Best Practices for Global Marketing

n a world of globalisation, multinational companies and online commercial business, global marketing has emerged as a crucial factor to expand brands at an international level. To establish an international presence, companies need to expand their business globally. Hence, it is necessary to implement global marketing practices in order to keep ahead of the competition. Read this article to learn about the various global marketing strategies and their importance.

What is global marketing?

Global marketing refers to the selling of products in the international market. The basic processes involved are planning, generation, placement and promotion of a company’s products in a worldwide market. It assists a global company in developing multiple profiles for each of the different regions it hopes to conduct business in.

Global marketing focuses on creating an international distribution network for companies who want to promote their products or the brand globally. For companies selling products bearing universal demand (food or automobiles), global marketing facilitates swift delivery to the various parts of the world.

Importance of global marketing 

Global marketing plays an important role in:

• Preparing strategies to internationalise a business;

• Reducing cost inefficiencies;

• Improving ties between national infrastructures;

• Developing a global marketing infrastructure;

• Optimising the resources of an organisation;

• Improving the effectiveness of the products and services of a company;

• Increasing consumer awareness of a particular brand. 

Types of global marketing strategies

• Building a diverse market – to achieve this, companies need to understand cultural differences and thereby, adopt a more unified marketing approach. This helps brands develop strategies as per the region they are targeting and implement them accordingly on digital platforms. Customising the marketing approach will help an organisation reach out to its overseas audience (domestic audience who may require translation).

• Maintaining a consistently strong brand structure – creating a good brand that is recognised worldwide is becoming increasingly difficult due to fluctuating consumer preferences. Consumer tastes and interests differ based on the country, climate zone, gross domestic product (GDP) level and traditions. If a company wants to grow internationally and remain prevalent in the market, it should be able to reflect regional cultures without compromising the brand’s standards.

• Collaborating with a local sales partner – this is essential to promote marketing and distribution in certain regions which do not entirely rely on mass media campaigns. Marketing tie-ups with a partner who understands the local market is generally used for countries in which commercial centres are yet to emerge. Establishing a joint venture partnership with local companies can enable a global firm to achieve success in the market, within a short period of time.

• Utilising technological advancements – advances in technology and better logistics allow companies to establish multi-locational office spaces for rapid production, marketing and delivery of products. This signifies that a product can be designed in the headquarters, fabricated and manufactured in a different country and ultimately exported to several other countries. Another aspect of this strategy is to reach out to a wider audience using social media. This primarily involves announcements on webinars about the services offered by the company, which further increases the global media presence.

• Planning global campaigns – A global marketing agency undertakes the proceedings of a global campaign that needs to be initiated after a product has been launched. They assist the marketing team of the company to prepare the creatives, hoardings, media planning and mass publicity campaigns. The agency also ensures that there is communication between all marketing teams across the globe for the constant evolvement of strategies. The company utilises aspects of global marketing to achieve:

o   High value of CTR (click-through-rates);

o   Valuable outcome of web-based advertising;

o   Return on investment for global ads;

o   Social media campaign targets. 

5 best practices for global marketing

1)Creating the brand name and slogan – the name and slogan remain permanent throughout a company’s lifetime. Therefore, this selection should be made in such a manner that it remains consistent across all cultures and languages. A company should choose a version of the name or slogan that reflects the value of the brand.

2)Aligning organisational structures – to ensure that an organisation is performing at its highest capacity, it is essential to have a well-designed organisational structure. This requires the global brand management to showcase efficiency, accountability and effectiveness in the implementation of responsibilities among employees.

3)Hiring a superintendent – A superintendent is responsible for overseeing the global brand strategy and checking the consistency of brand identity and marketing. They act as a strategic guide for the local marketing teams and advise them on how to manage brand guidelines.

4)Upgrading brands over-time – to handle the challenging business environment and heightened competition, the structure of brands should be updated regularly. This allows the company to analyse the effect of supply chain and regulations, distribution issues and manufacturing costs.

5)Purchasing advanced technological features – technology-based brand management practices can aid in global scalability of the company. Recognised organisations are known to implement Customer Relationship Management (CRM), identity, licensing and activation systems to support their global marketing management.

A management programme in global marketing allows students to build significant knowledge base and skills required to perform at a global marketplace. Students can develop the ability to collect and analyse data, both in the domestic and foreign markets. To learn more about global marketing you can apply to the wide range of programmes on strategic marketing.

This article was written by Deblina Dam and edited by Anisa C.