How to be found and liked in export markets | Susanne Dirks - eVorsprung Consulting

International online presence:
How to be found and liked in export markets
Susanne Dirks
e-Vorsprung Consulting
www.evorsprung.com

Introduction and background
Susanne Dirks MSc BSc
• German living in Ireland
• Academic background:
– Translation/localisation
– Information Technology/AI
– e-marketing/business development
• Experience: International
business and IT consulting
• Help Irish SMEs fully leverage
the Internet for sales and
marketing with focus on
export markets including:
– International web presence
and e-marketing strategy
– Web presence localisation
– e-marketing and SEO
www.evorsprung.com
ie.linkedin.com/in/susannedirks

Agenda
How to be (online) found and liked in export
markets ?
1. Why do it ?
2. What to watch out for ?
3. How to do it ?

Why Do It ?

Reason 1: Market opportunity
Source: eCommerce Europe (2013)
(billion)
EuropeIreland:
0.06% of world population
0.13% of world Internet population

Reason 2: Market Access
Global Internet population: From US-centric to truly international
Source: internetlivestats, 2013
Also consider:
Varying growth rates from 1% to 17%

Reason 3: Company Growth
Example: Zalando
Survey of German
online shops:
• 77% considering
• 36% planning
international
expansion

Challenge 1: ACCESS != REACH
‘Automatic’ international reach is minimal
Source: Irish e-commerce SME sales data

Challenge 2: TRANSLATION != LOCALISATION
Translation alone is not sufficient
Audit of EI companies for:
• Website Visibility
– Technical Tuning
– Onsite / Offside SEO
– Social media presence
• Website Impact
– Content & Translation
– Customer Service Support
– Clarity of Website
– Trust-building features
• E-Commerce readiness
– Process, Legal, etc.0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1
Best
Worst
Average score
Source: Data from 2013 audit for Enterprise Ireland
Note: Audit for German market only e-Vorsprung Consulting

Challenge 3: NO GUARANTEES
Market research and active marketing are vital
Requires business case:
– Demand
– Competitive differentiation
– Feasibility, cost, pricing
– No go examples (online, DE):
• Debenhams.de
• Asos
Requires active effort
– Example:
• 55% of German online
shops deliver abroad
• Sales percentage
abroad smallish
• BECAUSE marketing
efforts smallish

What To Watch Out For ?

Selling internationally (online) means
operating (and e-marketing) in a different environment
Business
environment
Socio-cultural
environment
Technology
environment
Legal
environment
www.sme.cn

Business environment:
Local supply - local demand - Your USP
Supply/Competitors Demand
ATKearney,
2012

Assessing demand:
Checking out local search patterns
Ladies shoes
Ireland 320
UK 18,100
US 4,400
Germany 90
Austria 10
Source: Google Keyword planner
Monthly search volumes in Google:
Question 1:
Is there sufficient demand for your product/s
in your target market/s ?
Women shoes
50
2,400
14,800
110
10
Damenschuhe
20
20
50
27,100
880
Check
external and
internal data

Assessing the competition: “Ladies shoes”
Ireland (google.ie) Germany (google.de)Organic search
results only
Question 2: Who are you competing ONLINE and OFFLINE with in
your selected foreign target market/s ?

Re-evaluating your USP
Source: IPC Cross-Border e-Commerce report
Question 3:
What is your USP for
selling in your new
target market/s ?

Re-fining your USP for export markets
Demand
• Ireland
– Office shoes – 9,900
• Germany
– Büroschuhe – 70 -> NO
– High heels – 40,400 -> NO
– Brautschuhe – 33,100 -> NO
– ...
Supply / Competitors
– Tanzschuhe - 22,200
– Tanzschuhe Damen – 4,400
– Tangoschuhe - 880

The impact of a different socio-cultural
environment on e-commerce abroad
Business
environment
Socio-cultural
environment
Technology
environment
Legal
environment
www.sme.cn

Understanding of the export market’s culture is
key to the success of e-marketing
Culture influences how
all of its members:
– Perceive
– Think
– Value
– Act
Website marketing
aims at getting people’s:
– Attention
– Interest
– Desire
– Action
“The web is not a culturally
neutral medium … a website has to be
designed for a targetted customer segment …
Local adaptation should be based on a
complete understanding of
a customer group’s culture …”

Cultural considerations
• Text
– Words
– Language
• Graphics
– Pictures
– Symbols
• Design
– Layout
– Colours
– Navigation
• Formats
– Addresses
– Phone numbers
• Measurements etc. etc. etc.
Key guiding principles:
1. Don’t offend
2. Don’t look silly
3. Speak the ‘language’
4. Show you care
5. Show local insight
Needs local insights
and input

Don’t offend
Picture and text content must be appropriate
for culture
Ikea
Microsoft

Translations can go wrong easily
Don’t look silly

Picture content: Watch out for potential issues
Final
version
Spot the
issue!
Draft version

Users prefer content in their own language
Speak their language
Considerable country variances !
Question asked:
“Do you use a language other than
your own to read/watch content
on the Internet ?”
Plus:
Frequency
Complexity

Quality of local content shows your attitude
Show you care

Final touches makes the difference
Show local insight
UK
Spain
Zalando payment options
Oriflame
Latvi
a
Kenya

Assessing cultural differences to
address in web presence localisation
Hofstede’s 6 cultural dimensions:
• Power distance
• Individualism
• Masculinity/femininity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Long-term orientation
• Indulgence
Can and must be
addressed via:
Web design, content,
features/functionality
Ireland in comparison…

Example:
Websites for uncertainty avoidance
cultures
Key principles
• Minimal ambiguity
• Clear navigation
• Structured information
• Predictable user journey
• No pop-ups
• No non-essential info
• Explicit language
• Clear images
Example:

The impact of different technology usage on
e-commerce abroad
Business
environment
Socio-cultural
environment
Technology
environment
Legal
environment
www.sme.cn

Technology infrastructure
Average connection speed by country:
Mobile connectivity, Europe:
Mobile
penetration:

Popular websites / search engines

Search engines:
Google is not Number 1 everywhere
• What are the
prevalent search
engines in your target
market/s ?
• What are the
differences in SEO ?
Guess where ?

Social network preferences vary –
Example: Germany and Russia
Germany
Russia
Russia

The impact of different legal and/or regulatory
requirements on e-commerce abroad
Business
environment
Socio-cultural
environment
Technology
environment
Legal
environment
www.sme.cn

Legal considerations for web presence abroad
Legal aspects to consider
– Privacy and data protection
legislation
– Advertising legislation
– Brand legislation
– Consumer legislation
– Copyright
– Terms and conditions
– Liability
– Domain names
– Website content
Example: Legal warnings
in Germany (2013)
• 3 of 5 online shops received at
least one legal warning in 2013
14%
12%
53%
20%
Trademark law
Copyright
Competition law
Other
Source: Händlerbund

How To Go About It ?

What does web presence for exports involve ?
Localisation is the practice
of adjusting a product or
service to the requirements
of a foreign market
e-
Marketing
localisation
Website
localisation
Web
presence
in export
market

Website localisation

Website Localisation Step 1:
Big Picture: Internationalisation strategy
Export market priorities
1. Target market/s
2. Target audience/s
3. Competitors
4. Offering/value proposition
5. Differentiation/USP
Company priorities
1. Goals / KPIs
2. Resources
3. Budget
4. Time

International and local Web Presence Strategy
WHERE, WHY, WHEN, WHAT, HOW
 International web presence strategy supports the business
– Internationalisation status to-date and plans
– Country priorities, timing, goals per markets
– Sales channels and products and value proposition per market
– Role of web to-date and going forward per market
Web internationalisation strategy
Domain strategy
Information architecture
Content, web presence approach, e-marketing approach
 Local market web presence strategy
– Value proposition, products/services, top shelf concept

Strategic choices for web presence localisation
Hope & Pray
Translation/ Copywriting
SEO-
Translation/Optimisation
SEO-Trans-Creation
Web Presence
Localisation
Marketing in a new environment
1. Countries
2. Offering
3. Scope/footprint
4. Localisation degree

Website Localisation Step 2:
Culturally appropriate, locally relevant and
appealing (AIDA) CONTENT
• Articulates your value proposition in …
• Differentiates you from competitors in …
• Meets the content needs of …
• Uses standards and conventions in …
• Uses content formats preferred by …
• Uses design, colours, graphics used in…
• Builds trust with local users in…
• Speaks the ‘language’ of …
Your
Target
Marke
t
WHAT CONTENT
What content, HOW

WHAT CONTENT ?
Mini case study “Aldi” top shelf:
WHAT content to
articulate and
differentiate yourself in
export markets ?
• Top shelf
• Cellar
• New

Aldi Süd Germany value proposition:
Quality products, cheap price guaranteed

Aldi Nord Germany value proposition:
Top quality food at consistently low price

Aldi Austria value proposition:
Cheap style with a conscience

Aldi France value proposition:
Quick tasty food for singles at good quality & price

Aldi UK value proposition:
Fresh food with a British twist

Aldi Ireland value proposition:
Buy Irish quality and support Ireland

Special additional content to provide trust:
Provide local evidence of quality and service
Edelmann Trust Barometer
2014
L
O
C
A
L

Special additional content for legal compliance
Example: MicksGarage.de, Germany

WHAT CONTENT, AND HOW?
Examples
HOW to present your
content in export
markets ?

Dealing with different content needs
UK Germany
Example: Motivations for Newletter subscription

Different expectations for level of detail and info
Example, Kerrygold Germany product page (2013):

Paying attention to colour and design preferences
Alibaba.com
Alibaba.cn

Using pictures to reinforce local relevance
France
Spain
Adidas
Siemens

Providing local(ly relevant) content
Germany
Ireland

Translation & Trans-creation:
Speaking the local language
Decide
at start
Scope
Messages
Style
Formats
Ensure
always
Quality & consistency
Keyword focus
Fresh content
Standards & conventions
Avoid like
pest
Think
carefully
Keywords
Taglines
Ads
CTAs
Non-text content
Google Translate & Co
Translator wannabes
Mixed-language approaches
Creating valid,
fresh,
persuasive,
relevant quality
content for local
users and search
engines

Speaking the local ‘dialect’
Don’t forget to ‘translate’ English content
• Website text and SEO text needs to reflect the
‘language’ used by your target market
– Official language
– National ‘dialect’
– Words
– Spelling
– Usage patterns
• Principles:
– Be found
– Be understood
– Don’t be misunderstood
Search:
UK: 77%, US: 14%
Search: UK: 23%, US: 86%

Legal
Payment, Delivery,
Returns
Support
Web Localisation, Step 3:
Making sure you can do (lasting) business

Legal requirements example:
Naming of the “Buy” button in Germany
• Only FOUR legally
compliant names:
• Examples of legally
non-compliant names:

Payment preferences differ:
Example: Payments made – Germany vs Spain
Spanish payments German payments
?

Support and communications with customers
• A website is for life, not just for
Christmas
• The Internet is a two-way
channel
• The Internet is only one
communication channel
74.7 % say
availability of
after-sales
support in own
language
influences their
buying decision

E-Marketing
Localisation

The challenge of glocalisation
Local market
requirements &
opportunities
Company
requirements,
constraints &
goals
Local visibility
requires a local
Internet Strategy !

Key considerations for e-marketing in
export markets
• Giving local signals for search engines
• Optimising for local search engine/s
• Selecting keywords for search engine
marketing: SEO and PPC
• Being seen in the ‘right places’ online
• Deciding, where and how to ‘socialise’

Local signals for search engines:
Geo-targeting signals for Google
• Domain URL
• Webmaster Tool settings
• Sitemaps and hreflang tag
• Server Location
• Website – content and metadata language
• Currency and address formats
• Inbound links

Keywords for search engine marketing
in the new export market
Social Media
Optimisation
Search
Engine
Optimisation
Search
Engine
Advertising
• Keywords for SEO and
SEA, SMO for target market
– Alignment with value
proposition and USP
– Target market language
– Target market usage
– Regional aspects
– Cultural aspects
Keywords !!!
Need for multi-
disciplinary approach
and skills: market
insight, linguistic skills,
internet marketing

Keyword localisation requires strong
language skills and creativity
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
health shoes (IRL)
gesundheits-schuhe
gesunde schuhe
gesundheitsschuhe
bequeme schuhe
extra weite schuhe
extra breite schuhe
breite schuhe
weite schuhe
breiten fassende schuhe (google)
Monthly search volume
0!

Germany
Austria
Switzerland
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Ackerschnacker
Händy
Natel
Handy
Mobiltelefon
Keyword localisation is more than translation:
Beware of local usage patterns
Example: “Mobile Phone” in German speaking markets

Alignment of local keywords to local USP
Keyword Irish search result
(google.ie)
German search result
(google.de)
butter
Page 1 (Place 5) Page 5 *
healthy butter (gesunde
butter)
Not found
(on first five pages)
Page 1 (place 6) **
Irish butter (irische
butter)
Page 1 (Place 1) Page 1 (place 2) **
•Organic search results only, Google ads shows earlier
** First product in the listing
Example: Kerrygold

Cultural factors influencing keywords
Critical questions:
1. Why is there such a big opportunity in the UK?
2. Why is the search pattern in Germany so different?
Monthly search volume (Google)
English termUK Germany German term
house exchange 14,800 1,600Haustausch
home exchange 4,400 0Eigenheimtausch
house swap 5,400 NANA
home swap 4,400 0Haus Swap (Google Translate)
flat exchange 110 2,400Wohnungstausch
apartment exchange 10 10Apartment Tausch
Germany: 45%  UK 85 %

Summary
Key points:
• Think INTERNATIONAL. Think
STRATEGIC
• Translation != localisation
• Plan for a different business, cultural,
technology, legal environment
• RELEVANT CONTENT: What, How,
Who
• Two main areas:
• Web presence localisation
• e-Marketing localisation
• Localisation is not just for Xmas

How to be found and liked in export markets | Susanne Dirks - eVorsprung Consulting

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