Course 2: International Marketing

Module 1: Locating Potential Buyers

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In this learning module, we explore the crucial first step in the process of locating potential buyers for your products: ensuring you are searching in the right place. The global market is a complex landscape characterised by diverse business environments, regulations, cultural influences, climatic conditions, and consumer habits, all of which play a significant role in determining your success in finding international buyers. This module will equip you with the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate these complexities effectively.

This learning module delves into the dramatic shifts in mechanisms and tools available to exporters for locating and enticing international buyers over the past two decades. The emergence of the Internet in the 1990s and the subsequent rapid evolution of digital technologies and platforms have revolutionised international business practices.

Key insights covered include how international buyers now conduct thorough online research before engaging with potential suppliers, the critical role of a company’s social media presence in customer engagement, the effectiveness of email marketing for international sales conversion, and the direct access to new customers offered by various online international marketplaces.

However, it’s vital to grasp that while online methods offer exporters opportunities to connect with foreign customers in an increasingly interconnected world, competition for their attention in the digital realm is fierce. Success in utilising online methods to locate, attract, and convert potential buyers is closely tied to your ability to craft effective online sales strategies. This module equips learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in this dynamic digital landscape.

Amidst the dominance of digital marketing in today’s era, it’s essential not to overlook the potent realm of traditional, offline methods for locating international buyers. This learning module focuses on the enduring value of offline strategies in finding and connecting with potential buyers, offering a refreshing perspective.

Participants will delve into proven offline methods for discovering international buyers, such as trade shows, trade missions, and seller-buyer meetings. Additionally, the module provides valuable insights into optimising these opportunities and cultivating enduring relationships with buyers across the globe. Join us to harness the power of offline strategies in our increasingly digital world.

Understanding the export landscape can be a daunting challenge, for many the starting point is unclear and the way forward clouded by misinformation and dated sources. With this course, we break down and simplify the most basic and essential topics for international marketing with the most up-to-date and relevant information. Presented in high-definition video, with each topic ending in assessment to ensure the lesson is properly retained.

This free module is part of a comprehensive course and is the most important source of information you need to understand the export landscape. An understanding that is essential to any growing business or industry where the potential for international trade is high. Completing this free module is the first major brick in your foundational knowledge of international marketing and will form an essential part of your understanding of exports going forward. It is also the perfect segway into our next free module covering international sales negotiations.