Once you’ve decided on a target market for exporting your product, you need to think about what changes you may need to make to your product for it to be successful in an international market.

Just because a product has been sold and marketing successfully in the domestic market does not mean it will be well received elsewhere in the world.    Following are a few things to consider when adapting your product or service for an overseas market.

What’s your product strategy? — When it comes to marketing your product overseas, you have several choices.

Can you sell the same product everywhere with the same promotional message?  Very occasionally a product may have universal appeal, but this is the least likely scenario for an international marketer.

Will you sell the same product with a different promotional strategy?   A product or service may meet a need for a target market overseas, but it may be that need is slightly different than in the U.S.  In this case, the product may be the same, but the marketing message should be tailored to show that it meets the needs of the market.

Can you sell an adapted product with the same or a different promotional strategy?   Typically, if the product is different (i.e. adapted to the new overseas market) the promotional strategy will also change to some degree.  

Or do you need to develop a completely new product for your export market?  Depending on socio-cultural, technological, economic or other influences, you may need to develop a completely new product for your international market.  

Cultural influences — Social structure, language, religion, education and tradition in your selected country or region will all have an effect on your product customization.   Food tastes and preferences vary tremendously from region to region—when it comes to foods, beverages and scents, there really is no “global culture”!

Economic influences — Less developed countries tend not to demand high performance attributes.  For example, in the U.S. we want our cars to have CD players, air conditioning and power steering;  in other countries, just getting from Point A to Point B the most efficient and inexpensive way may be the number one consideration.

Technical influences—Testing standards may vary from country to country, as may electrical power and other characteristics.

Whatever the case, be sure to do your research first!

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* Carol B. Webster is a freelance writer
* The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of SME Times.