International Business and Technology Blog

This short video was developed to be a helping hand for anyone who doesn’t know where to start with international and localized content creation. 

The idea of creating content, social media, blogs and websites for the US domestic market, may sound simple, but building brand awareness, using localized content, in an international target market takes a unique strategy to master. 

Our informative video speaks on:

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Want your videos to deliver global sales, brand and business growth? Then make sure you have the right platform! Online video platforms (OVPs) have come a long way, in terms of commercial communications and business functionality, in the last 10 years. Today, we have real choice, with multitudes of OVPs vying for space in what is currently the fastest growing trend of our digital era.

OVPs essentially propose four measurable services: hosting, publishing, managing and sharing. Depending on your communication and business objectives, there are choices to be made as you seek to optimize the success and hence the return on investment of your video marketing. Do check out our IBT Online  Video: the only way is up!  blog on the subject .  Read More

This infographic is designed to be a helpful tool for someone who doesn’t know where to start with international social media. 

Social media is huge. There is no denying the power and amplitude of social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn (among many others). Which is why it can be intimidating - especially for an exporter that is more concerned with keeping up with their products and services than how to fit a message in X amount of characters.

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Social media is a fantastic way to boost your brand awareness and grow your sales in Mexico. Mexican consumers and businesses are reactive and engaged online: post great relevant content and watch it ricochet around your target prospect base! On top of that, online marketing prices are reasonable compared to many other large markets. So, if you get your social media and online marketing right, the return on investment for brand awareness and the sales that can go with it, are rapid. Below we share some of our insights to the Mexican online world that we use as international marketers to help our clients build their brand, sales and business in Mexico. 

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Online solutions to identify and manage distributors

A good distributor is essential for most SMEs to grow their sales internationally, so finding the right in-market partner is key. But once that relationship is established, distributors need to be nurtured, maintained and managed. All this was challenging enough, but in this age of social distancing, as trade shows, frequent air travel and face-to-face meetings all get pushed back, companies are looking for digital alternatives. Exporters today need innovative online solutions that help them identify, recruit, and manage their international distributor networks. Localized websites can do that job!

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Ecommerce plays a huge part in our every day online lives- and the numbers prove it! In a population of about 7.5 billion people, 4.5 billion are online, and 3.4 billion are shopping online, meaning about 45% of the world population makes purchases via ecommerce! Although ecommerce is prevalent in many countries all over the world, here we are going to focus on the big 3: China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. 

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“Typically, something like 75% of our sales involve being face-to-face, on the floor in clients’ manufacturing facilities,” recalls Jonathan Szucs, president and owner of Advanced Superabrasives Inc. (ASI). Looking up at the webcam, waving and adding “So not being allowed to travel or visit customers, it is totally changing the way we have to do business” and “that’s why this website globalization is so important”.

ASI had been considering the Online Global programs before the pandemic, the increased grants and current state of the “lockdown” world, fast-tracked that decision. IBT Online is now working closely with ASI to completely redesign, build, and deliver best-practice, locally optimized business development websites and online marketing campaigns for target markets the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. Today, face-to-face is online!

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The Events Industry Council tells us that trade fairs, exhibitions and conferences annually involve >1.5Bn participants across 180 countries, employing 26M people supporting $1.5Tn of GDP. By May 2020 COVID-19 shuttered >2,600 such events, with 1,000's more to come, and no-end insight. The chances are that you, like me, were one of those participants, and we contributed to these numbers. Well, its all over now, in this social-distance imposed new online normal!

One of the earliest major fairs to be pulled was the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona scheduled for Feb 2020, quickly followed by cancellations of the International Tourism Fair in Berlin, then the Geneva Motor Show, and so it goes on. Event cancellations cross all sectors, all sizes and all locations; aerospace, to medical, via broad industrial, to beer, books and beekeeping (three of my favorites), in Europe, Asia and the America's.

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The Michigan Online Global programs are a “no brainer”, with “return on investment (ROI), almost immediate” declares Head Honcho, Dave Yancho, Vice President and co-owner of Armor Protective Packaging (ARMOR). Dave is a forceful advocate for three reasons: 1) his international customers, 2) the immediate financial ROI and 3) the ease of working with IBT Online.

Today, ARMOR has best practice, optimally localized business development websites working hard 24/7 in Canada, Mexico, China and India, with Japan and Germany on the way!

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At IBT Online we deliver innovative and high-quality websites and online marketing for international businesses. With offices in Europe and the US, helping companies navigate the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is fundamental to our business. IBT Online is here to help your company get ahead of the game in digital trustworthiness.

The objective behind GDPR is to change mindsets. Facebook may be at the vanguard, but most companies today collect, store and use personal data online. The premise behind GDPR is that personal data belongs to individuals, who have rights over their online data. GDPR is therefore a process rather than a one-off security fix, and impacts internal corporate policies, as well as your website and marketing. Read More