Learn how to reach international audiences with your marketing messages.

Thanks to the pervasive use of the Internet, electronic mail and global shipping companies, anyone with something to sell has access to a world of consumers – quite literally. Of course, it is not as simple as sending an e-mail to an unknown individual in Beijing or Paris and pitching them on the benefits of your product or service. You have to find them first and they, in turn, need to be aware of your company.

So, if you are successful with your product in North America, how do you reach international audiences with your marketing messages?

First, you must decide which international audience you want to target and determine whether there is an opportunity in that region or country. It is important to recognize the unique differences in culture and be sensitive to the translation of English words and their meaning in other languages. For example, have you ever heard of the Chevy Nova that wouldn’t go? “No va” can be literally translated as “no go” in Spanish, although it would be a curious locution for a Spanish-speaking person to use it in reference to a car. Nevertheless, the popular Chevy Nova, which was a great success in the United States, failed to generate quite so much excitement when launched under the same brand in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.

Having decided which countries you want to penetrate, there are a variety of ways to get the attention of consumers and business decision-makers. A mix of public relations and marketing disciplines is the optimal approach.

International Press
Creating awareness for your company and its products through media coverage can help you generate interest among potential customers in your target markets. A national media relations campaign in North America has the potential to impact buyers overseas because most print articles are also published online. Therefore, anyone searching the Web for a particular product could quite possibly come across your company as a result of being mentioned in an English-language article of a U.S. or Canadian publication.

You will be more successful reaching international audiences, however, if your company is written about in magazines and newspapers in the countries you want to become known in. This can be a very expensive undertaking because it means engaging with a foreign PR agency or hiring communications staff in each of the individual countries you are targeting so they can reach out to reporters in their local language, unless they include English-speaking countries such as Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Ideally, your company’s spokesperson would conduct press interviews in the reporters’ local language, which would ensure greater accuracy in the resulting article.

Alternatively, you can hire an agency in your own country that has experience managing international programs. The PR experts at your agency or internally within your company will work with English-speaking reporters at publications in the Asian, European or Latin American countries where you want to raise visibility for your company. Interviews with these reporters would be conducted in English, but the article would appear in the local language and therefore be more inviting to readers of the magazine or newspaper. Ideally, the interviews would take place in-person at the reporter’s location or they could be conducted via phone at a time convenient to the reporter, so it is important to be mindful of and sensitive to time zone differences around the globe.

When working with international reporters, it is vital that you customize the story to the region and include local example and statistics that will resonate with the target audience.  

International Events
There is usually one major event for a particular industry or vertical market held each year in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. These global trade shows and conferences provide a variety of vehicles to promote your company as they attract a captive audience of reporters, industry analysts and potential customers in a single venue during a short period of time.

Arranging meetings at events with reporters and industry analysts takes a lot of effort, but doing the work up front will really maximize the time you spend at the event, and you will gain a more significant return on your time and money. Exhibiting is ideal, but can be very costly. You don’t have to have a booth to arrange interviews or briefings with the media and analysts.

Speaking at international events is also an excellent way to tell your story to conference delegates. Since conference organizers typically issue requests for proposals several months in advance of the show so they can put the schedule together early enough to promote it to potential attendees, you must ensure that you submit your speaker proposal for consideration well ahead of time. Engaging with an agency whose PR professionals are experts in securing speaking opportunities or working with your corporate communications or marketing department can help ensure a steady stream of speaker placements at key events around the world.

If marketing budgets allow, you might also consider hosting your own event at a trade show such as a cocktail reception or a luncheon. A sit-down meal in attractive surroundings for a select group of reporters and analysts allows you to foster and nurture relationships with some highly respected industry influencers. A larger-scale cocktail reception hosted by your company or co-sponsored with a partner organization can bring reporters, customers and prospects together in a relaxed environment that allows for more informal dialog and relationship building.  

Integrated Marketing
Any public relations campaign should be an element of an integrated marketing program and your company’s external communications should reflect a consistency in marketing and PR messages across the board. That means that your Web site, collateral materials, trade show graphics and advertising should be in sync, so you’re saying the same thing directly to customers as you are indirectly to them through press articles.

Not only should the messaging and positioning be synergistic across all communications vehicles, but the Web site should be inviting to international audiences if your marketing and sales strategies extend beyond North America. Many companies maintain an English-only Web site, yet they are targeting customers or have market share overseas. Being fully integrated is not limited to looking at the big picture in terms of PR, marketing and sales. It is also important to think globally and ensure your materials and messages are created for the majority, if not all, of your audiences and in their local language as much as possible.

Embarking on an international marketing or PR campaign is not easy, inexpensive or quick, but a well-thought-out strategy and executed plan could make all the difference to the growth of your company.

Vivian Kelly is founder and CEO of Interprose Inc., a public relations firm based in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 703-860-0577.