B2B marketing is big! And it’s getting bigger with the increasing Global Audience that clutters the internet every day! For years, B2B marketers have refrained from putting search dollars into non-US markets because the userbase was lacking and the investment seemed too risky. But search markets around the world have matured considerably in recent years, and now offer a great opportunity. It is time B2B marketers took another look at global search.

Here’s the opportunity at a glimpse!

According to comScore, the global search market is growing faster than ever. Markets such as China, Japan, and the United Kingdom (UK) now represent substantial search markets of their own with more than 28 billion annual searches between them. Additionally, a number of countries across the globe have experienced double digit growth in the last year. For example, in 2009, search in Russia and France grew at a jaw-dropping 92 and 61 percent, respectively, and search in Brazil was close behind with a 53 percent increase.

In fact, total worldwide search grew at 46 percent from 2008 to 2009, and included more than 131 billion searches. Moreover, while such volume is nothing short of impressive, US searches accounted for a mere 17 percent of that total. In other words, global markets represent 83% of the total search audience.

If you’re a B2B marketer and you have not recently considered expanding your search efforts into global markets, now is the time to begin. These 5 tips will help you to get the best B2B Marketing results!

 

The best 6 Tips For International B2B Marketing

1. Know Your Ground and go for new ideas.

In this economy, what’s the case to spend money on B2B marketing automation solution? To be sure, there’s plenty to gain by incrementally improving existing processes. But keep an open mind, because the Web 2.0 era also makes innovative new approaches viable.

• Optimize search investments. This is the low-hanging fruit right now. Clicks on B2B ads can cost $7 to $10 each, and some B2B marketers spend tens of thousands per month on Google. Using analytics to increase conversion rates will put more leads into the funnel at the same spending level, or allow a marketer to maintain lead volume when budgets get whacked.
• Warm up cold leads. Most marketers have stockpiles of dormant contacts that never went anywhere. Experts estimate that around 10 percent of these so-called “cold” leads will eventually become warm again, if properly nurtured. One company told me that of 30,000 contacts acquired, about 1500 re-engage each month, thanks to nurturing. That’s a lot of extra value extracted out of a sunk marketing cost.
• Improve marketing and sales process. Generate leads via a white paper offer, then give (”dump” might be a better term) them all to reps. You can score leads with this method and only send promising leads to reps. Sales reps love this process, and marketing efficiency will be improved too.
• Support new business models. Clever use of search and B2B marketing/sales technologies can enable a company to tackle markets that are not viable with traditional approaches. You can quickly set up and manage campaigns targeted to different vertical markets. Each campaign should include tailored landing page, email, lead routing and reporting. Doing this with the old process, which involved conventional web page design and IT coding, was too time consuming to even consider.

 2. Work Backwards From Revenue Goal

The key to success in B2B marketing is working backwards from the main business goal: revenue. Marketing, after all, doesn’t directly produce revenue, only a purchase does.

Who makes the purchase happen? In most B2B transactions, sales reps do. And what do sales reps need? Qualified leads, that’s what. In fact, a major conclusion of CustomerThink’s 2008 sales productivity study was that sales executives should “focus on getting more of the right prospects into the funnel to begin with, then ensure that you invest sales time on those properly qualified.”

So what really matters is the flow of qualified leads. But what, exactly, is a “qualified,” or as some call it, a “sales-ready” lead? A lead is qualified “where there has been a series of interactions that demonstrate to sales that prospect has moved from early awareness to consideration.”

In other words, a lead is much more than a prospect filling out a web form. This indicates interest, but that’s it. Savvy sales reps won’t waste their time culling through lists of these so-called “leads” to find a few good prospects. Instead, they cherry pick a few contacts from companies that look promising, ignore the rest, and thus waste most of the marketing investment.

3. Be The Early Bird.

Establish your prescence early. This is your chance to be visible and establish your brand in the international search engines before your competition does. Start by researching your competitors’ presence in your global target markets. If your competitors have not gotten wise to the opportunity yet, being the first company in your space to have a search presence in a particular market could translate into a competitive advantage for your company. However, if they are already there, don’t fret. While being first can be favorable, ultimately, the advantage goes to the company who does it best.

4. Be methodical in choosing markets for entry.

How you take your search efforts global will depend on a number of factors, including the international markets your company serves, the resources you already have available, and how deeply you want to penetrate each market. When deciding how best to begin, it is important to carefully select your markets. I advise starting with just one or two, and tapping into your web analytics for insights on which markets to target. For instance, the data should be able to tell you if your US site is already getting traffic from foreign countries, and if so, which ones.

5. Reasearch, Reasearch and More Research.

To be effective in your global target markets, you need to gain an understanding of the search landscape for each market. Avoid going into a new market with US-based assumptions as it can adversely impact your results. For instance, while Google dominates the US search landscape, don’t assume that is the case everywhere else. Baidu has the dominant market share in China, and Yandex leads the way in Russia. By researching the market share in your global markets, you can ensure that your campaigns are targeting the right engines.

6. And Of Course- Localize and Globalize

Localize your content. To be successful in global markets, it is essential to localize the content of your site to reflect the local vernacular. Doing so will allow you to get in front of B2B decision makers internationally by speaking to them in the language they use to look for your goods or services. But this is not just applicable for foreign language markets . The same holds true for markets where English is the primary language. For example, if your company sells elevator parts and can ship internationally, you will never properly reach your UK audience in the search engines if your website doesn’t use the local term for elevator: “lifts.”

These tips will help you to achieve a successful B2B Marketing Strategy that serves your goals and will increase your profits by leaps and bounds!