When you add an online marketing strategy to your localized website, it's like throwing gasoline on the fire!
Your web traffic explodes, leads will increase, and you will grow brand recognition.
When Pettibone launched their online marketing campaigns with IBT Online, that's exactly what happened.
Mitch Fedie, Marketing Manager at Pettibone, says: "We've received exponential website traffic increase to our localized websites and an uptick in traffic to our domestic website from other countries."
Read more about online marketing and what it can do for your global brand and business.
The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
Pettibone Traverse Lift is a Michigan-based material handling equipment manufacturer for construction, oil and gas, and rail industries. They wanted to generate brand awareness and attract more leads in Latin America, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, so they partnered with IBT Online to build and launch three best-practice, optimally localized websites supported by ongoing online marketing campaigns.
The campaigns IBT Online designed, optimized, and are currently running for them revolve around Search Engine advertising, SEO, Social Media marketing.
To ensure their strategy continues to grow and evolve with their local successes, IBT Online also provides timely, real-time, and monthly reporting and analytics information allowing them to make strategic recommendations and move their strategy forward.
But why is investing in international online marketing so important for exporters?
1. Attract Leads
According to Hubspot, Google has "over 259 million unique visitors and 4.8 billion daily interactions.". SEO and paid advertising help direct visitors right to your website. It also helps grab the attention of best-fit customers and points them directly to you. At IBT Online, we describe this process as "engaging and delighting existing and future clients with the right message at the right time."
For Pettibone this strategy is clearly working in their targeted markets, as Fedie says:
"The Google Ads are very important in helping somebody in these regions find our websites. We've received exponential website traffic increase to our localized websites and an uptick in traffic to our domestic website from other countries".
According to WebFB, the average return on ad spend (ROAS) for Google Ads is 200%, making this online marketing method very profitable! Thanks to these marketing efforts, Pettibone regularly receives website inquiries from their target markets that they can pass along to their sales team.
2. Generate Brand Awareness
Website localization accompanied by online marketing is a great strategy when entering new markets because it helps boost your brand awareness. In line with Pettibone’s exporting objectives, Fedie says the websites and marketing efforts give them a digital footprint which "show legitimacy and that we are invested in their region."
IBT Online has been supporting Pettibone in developing their brand awareness through combined social media and Search Engine marketing efforts. These combined efforts make their online brand look trustworthy, increasing the customers' confidence and making them more inclined to buy.
3. Understand Your Customers
IBT Online built a unique customer dashboard to showcase analytics and report on the traffic and conversions for each of Pettibone's international websites. This allows Fedie and the Pettibone team to monitor, learn and understand who they are connecting with globally
A customer in Saudi may use different search terms on Google than a customer in Latin America. Sometimes it takes time to learn what resonates with each local audience. That's why analytics and reporting are so critical. This process allows Pettibone and IBT Online to work collaboratively in discovering which content is performing best, which platforms to focus on etc. This is a very important part of the process of adapting to the market and making decisions based on actual results.
Reporting and analytics empower your team to improve online marketing over time and continue to drive qualified leads to your website.
Long-Term Success Requires a Trusted Partner
"We believe we are on the right track to growing in these regions," says Fedie. The leads they receive from online marketing have "set us up for success to plant seeds in the area and build long-term relationships".
Every company needs a customized online marketing strategy to reach its international audiences and companies often know this but struggle to allocate the resources and time required. Previously, the Pettibone team lacked the bandwidth and expertise to perform this type of online marketing on their own. “We were struggling with our current workforce” Fedie admits, “Having the IBT Online team working with us was certainly very valuable.”
IBT Online’s Award-winning Online Global Marketing programs are built around three main pillars: Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Reporting, and Analytics. These three components are then tailored and leveraged to build a bespoke global marketing strategy to ensure your company is found, understood, and easy to do business with in all your target markets around the world.
As Fedie confirms: "IBT Online certainly gives us the resources that we need to execute these campaigns in the respective regions to help us get more global reach."
