Creating an International Strategy to Bridge Global Markets

Companies looking to go global must determine which international business strategy is best for their business. We’ve already talked about multidomestic, global, and transnational strategies.

All of these global strategies require different levels of local responsiveness, global integration, standardization, and customization.

Local responsiveness refers to a company that localizes its products and services to meet conditions and nuances of global markets.

Global integration refers to the need to be physically present in a new market and whether a company can use the same products and services.

Standardization refers to creating a “one size fits all” product for multiple markets.

Customization refers to the process of customizing a message, procedure, or offering according to the context or market in which it will be used.

What is an International Strategy?

An international strategy allows you to sell existing products or services internationally without customization. This method is low in local responsiveness and low in global integration.

An international business strategy is beneficial for companies that want to focus on domestic operations while accessing international opportunities at a low cost. International strategies are not responsive to unique conditions in different markets and don’t require integration. That is why international strategies tend to be the first corporate strategy used for new market expansion.

What Makes an International Strategy Unique?

The international strategy is a great first option for going global because it does not require global integration. International strategies allow companies to easily and affordably enter new markets by balancing standardization, local responsiveness, and limited global integration.

Many companies will find that all it takes to launch an international strategy is website translation and localization. Investing in the best website translation services is a cost-effective way to get your business site in front of new audiences with very little effort. Because of this, the global market is viewed as secondary. Operations, technologies, and workers simply export the same products and services from the parent company to global markets.

Pros and Cons of International Strategies

An international strategy can become an extension of a business' existing domestic strategy. This means businesses can centralize global operations and brand decisions without investing in global expansion. However, there are some challenges that come along with this process.

Pros of an international strategy:

• Instant access to an international market
• Increased utility of your existing competencies and assets from centralization
• Faster scale through a standardization
• Benefits from economies of scale. Increased profit margins can stem from economic arbitrage by keeping production costs at HQ the same.

Cons of an international strategy:

• Consistently translating the website and multichannel content
• Legal compliance, barriers of entry, and high taxes and tariffs for imports and exports
• Customer service, with different time zones and different languages
• Driving demand and awareness in the new global market

Developing an International Strategy

With a proper international strategy, multinational enterprises can leverage the benefits of standardization to instantly expand their market reach at low costs. They operate at a high level of communication, knowledge, and productivity to meet strategic objectives across various markets.

7 Steps to Develop International Strategy:

1. Research your target market. It's important to consider foreign policies and laws when identifying potential barriers to entry. 
2. Be aware of culture and language. The best website translation services will understand different dialects with differing meanings tied to the exact words. 
3. Understand the local economy. This is crucial to identify if the international market's price point preference allows you enough leverage to compete. 
4. Get to know the target market. The consumers of a product might differ across countries. By ensuring potential customers are willing to buy your existing product without having to add more value to the product or lower production or fulfillment costs. 
5. Analyze how much global integration and local responsiveness you need to succeed and stay competitive. Look for product-market fits that require minimal local responsiveness and global integration. 
6. Determine your translation approach. A partner like MotionPoint offers many different options for translation technology. 
7. Write out the plan. The global economy changes daily. By creating an actionable plan to achieve your business goals, you can better determine how to stay agile in your global business strategy. 

It's crucial to understand how the strategies that may have worked in one market (or company) may not be successful in another. The more agile and receptive you are to buyer tendencies in different regions, the faster you can implement changes.

Leveraging Translation in International Strategies

There are a few ways to begin implementing an international strategy. The most efficient and cost-effective way is through website translation. A concierge-level translation and localization partner can help you through the process.

Once you have identified your approach to your international strategy, MotionPoint’s unique translation technologies can help you reach the level of scalability and efficiency your team needs to stay competitive in an ever-evolving global market.