International customer prospecting can be easy and inexpensive with email marketing, provided the marketer follows the rules. Before making any international business to business email marketing, a company needs to look at four top elements.
First, know the local laws. Many countries have strict rules of permission and privacy to send out emails. For example, Germany requires evidence of a strong ethical code and verification of data privacy, plus permission to send the email.
Second, set up a local contact. Any company’s marketers can design attractive emails, but it takes someone who’s familiar with a country’s rules in order to assure that it meets the law. Virtually all people in business have heard the horror stories of products that failed outside their native lands because no one thought to check on language, idioms and customs. Don’t be an ugly interloper; if there’s no one related to the company who can do this, hire a consultant.
Third, know the target country’s terms for market segments. Job titles can vary widely from country to country, but departments such as IT, R&D and sales remain constant. Choose generic, universal approaches to segmenting the emails.
Finally, be careful not to over-communicate. Even successful current campaigns can fail miserably when taken internationally, because it may be too much of a good thing. For instance, Asia-Pacific and European Union businesses prefer to build relationships before making transactions. In such a cultural situation, email because a mechanism of support, not the entry to a transaction. Each country has its own cultural quirks, so one again, hire a consultant who knows how things are supposed to go.