Enterprise Ireland - eMarketing Event - Bunratty - June 2017

1. Putting Digital Marketing at the
Centre of your International
Business Strategy
Kevin Moran, IMS Marketing
15th June 2017

2. About Us
Full Service Marketing Partner
10 years in business in February 2017
Broad Market Experience
Key markets: Healthcare, ICT, Software, Industrial and Precision Engineering
International
80% of our projects assist companies in the marketing of their products
and services internationally
Digital
Develop international strategies, websites and have implemented campaigns
across 16 countries in the past 3 years
Our Team
12 full-time marketing and design professionals based in Galway

4. Survey Highlights
Responses from 209 companies
across all sectors in Dec’16
• 29% planned an increase in marketing
spend in 2017 (64% planned to spend
the same)
• Almost 80% of companies planned
marketing investment in their web
presence

5. Concluding question posed in this survey:
“ Digital: Have the fundamentals of marketing, branding and
communication been lost in the rush? “
Our Experience
In many cases, YES!

6. Many companies put considerable effort into the design of a new website
for their business but fail to consider the broader strategic
marketing issues around their online presence

7. 6 Strategic Digital Considerations
……before you build your website
1. What is your goal?
2. Define your target market
3. Sharpen your value proposition
4. Do your digital research
5. Have you a plan to promote your business online
6. Ensure your business processes are aligned

8. 1. What is your Goal?
Developing a new website is a waste of time unless you are clear
about why you want one in the first place
➢ Brochure site?
➢ E-Commerce?
➢ Local channel partner support?
➢ End user reference / customer service support?
If you have clarity of purpose from the outset, your website design
and marketing plan will be equally focused
In its absence, it can lead to visitor confusion, you will be unhappy
with the result and probably end up redesigning it again inside 18
months

9. Confusion !
Question: What is this website trying to promote? Answer: Everything!

10. Clarity !
If you have a clear goal for your website, then your visitors will also be clear

11. 2. Defining your target market:
The Digital Market Opportunity is HUGE !!
Population of:
Ireland: 4.6m
UK: 65m x14 times
USA: 321m x70 times
Europe: 743m x160 times
India 1.3bn x280 times

12. Not so fast……..
The www does offer access to a global audience with minimal
barriers to entry and at a fraction of the cost of other sales and
marketing investments.
However
• 20 times the market size, normally also means 20 times the
amount of local competition !
• Being online doesn’t mean you are visible (on the first page
of search results locally in that market)

13. 2. Defining your target market:
In developing export markets for your products and services
you would carefully research and decide which markets you
would enter first, and why.
Your international digital strategy should be no different !

14. Hello, I am Gerhard.
I am 45 years old and live in
Munich, Germany.
I have heard nice things about
Ireland but I have never heard
of your company.
Tell me why should I use your
product or service?
3. Sharpen your
Value Proposition

15. Every business already knows that every customer isn’t the same. However this is
rarely considered in developing an international web or digital strategy. Instead the
tendency is to cast out a uniform message and see what happens…..
What is your value proposition?
• Do you understand the local market conditions?
• Can you answer how/why you are better than local competitors?
How does this impact communications?
• English or translated to local language
• Localised content based on local preferences
• Choice of domain names used, etc
3. Sharpen your
Value Proposition

16. 4. Do your Digital Research
We are entering the age of BIG DATA
Every day new technologies and tools emerge that
forensically analyse ‘all things digital’
These tools provide companies with the opportunity to
understand the international digital landscape before they
invest in campaigns

17. The 5 key areas to research before
you start out….
• Local search behaviour and keywords
• Competitiveness and cost of acquiring traffic
• Competitor digital landscape
• Social media audience sizes and levels of engagement
• Your present performance and the gap to compete for
online and social media visibility

18. A “brilliantly” developed
website doesn’t guarantee
online business success
There is no “black art” or
short cut
Online success requires the
right plan and time.

19. 5. Importance of a Digital Marketing Plan
To develop any export market requires ongoing resources and investment.
Digital is no different!
1. What are your objectives?
Ref: Digital Audit
2. What tools are you going to employ?
Organic: SEO, Blogs, Social Media, E-Mail, etc
Sponsored: Social Media, Adwords, 3rd party portals, etc
Integrated: Digital supports for traditional marketing –
shows, events, etc
3. What is your promotional calendar?
Timings of promotions to support key business
activities (markets, products, partners, etc)
4. How will you measure results?
Ref: Digital Audit
Practically everything you do online can be measured
Remove subjectivity, use facts
Monthly KPI Report
5. Who will drive this plan in your organisation?
You would not target new business development internationally without the necessary
sales resources. Have you the necessary resources to support your online digital strategy?

20. OK, so you have your decided to
invest in a new website. Have
you spoken to everyone else in
the company yet?

21. Logistics:
We are going to sell to how many countries
now? Do we even know how to handle
shipping to these parts of the world?
Customer Service:
And how do we answer the phone after 5pm Irish
time for West Coast USA? Don’t even suggest I do
it; I’m already here from 8am every morning
Whopee !!; the website is in French but nobody in
the office speaks bloody French !!!

22. Sales:
Our distributors will go crazy. It looks now
like we are competing against them in their
own back yard. This will never work! It will
be your fault when our sales drop!
Quality:
Hold on a minute. Our products don’t even have
regulatory approval for some of these countries.
Finance:
We need how much to spend on marketing the
website after we build it ??!

23. 6. Ensure your business processes are
aligned
The decisions you make around digital marketing can impact
all areas of your business and sales operations.
Engage with stakeholders across the company from an early
stage
Ensure there is alignment and that digital fits within the
business plan and not outside of it.

24. OK, so you have your digital
marketing plan ready. But have
you told anybody else in the
company yet???
Summary:
Anyone can get a
website built, often for
very little money.
However, do you have
a digital strategy ?

25. 6 Takeaway Points in developing an
international digital strategy:
1. Have a clear goal – Why do you want a website and what is its role in your
overall sales and marketing strategy?
2. Define your target market – Global ambition sometimes requires global
resources: FOCUS if possible
3. Sharpen your value proposition – understand the markets you wish to target
and what it will take to be successful in these markets
4. Do your digital research – Scope the opportunity online for your business
and products before you start
5. Invest in a Digital Marketing Plan – Building a website is just Step1. Have a
plan and resource the plan over time
6. Ensure your business processes are aligned – Avoid the “big reveal” and
engage with the wider organisation early in the process

26. Thank you
www.imsmarketing.ie