International Business Development With an Easy 5 Step International Marketing Plan

So you want to get more international clients, and realize that you need to do some international marketing. But you are not quite sure what to do.

Well let's have a look at the different areas of international marketing. Companies often go through these steps one after the other, but not always. You could start an export business for example without going through the first step of Domestic Marketing.

Each step clearly explains:

• where your company is selling, and




• what product you are selling.

You will see very clearly where your company's business requirements are today with regards to International Marketing. This will also give you a better understanding of what your next step is towards getting more international clients.

1 - Domestic Marketing

First of all there is Domestic Marketing. This is where most companies start. This is the marketing you do for your local market in your own country. There are no international links in this business.

Your Company:

A domestic company, buying and selling its products within one country.

Your Product:

Is a domestic product for the domestic market.

2 - Export Marketing

This is often the second step towards International Marketing. If this is effectively a company's second step to International Marketing, the company needs to spend a little time and effort on the foreign market research and analyzing all client feedback during this phase.

Your Company:

Sells the same product for his domestic market to a few other foreign markets. There is no effort to adapt the product to the foreign market's needs. The company remains centered on its domestic market, with minimum cross cultural marketing efforts.

Your Product:

Is a domestic product for a foreign market.

3 - International Marketing

This is a vital stage for the company. The company will have to adapt to the market on several levels. There is often a real learning curve to adapt your products, marketing and sales to foreign markets.

The good news is that most of the skills your company will acquire to adapt to one market will be used again for all of the other countries you want to target.

Your Company:

Is now adapting its marketing, communication and products to the foreign market. At this stage in International Marketing the company is only dealing with a 1 or 2 countries.

Your Product:

Becomes one foreign product for one foreign country.

4 - Multinational Marketing

This is the fourth step. It is a logical extension of International Marketing. This is a term that might be a bit obsolete today, with the internet. It seems to be used more for the large established companies.

Your Company:

Now sells to many foreign countries. And the company now has the skills to go into more countries and will naturally tend to expand into the neighboring countries.

Your Product:

Becomes one foreign product for one wider foreign region covering a group of countries.

5 - Global Marketing

This is the last phase in International Marketing. There are few companies involved. They are the companies with brand names known worldwide.

Your Company:

Operates in such a large number of countries, you could almost say it sells its products worldwide.

Your Product:

The company will naturally move towards cutting costs and will aim to find one product for all countries. In Global Marketing the product will not be created for the domestic market and sold abroad, as in Export Marketing. In Global Marketing one product is created to satisfy the needs of all markets - all foreign countries and your domestic market.

Where Is Your International Marketing Today?

By looking at where your companies markets and products are today you can identify the type of International Marketing you should be using. You can then move towards your next step in International Marketing. These steps logically follow one after the other for brick and mortar companies and the majority of todays e-businesses.

The internet makes international business development easier today than ever before. Remember, simply having a website online will not make your company global. You will have to work at it a little. You will need to apply the right international marketing for your business' current market and product range.

Your company will get more and more international clients as it moves through the different marketing stages. The whole notion of global business become more accessible for everyone.