Digitization is essential for the internationalization of b2b companies and for increasing business growth.
If you are aware of this, you must continue reading today’s article! We will give you some useful tips to achieve an international presence by encouraging digital transformation in the company.
Internalization of companies and digitalization: the advantages
Among the main benefits of the internationalization of the b2b company through digital transformation, we can highlight some fundamental ones:
- discover important business opportunities in new markets
- improve the sales strategy in the markets where the company already operates
- have complete control of your campaigns and better segment your audience in each country
- interact with customers to create relationships of trust, connecting with them in real-time and at very low costs
- automate processes and save time dedicated to manual activities, making operations faster and more effective
But how to start the path of internationalization from a digital point of view?
If the b2b company wants to open up to international markets, it needs to have a logistics structure that supports the process and understands in advance whether the product or service offered can be successful in other markets.
It is therefore necessary to carry out an accurate analysis to evaluate what the business opportunities are at an international level, before starting; Once this first step has been completed, it will be possible to evaluate how to exploit the benefits of digitalization.
In order for the internationalization of the company to take place efficiently and to achieve successful results, it must be accompanied by a solid digital strategy. Otherwise, it will be futile to try to compete with other already established companies, which themselves have been fighting for years to establish themselves in a globalized and highly competitive market.
To enter a global market, adapt, compete and grow, you need to work on 3 fundamental pillars:
- digitization
- internationalization
- branding
Here are the fundamental steps for the international digitization of the b2b company.
Analysis and goal setting
First of all, you need:
- have clear objectives to be achieved
- understand which markets to penetrate
- collect contacts and leads
- test product introduction in a specific market
- increase the presence and awareness of the brand in various countries
In this phase, it is also important to analyze the local and international companies operating in each area, as well as the rules and laws valid in each region or country and align the objectives with the individual cases.
Segment your target audience
The next step after defining the objectives is the segmentation of the audience you want to address with the b2b strategy. To do this, you need to answer a few questions, such as:
- Who are the potential customers?
- What needs does the product/service satisfy?
- Who are the competitors already on the market?
You will also need to collect additional demographic data and information about prospects in each region or country, such as:
- which search engines they use
- which channels they have or don’t have access to (in some countries the use of some social networks is prohibited)
- on which devices they see and buy the products (PC, smartphone, tablet…)
With this information available, it will be possible to carry out a precise segmentation, based on the interests and tastes of users, thus developing a strategy for each market that is more likely to succeed.
Establish digital communication channels
Understanding which communication channels are best to use is essential for reaching potential customers in new markets. These can be social networks, emails, multilingual online sales platforms, etc.…
It is also important that the corporate website is available in the languages of the countries where the strategy is to be launched. Although English is now the universal language in the business world, using the specific language allows you to create a more intimate and stronger relationship with prospects.
Because integrating CRM software accelerates the internationalization of companies
Corporate CRM is a very useful system for managing customer relationships, centralizing all the information from sales, marketing and customer service departments in a single database.
Integrating the contacts collected in the CRM allows you to create effective communication with them, with the aim of converting these leads into effective customers of the company.
Automation is the key to tracking and controlling these processes, monitoring the progress of the strategy and understanding if the objectives have been achieved or are about to be achieved, or if some modifications are needed.
Marketing automation software like HubSpot allows you to personalize communication with each potential customer, based on individual needs and the stage of the purchasing process in which they are, making the relationship with the company stronger and more lasting.
