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 AccessGlobal 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





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.e-Vorsprung Consulting

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


Google Translate

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





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 ?e-Vorsprung Consulting

Social network preferences vary –Example: Germany and Russia

Germany

Russia


Russia

The impact of different legal and/or regulatory

requirements on e-commerce abroad





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.comAlibaba.cn

Using pictures to reinforce local relevance

France

Spain

AdidasSiemens


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 term UK Germany German term

house exchange 14,800 1,600 Haustausch

home exchange 4,400 0 Eigenheimtausch

house swap 5,400 NA NA

home swap 4,400 0 Haus Swap (Google Translate)

flat exchange 110 2,400 Wohnungstausch

apartment exchange 10 10 Apartment 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
