into the global marketplace. To get a glimpse into the situations global entrepreneurs face and put our fingers on some great solutions, we assembled a panel of experts who have been there, done that, and are helping others successfully enter international waters as global business owners.

They shared their insights in this month’s #TradeElite Twitter chat. Here’s what they had to say.

Moderator:

Sara Haq (@SH_Intl), Founder and Principal of SH International, helping entrepreneurs build profitable multinational businesses through training, and partnerships, based out of Washington, DC.

Panelists:

Nicole Verkindt (@OffSetMarket) – Founder, OMX, “Dragon”, Next Gen Den, Panellist, CBC News, The Exchange based out of Toronto, Canada

Tanita Alexandridis, CITP (@TanitaAlex1) – Sr. Associate, Advisory Services, Export Development Canada based out of Ottawa, Canada

Lynnette Wennerstrom (@thisisLynnette) – Globalization consultant and project management specialist based out of Washington, DC

Amy Karam (@AmyKaram) – Author, speaker, instructor and global expansion and competitive strategy consultant based out of Ottawa, Canada

Adam Wood (@Woody_at) – CEO of GCS Group, Co-founder of Certifiedby.com specializing in helping businesses with credit, risk, and compliance based out of Melbourne, Australia

Let’s get it all out there – what are the biggest challenges faced by global entrepreneurs?

One of the biggest challenges for global entrepreneurs is getting an international deal. #tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

A1: blinded sided by power of politics and govt influence in closing business abroad and lack of long term perspective are two #tradeelite

— Amy Karam (@AmyKaram) July 13, 2017

A1: ? entrepreneurs start as local ones. Understanding how to create a local experience for their users is one challenge #TradeElite

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

A1: Need time & money to do the research, make the connections in #export markets, but SMEs often lack both. #tradeelite https://t.co/1Hhwe6cDdy

— Tanita Alexandridis (@TanitaAlex1) July 13, 2017

A1: Ambition v knowledge and learned trust. Experience teaches us to know who your dealing with, before trading #tradeelite

— Adam Wood (@Woody_at) July 13, 2017

A1: I also found that getting tech working in certain emerging markets can be … an adventure! #TradeElite

— Eric (@KantJungRand) July 13, 2017

A1. Finding customers who want your product and not having to make too many adjustments to it for int’l compliance #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

How I feel overcoming obstacles selling abroad #TradeElite pic.twitter.com/xAbWOXjEre

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

That’s a lot of confidence. Off to a good start.

What do you see ALREADY working for global entrepreneurs in terms of overcoming their challenges?

A2: ? entrepreneurs are often at the vanguard of using and developing new technologies to overcome hurdles…out of necessity #TradeElite

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

We’re lucky to be able to connect with people from different parts of the world through social media #tradeelite

— ICECORP Logistics (@icecorplog) July 13, 2017

A2: readiness to take higher risks, realizing that global mkts, esp emerging mkts, cannot be ignored as strong revenue sources #tradeelite

— Amy Karam (@AmyKaram) July 13, 2017

A2: Leverage others’ expertise: have a network of legal, logistics, market intel partners. @TCS_SDC comes to mind! #TradeElite https://t.co/K7QwmXRbwo

— Tanita Alexandridis (@TanitaAlex1) July 13, 2017

A2. In Canada there is an emphasis on building exports w/ FTA’s & we have Gov’t resources for support. #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

Who is responsible and/or the most capable of helping global entrepreneurs overcome their challenges?

A3: ? entrepreneurs are responsible for IDing those that can help them overcome challenges. It may or may not be them. #TradeElite

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

A3. The #TradeElite. Gov’t can help, Consultants can help, but you need to know who is reliable & that comes from ppl in the industry.

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

A3: Agreed, @ThisIsLynnette ! There are experts to help for most challenges… but SMEs have to ultimately own their success. #TradeElite https://t.co/Ec6vJ4jVS7

— Tanita Alexandridis (@TanitaAlex1) July 13, 2017

@tresAudrey it can be so tough to vet the right resources. Thank goodness we have the world at our fingertips to do our research #TradeElite https://t.co/OH7ldMJlUR

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

A3: foreign affairs, trade commissioners, orgs like @FITTNews, local consultants in country and other entrepreneurs. #tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

What are the most hidden challenges of global entrepreneurship? When entrepreneurs struggle quietly, or without resources?

A4: One hidden challenge is worrying about cultural differences in addition to worrying about currency conversions #tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

A4: lack of realistic time frames in how long it takes to make things happen and how many failures or closed-end leads it takes #tradeelite https://t.co/G6yheDhOTv

— Amy Karam (@AmyKaram) July 13, 2017

A4. Trust factor. You can’t rely on traditional legal, banking, accounting, political resources. #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

A4: struggling quietly and going solo! Paraphrasing @vanillaice and @tresAudrey “stop, collaborate, and listen” #TradeElite #iceicebaby https://t.co/hGgEHawfba

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

A4: Overwhelm and paralysis by analysis = #thestruggleisreal. #Entrepreneurship is hard enough, int’lly it’s even harder. #TradeElite

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

A4 Also, CEO risk-aversion. As stated, risk can be higher in global markets. Risk tolerance can inhibit growth #tradeelite

— Eric (@KantJungRand) July 13, 2017

A4: In order to also match a local culture, you may need to slightly adjust your product @AmyKaram #tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

What differences in challenges are there for global entrepreneurs in US/ Canada vs. in places like India and Brazil?

A5:This can tie back w/ Q4, but you will want your product to be translated into another language to serve a wider market #tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

A5: As an external biz, you often worry about local competitors who will have home advantage by being in country…#tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

A5. I don’t have exp in those markets, but flags have been corruption level, inconsistent standards & bureaucracy issues. #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

A5: But be sure to localize it, not simply translate it. Adapt for the locale, culture and language to make the biggest impact. #TradeElite https://t.co/Kvpnq10eL2

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

Def. culture & comms (can’t always interpret “yes” & “no” in the same way), time/travel req’d to build relationships, time zones #TradeElite https://t.co/OU9eM7hNQQ

— Tanita Alexandridis (@TanitaAlex1) July 13, 2017

A5 For @text_engine in India we found that the Do Not Call Registry really blocked our growth.Must solve 4 tech peculiarities #TradeElite

— Eric (@KantJungRand) July 13, 2017

Which types of financing are the most supportive of the global entrepreneur?

A6. In Cda look at @EDC_Events & @bdc_ca options b/c they really mitigate your risk & help w/ banks. #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

Just for fun, let’s answer one A6: We find that VC’s are often ill-equipped to assess the multinational #entrepreneur‘s venture #tradeelite

— SH International LLC (@SH_Intl) July 13, 2017

A6. You’ve got to create a strong relationship with your bank. Face to Face. Get them to understand your biz. #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

A6: Credit insurance has dual benefit: protect against non-payment & make it easier for bank to lend against your receivables. #TradeElite https://t.co/I5ml8d0ESv

— Tanita Alexandridis (@TanitaAlex1) July 13, 2017

#TradeElite A6 countries that support an #export policy will have ECAs (export credit agencies) that will customize products or programs https://t.co/l0KkBQd0sv

— Emiliano Introcaso (@introcaso) July 13, 2017

In what way can global entrepreneurship make this world a better place? Should that be the goal of a global entrepreneur?

A7 I think it’s ok to admit if your goal is to make $$ & not necessarily to make the world a btr place. Just be honest w/ urself #tradeelite

— Eric (@KantJungRand) July 13, 2017

A7: ? #entrepreneurship is just another way of bringing people together to collaborate across borders. #TradeElite #GlobalBusiness

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

A7 by respecting mutual interests and bridging relationships through cultural understanding #tradeelite

— Amy Karam (@AmyKaram) July 13, 2017

A7. I see more SME’s giving back, designing a helpful product & building community over just profit, profit, profit. #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

A7: Global #entrepreneurship can apply #innovative ideas and approaches to solve world problems. #tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

What final words of inspiration do you have for global entrepreneurs facing difficult situations?

A8: Be patient and persevere. #tradeelite

— OMX (@offsetmarket) July 13, 2017

A8. There are resources & great ppl to help you (for free!) Find the #TradeElite, connect w/ @FITTNews. Don’t give up!

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) July 13, 2017

A8: You got this. Be the drive and hustle, but reach out to local experts on your journey. #tradeelite #Entrepreneurship #YouGotThis pic.twitter.com/daOvJZESJD

— Lynnette Wennerstrom (@ThisIsLynnette) July 13, 2017

Getting great info from the #TradeElite panel? Catch Nicole Verkindt @Offsetmarket and @AmyKaram at #YourFuture2017 https://t.co/hHoSHXBpFA pic.twitter.com/XZp8w4P0lZ

— FITT (@FITTNews) July 13, 2017

Read the rest of the chat and follow future discussions by following the #TradeElite hashtag. Stay tuned for the next #TradeElite chat, coming up Thursday, August 10 at 2:30-3:30PM ET.

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In today’s connected digital economy, many companies are born global from day one. The tremendous reach provided by the internet and related digital technologies represents a significant source of opportunities for businesses wishing to tap into new markets and grow globally.

With approximately 3.5 billion internet users worldwide in 2016, and with the global flow of goods and services expected to amount to upwards of $85 trillion by 2025, according to McKinsey, the potential for growth in the digital economy is enormous.

But this increasingly global digital reality, with its unprecedented access to customers across channels, platforms, and geographies, also brings with it a series of challenges for companies and marketers.

Changing consumer habits, behaviors, and expectations are shifting the way companies communicate their brand strategy, market to consumers, and engage with audiences around the world.

Forced to adapt to this new reality, marketers and companies alike are coming to recognize the importance of adopting a global mindset. And when launching global campaigns and building brand awareness worldwide, this means having to balance two imperatives: maintaining brand consistency globally and at the same time engaging with customers locally.

To do this, forward-thinking brands are moving beyond traditional localization and turning instead to transcreation.

One size fits all—or does it?

When developing a global campaign, the common approach is to design a single model that’s harmonized, universally appealing, and capable of scaling to reach a wider audience, both domestically and internationally. This helps to ensure that a consistent brand image, voice, and message are communicated to customers anywhere in the world.

But while this model has its advantages—consistency, coherency, less risks, and reduced costs, to name  a few—the reality is that the world isn’t homogeneous.

Delivering a one-size-fits-all solution that doesn’t speak directly to the local tastes and cultural differences of consumers can backfire.

In this case, a global mindset is a must. While consistency and universality are important, it’s equally important to address the cultural realities of the target locales. That’s where localization comes in. Localization is the process of adapting a product to the specific linguistic requirements, cultural sensitivities, preferences, values, and expectations of a target country or market. But while it can have a measurable impact on a company’s international business goals, sometimes localization doesn’t go far enough toward engaging the customer.

Moving beyond localization

We’ve all experienced it: a slogan that doesn’t sound quite right, a tagline that falls flat, an ad that just misses the mark. A brand’s identity is made up of various elements—rational and emotional, visual and textual, tangible and intangible—that come together to tell the unique story of your business. The more concrete the elements, the easier they are to communicate; the creative elements, however, can get lost in localization.

Although similar to localization, transcreation takes a creative approach to adaptation. Used primarily in marketing and advertising, it focuses on the concept of the campaign and on the intent of the message in order to provide cultural context and to recreate the nuances of its voice and tone.

So where localization focuses on communicating culturally appropriate messages, transcreation goes a step further:  it looks to creatively adapt the message to faithfully convey it in another language, for another culture, with the goal of maximizing cultural relevance and resonance.

Localization provides value, transcreation creates an experience

Beyond simply speaking to customers in their language, transcreation helps to ensure that you’re reaching them—you’re conveying the intended message and that it resonates with them. If your customers can relate to your message, it’s more likely to elicit an emotional response from them. This, in turn, shifts the needle from using localization to provide customer value to using transcreation to improve customer experience. And this helps to influence customer behavior.

Global marketing presents a challenging balancing act between brand consistency and customer engagement. Transcreation manages this by moving beyond traditional localization practices and adding the creative dimensions necessary to ensure your message resonates with your audience. While the message may differ for different communities, its voice and tone will be consistent, remaining faithful to the brand’s identity.

So, to sum up, if you’re thinking of reaching out to a global audience, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1 – Understand your customers – This goes without saying, but to effectively communicate your brand across the globe, you must understand the cultural values of your customers and respect their cultural needs. This means communicating with them in their own language, and in a way that’s culturally appropriate and relevant.

2 – Adapt your message to the market – As a global marketer, you want to scale their campaigns, but scaling globally at the expense of your local audience is a losing proposition. Maximize cultural relevance by adapting your campaign and core messaging so it resonates with local groups.

3 – Connect and engage – We all know how important it is to speak to customers in their language, but if your customers can’t relate to your message, then it’s a loss. To really connect and engage with them, you need to get personal. And to effectively take your brand from global to local, you need to transcreate.

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