International Business and Technology Blog

Selling specialized products to consumers these days requires a fantastic website and regular postings of quality social media across multiple media platforms. Shire Post Mint from Arkansas do this well. Their US home website allows customers to browse and purchase easily while their blogs and regular social media postings include great visuals and engaging content. Now how best to grow internationally? Management chose to leverage their digital presence through localized websites and international online marketing for their key export markets. IBT Online is delighted to help: the first step was to build German and Spanish localized websites.

I have always loved the letter S: it is the best letter in the alphabet. It is always, all about that "S". In fact, S is such an important letter that we added it to our web browser, so we are HTTPS, to make it safer for you! And everyone in the online community, should be doing the same. The online world and internet of things are fundamentally insecure, with cybercrime rising exponentially and now reckoned to be the second most reported economic crime, costing billions.

Could cybercrime happen to you? Yes. Worried? You should be. If not secured, “when you load a website someone else on the network can look at or modify the site before it gets to you”. And that happens all the time, with most users blissfully unaware. The not-so-elegantly named solution is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), denoted by an S in your web browser. Just glance up now and check it out: does it read HTTP or HTTPS? You will see that IBT Online is HTTPS = secure. This is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. Hence the online mantra is HTTPS good, HTTP bad! Add an S and you’re good. An HTTPS website should make you smile as it is has three essential qualities: identity, confidentiality and integrity. So you know where you stand; safe and secure.

Try counting the number of apps on your mobile devices and then add up the hours and money spent. Surprised at how large it all is? Bravo! You are a relatively early adopter and contributing member of the incredible Online Global App Story. Today, you choose from >10 million apps, are one of >3.4 billion app users worldwide who spend >1.6 trillion hours and >$1.3 trillion annually. By 2021, those numbers are projected to double, triple or more with > 25 million apps available, 6.3 billion app users, 3.5 trillion hours and an astounding $6.3 trillion. Apps are the latest new digital thing. And those big and fast-growing numbers can, if you embrace the Online Global App Story, drive your global sales, brands and business growth.

Management at Holland Pump were keen to increase brand awareness in their key export markets. The solution was to use online tools, starting with localized websites, as the most effective means of building business and brand awareness rapidly. 

It made sense to start with South America as some of Holland Pump’s most attractive export markets are in the region, with large-scale mining, infrastructure and industrial projects. IBT Online was tasked with building the localized websites for Brazil and Mexico for starters. The localized websites allow Holland Pump to showcase their expertise to local prospective clients, reinforcing the trust that is so essential to the buyer’s journey.

Canada is a great market for US companies testing the international export waters for the first time, but equally offers a great long-term international business growth opportunity. Canada is the go-to export market of many US companies, not only thanks to its close proximity, which allows for easier, more affordable shipping and order fulfilment, but also thanks to lower language and cultural barriers. But how about the barriers of the online world? What should you consider when building a website(s) for Canada?

The Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation (GCAPS) is a world-class facility, serving global clients for vehicle and tire testing and simulation. Given the global nature of the automotive sector, it makes sense for GCAPS to get online globally and IBT Online is proud to be assisting them.

Management felt their state-of-the-art and high performance testing facilities deserved a brighter spotlight, both internationally and in their US domestic market. Having an effective online presence today requires regular outreach through social media to your targeted local audience to build global brand awareness.

Extending the online reach – building on success

The only way is up!  But, don’t hold on. Get video centric now! Globally, IP video traffic is expected to grow threefold between 2016 and 2021, a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26% and representing 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2021. Read that twice and contemplate. Successful businesses are driving the internet video explosion. Reports on the ‘state of video’ abound, from those that carry the bytes (example Cisco, see below) to those that are involved in every stage of the video conception to consumption boom. And video marketing, the fastest growing trend of our digital era, is a main driver of this growth. Large corporations have long understood and profited from the video cool aid, and now it is the turn of mid-size businesses, driving up those exponential video statistics. Fully 9.6/10 professional marketers say they are using video for business development purposes, with 63% of all businesses already on-board. Are you?

EuroDentalDepot is the brainchild of VistaDental, where innovation is key to success. The company invents, patents, manufactures and distributes highly specific dental devices and equipment. For its home market, the United States, the company has built up a trusted network of distributors and has an established reputation for quality, built since its foundation in 1997. But for export markets, management were keen to fast-track its growth. Going online with great local websites coupled with a strong ecommerce platform provided the solution, and IBT Online was delighted to help from the outset.

The digital economy delivers. It lowers costs and barriers to markets, as well as providing access to an unprecedented number of customers (both business and consumer). The traditional routes to markets have eroded. Smart companies, notably web savvy businesses, have created and leveraged technologies to grow their online global sales, brands and businesses.

In any given “home market” there is a truism that the vast majority of your potential clients are located in, by definition, outside in those global markets. Sow the two together, online and global, and you have the driver that ensures B2B and B2C online global retail will represent >$10 trillion of transactions by 2020. And the #1 beneficiaries of the digital economy are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). If you are a decision maker in an SME, please do read on, think through the sales opportunities and the potential value to your brand and business.