Very early on an autumn’s morning, I wandered down to the hi-tech Barclays Eagle Labs for a meetup of marketing managers and MDs from local Brighton and Sussex businesses, as part of the Brighton Digital Festival.
We were greeted with a sumptous breakfast, including healthy bacon baps, the most amazing almond croissants (my favourites) and fresh fruit platters.
First up, was Mike Whenham from Pro-Actions coaching company, who reiterated what we all know, but never do: Plan Your Marketing Strategy … don’t jump straight in.
Top 5 takeaways from Mike’s talk:
- Work out your personal objectives before you do your business objectives
- Do things in order: objectives, strategy, marketing mix, plan
- It’s not about selling it’s about having a conversation these days
- Ask your customers why they buy from you
- Set up a rolling three month marketing schedule.
I then had only 20 minutes to do my bit to convince everyone to start selling internationally and online. I know it’s a big ask, but the opportunity is truly MASSIVE if you get it right and do it properly.
Top 5 takeaways from Sarah’s talk:
- There are about 7.5 billion people on this earth and over 3.5 billion of them are online (so our potential market, granted they may not all want or be able to afford our products and services)
- There will be 5 billion people online by 2020 (according to Google)
- There will be nearly 10 billion people in the world by 2050 and 5 billion of them will be in Asia
- Europe is no longer the market of the future, Asia is (but hardly any UK companies export or do business there)
- We can reach these customers by setting up world-class digital sales platforms (websites, e-commerce, e-marketplaces and s-commerce) and digital marketing campaigns.
Patricia LeFevre then took the stage and enlightened us as to the part that Barclays International Team can take in helping you to grow your business globally, including:
- online payment systems and exchange rate apps
- all international bank managers can give you export advice as they are trained by the Institute of Export
- great relationships and impressive discounts with DHL and export documentation and insurance companies.
If you missed this event and you’d like to find out more about how to sell more online internationally, contact me>>
