Insights Into Cost Effective Video Marketing For International Markets
May 30, 2008 by 
cindy
This article is part of Video Marketing 101. You will find the links to the other articles in this series at the bottom of this post. Stay tuned for future ones.
Video marketing is fast becoming a necessity for businesses online. The trend is not going to stop.
The main reason is because video marketing, when well done, pulls better responses. So more and more businesses are using video marketing to promote their services.
Videos are being used on websites much more productively than in the past. They are cheaper to produce, faster to make, and easier to put online.
Video marketing can also be a very important part of your international internet marketing plan.
Remember, all of the standard good practices in cross cultural communication and international marketing still apply here as well.
Video marketing is just another marketing channel.
We will look into cross cultural communication used in video marketing in the near future here at Get International Clients. First let’s run through the basics of video marketing. Read more
How Quickly Do You Need To Get A Globalized Website?
May 29, 2008 by cindy
I’ve had quite a few questions lately on how to move towards a globalized website.
And the marketer in me responds my looking at their current business and what they are marketing.
Knowledge Helps You Save
It is important for any online business with a desire for international expansion to know what is involved in website globalization.
Why?
There are things you can do today, no matter how many international sales you currently have, that will help you save time and money later when you actually need to move towards website localization and website globalization.
This is why website globalization is such a buzz word. Read more
How To Use International Marketing Strategy To Plan For Your Globalized Website
May 28, 2008 by cindy
Last Updated 17 August 2008
I’ve had quite a few questions lately on how to move towards a globalized website.
And the marketer in me responds by looking at your company’s current business, what you are marketing and where you are selling your products or services.
Prior Planning Makes All The Difference
It is important for any online business with a desire for international expansion to know what is involved in website globalization. A little prior planning can save you lots of time, money and aggravation in your next steps towards getting more international clients.
Why? Read more
Why You Need To Know Your Clients Expectations Before You Outsource Your Customer Support Overseas
Clients from different cultures have different expectations on the type of service you provide them. And when you outsource your customer support to another country you may open your company’s communication up to a whole new set of cultural blunders.
An Example Of Cross Cultural Miscommunication
My own cultural expectations, living in one country, buying something from a company based in a second country I’m very familiar with, were frustrated because this company had a call center in a third country with different cultural habits and a totally different outlook on my own client expectations.
And I was not expecting to have to adapt to this third country’s cultural values. Here’s what happened: Read more
Website Design – Don’t Get Off On The Wrong Foot
May 26, 2008 by cindy
There are several ways to greet your website visitors. Some greetings are more appropriate for first time visitors or new visitors. Some greeting are more appropriate for visitors who know your website well.
You can design your website to greet all of your visitors the right way.
But sometimes, in a rush to do other things, websites fail to greet anyone. In fact they actually get off on the wrong foot.
If you don’t pay attention your visitors may get the wrong first impression.
Here is a list of the things that you should avoid. Read more
Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival #3
May 25, 2008 by cindy
Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival - 25 May 2008
Global Website Development Mixed With Traditional International Marketing In An International Internet Business Plan
May 23, 2008 by cindy
One way for internet marketers or brick and mortar companies to plan for their international business expansion is to look at the progressions in
- Websites as they move towards global business websites
- The different stages of traditional international marketing towards global business marketing
This can help businesses to
- Clearly identify where they are today on the scale of international business
- Create an International Internet Business Plan
Progression Towards Website Globalization
It is very interesting to note the online marketing progression today goes:
- From website internationalization = domestic website + all foreign & domestic markets
- To website localization = one foreign website + one foreign market
- To website globalization = all foreign websites + all foreign markets
There is a distinct trend for good global websites today to use website templates throughout all of their country websites. This makes the process easier, quicker and cheaper to manage.
So the progression is towards one website template used for all markets. Read more
Basic Outline For Cross Cultural Online Marketing
May 22, 2008 by cindy
Cross cultural researchers have studied different behavioral values in different cultures. Geert Hofstede researched this a few decades ago.
And these different behavioral values are outlined extensively in the book The Culturally Customized Web Site.
What Are The Different Cultural Behaviors You Can Market To?
Basically The Culturally Customized Web Site outlines that different cultures have different ways of behaving along 5 different scales.
- High Individualism versus High Collectivism Behavior
- High versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance Behavior
- High versus Low Power Distance Behavior
- High Masculinity versus High Femininity Behavior
- High versus Low Context Behavior
These different behavior scales can be used by international internet marketers. Marketing towards these behavioral needs gives internet marketers tools to play with and tweak to get better responses from different countries and cultures.
This is especially helpful, if you are marketing to another country at the opposite end of one or more of these scales to your country.
How Cross Cultural Study Can Help You? Read more
Website Design - Power Your International Web Pages With Focus
Internet users are unlike any other media consumers.
They are online with a purpose. Even internet users in other countries.
The degree of purpose may depend on the maturity of the local internet environment. Most of your international online markets have had internet access for a few years now. They come online with a purpose.
Why are online users a different type of reader?
In some ways an internet user is more like someone in a huge library rather than a person idling flipping through a magazine in the doctor’s office.
If internet users come online with a purpose, what do you think they are looking for online?
They use search engines and favorite bookmarks just like the clearly marked isles in a library.
Your international visitors may have different motivations and different preferences, due to cultural differences. But they come online for the same reason: They have one specific purpose.
When a visitor lands on your website, what is he hoping to look for on your website?
How can you design your website to appeal more to these online visitors? Read more
The Impact Of Color And Its Different Associations In Multicultural Marketing
This weeks Get International Clients Newsletter starts a series of articles on how to culturally customize your website.
The feature article this week focuses on the choice of color and their different meanings in different cultures.
As this subject interests most readers, I have completed the list of colors here to keep as a reference in the Multicultural Marketing 101 Guide, which you can find in the list of other useful Guides to your right.
The use of color plays a role in cross cultural communication.
Some Cultures Have Richer Vocabularies For Colors
First let’s look at the different numbers of words in different vocabularies.
Some languages have a wider choice of words to describe certain colors. These words may actually refer to very different shades or variations of a color.
Different cultures pay more attention to the variations of certain colors. Here are some examples: Read more
