Reaching and then winning customers in overseas markets is a significant challenge for new exporters – or even for established exporters who are selling into a particular new market for the first time. Creating marketing campaigns that grab the attention of your new customer base is a major task, especially when doing so in a country you are not familiar with in terms of culture and competition.
Becoming an International Marketing Specialist does not happen over night. Indeed, companies need to thoroughly research every market they sell to and gain in-depth market knowledge through this research and through partners in-market. They then need to apply their learnings from this research to conduct an effective market entry campaign.
7 P’s that always apply
However, there are principles that apply to any market entry campaign, whatever the country it is you are exporting to. For instance, there are the 7P’s that companies should always consider when planning to enter a new market. These are:
1. Check your Product mix is right for the market or if the offering (service or goods) needs further development or amending;
2. Ensure the offering ends up in the right Place so that relevant customers can find and purchase it;
3. Make sure you have a Pricing strategy that makes you profits and doesn’t price out your target customers;
4. Have appropriate Processes in place for distributing your offering in the market;
5. Have effective Promotion strategies to gain attention for your offering;
6. Ensure you have the right People in the right roles for carrying out your market entry campaign;
7. Check that you have Physical evidence of the offering being delivered successfully in the market.
The skills and business acumen needed for ensuring you’ve got these P’s covered properly can be learnt through qualifications and experience. And, of course, for successful market entry, they need to be applied alongside in-depth knowledge of the market you’re looking to enter.
Learning how to become an International Market Specialist
So you need both to do thorough market research and to have an international marketing skillset to export successfully. Our International Market Specialist course helps you with both of these fundamental trade requirements.
The qualification gives you an understanding of the principles and practices associated with international marketing, with students learning how to research and interpret market environments, and devise appropriate marketing plans for them. It also teaches you how to do thorough market research for the market you are looking to enter.
Apply your learning to your own business situation
As with all of our courses, you apply the learnings to your company’s situation – effectively doubling as a consultancy service.
The course has three modules. The first looks at marketing concepts generally and the market factors that affect consumer-spending habits in your sector. The second looks into the differences between domestic and international marketing, and how to apply the 7 Ps in the different markets you're looking to export to.
The third part then goes deeper into how you do market research – for both developed and less developed markets. It looks into sources of relevant market information – covering both desk and field research - and evaluates market research methods like questionnaires, sampling techniques, test marketing, data analysis and more.
Don’t go in blind
When starting to export to a particular market, it’s vital that you don’t go in blind. A botched campaign or fundamental mistakes and misunderstandings about the culture you’re entering can cost you money and give a lasting bad impression to potential customers.
If you’ve never entered a new market before, it’s vital that you do your research properly and ensure you know what you’re doing when planning a campaign that could make or break your business in that market.
More information can be found at:
https://www.export.org.uk/page/MarketingSpecialist
To discuss our qualifications:
Call +44 (0)1733 404400
Email qualifications@export.org.uk
