Cross-border Digital Marketing: How to grow your global market in Asia and beyond
(3 February 2020) Digital marketing is fast becoming one of the most effective ways to reach consumers across Asia and beyond. With ongoing innovation in digital platforms, evolving consumer behaviour and enhanced infrastructure and logistics, it is becoming easier than ever before for small and medium businesses to go global, even with modest marketing budgets and product lines.
Globally, digitally enabled trade was estimated to be worth up to USD1.5 trillion in 2019, according to Facebook and BCG.
An estimated 3 billion people worldwide now purchase consumer goods via ecommerce, with Asia boasting some of the highest social media penetration rates.
This month, we partnered with Global Victoria, Austrade and Facebook, on a highly practical workshop exploring the essential digital marketing tools and tricks that SMEs should be aware of to find and reach new global markets.
Attracting a diverse audience of Victorian exporters, the workshop was part of the Victorian eCommerce Network (VeN ) series. With a specific focus on Facebook’s platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), the forum explored how to use readily available tools to test the market and increase exposure through branding and social media best practice.
Here’s five of the key takeaways:
Digital marketing: The essential pillar of your e-commerce strategy
Digital marketing is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but an essential part of the cross-border e-commerce ecosystem.
“Don’t just wait for the consumer to find you,” explained Jack Lu, Senior eCommerce Advisor for Austrade. An omnichannel digital marketing strategy – for example involving website SEO, social media, key opinion leaders, and product presentation – is required to actively find, attract and retain global shoppers.
Drawing on data highlighting the ongoing rise in both social media users and mobile ad spending, Lu explained how digital marketing intersects with the e-commerce ecosystem, including the regulatory environment, sales channels, logistic solutions, and payment gateways.
[The E-Commerce Ecosystem. Source: Austrade]
Understand your customers
Yet while this global e-commerce ecosystem has evolved rapidly, the number of businesses positioning their brands online has also increased exponentially. A deep understanding of your market and customers is required as a precursor to ensuring your brand stands out.
“Learn about the people you want to reach globally, including geographic information, their demographics and purchase behaviour,” said Anastasia Pavlovic, Facebook Account Manager.
Pavlovic shared an overview of the analytics and tools offered by Facebook to research and understand global consumers and the nuances in cross border digital marketing in Asia.
“You need to speak your shoppers’ language,” she explained.
As an example, Facebook analytics enable SMEs to understand where and how people interact with their brand’s website, app, Facebook page, and more. Cross border solutions such as worldwide and regional targeting, multi-country lookalikes (using seed lists to identify new target audiences), and dynamic language optimization (automated translation) can also provide accessible ways to enhance cross-border results and find new markets.
Focus on your brand’s story
A deep and highly nuanced understanding of consumer preferences and tastes, and how these differ within and between markets and cultures across Asia, remains a must.
Austrade’s Jack Lu suggested that consistently “focusing on the story of your brand,” with a personalised message across multiple channels was one of the keys to succeeding in the competitive global ecommerce environment.
Lu suggested that being aware of - and responsive to - differing consumer expectations between and within Asia’s diverse markets was equally important. He shared examples of differences in expectations around delivery times (for instance, countries like Japan, expect goods within several days) and payment preferences (cash on delivery is still preferred in a number of Southeast Asian markets, which in turn can lead to higher rates of product return).
Eddie Schweitzer, Head of Sales for online wine business, Vinomofo, agreed.
“Listen to your customers and adjust from there,” he said.
Vinomofo’s unique brand story, focused around uniting a global ‘tribe’ of people around a love of wine, food and adventure, has been integral to its regional and global expansion, including growing popularity in Singapore.
Driven by digital marketing, Singapore has become one of the company’s fastest growing markets since its entry in December 2016, with a high-income professional consumer base boasting strong spending power.
Test, learn, tailor and re-iterate
So, how can SMEs identify and adapt to the many nuances in cross-border digital marketing in Asia?
“Test, learn, and re-iterate,” suggested Sitah Parnell, Facebook Account Manager.
She explained how to apply this to creative best practice, for example, by adapting social media content to local consumer tastes and trends, such as key festivities, seasons or local events in your target market. Events such as the lunar new year, for instance, can provide inspiration for successful and culturally appropriate campaigns.
[Adapting to local tastes: Shiseido’s Lunar New Year Campaign tailored to the Malaysian market. Source: Facebook Ads Library]
Preparing for the marketplaces of the future
The global e-commerce landscape is evolving rapidly and its essential to prepare your business for the marketplaces of the future.
The workshop facilitators agreed that the ongoing rise both in social media use and digital ad spending across Asia was set to continue, transforming how consumers interact with and experience brands.
Austrade’s Lu offered an example of the ongoing “convergence of online and offline shopping” – where shoppers across the region increasingly use a combination of both online and traditional retail as part of their product research and purchase process – as one of the key trends to watch going forward.
“I think we can expect to see more and more of this convergence,” he said.
Facebook’s Parnell also shared examples of the innovative directions that the platform was taking. For example, Facebook’s ‘collaborative ads’ function (which is currently still limited to a small number of businesses) had potential to enable brands to reach high intent shoppers at the right time in their purchasing process, such as by allowing brands that sell products through online retailers to run direct sales campaigns.
Resources:
We thank our event partners, Global Victoria, Austrade and Facebook, and the workshop presenters and facilitators:
• Jack Lu – Senior eCommerce Advisor, Austrade
• Anastasia Pavlovic – Account Manager, Facebook
• Sitah Parnell – Account Manager, Facebook
• Eddie Schweitzer, Head of Sales, Vinomofo
These event insights were prepared by Heather Chai and Lauren Beanland.