Considering expanding your ecommerce sales beyond the U.S.?
You’re in good company. Nearly half (45%) of American ecommerce businesses sell to customers outside the U.S., according to data from Statista.
Whether you’re preparing to go global or you’ve already begun testing the waters, you know marketing will be a large part of your success.
More specifically, you know Google Ads will be a large part of your success. With its ability to engage customers at every stage of the funnel, Google Ads is an essential tool for brands who need to build awareness and convert a completely new audience.
Unless you love wasting budget (and we have a pretty good feeling you don’t), expanding your Google Ads into another country takes some planning. There’s more to it than just spinning up some new ad campaigns.
Here are six pro tips to consider when developing your global Google Ads marketing strategy.
Sections
1. Create a seamless experience from SERP to site.
From the moment a person sees your ad until they click through and convert, everything should feel seamless. Translate everything into the native language. That includes your ad copy, keywords, extensions, and landing pages — especially your landing pages. If you don’t translate your landing pages, your conversion rate will be low no matter how much traffic you drive.
There are some situations where a translated landing page may not be enough, so review your options carefully. Do you need to create brand new landing pages, distinct from your current ones? Or, do you need an entirely separate site?
It’s also a good idea to have a dedicated customer service team answering phones and emails in the native language. You can hire local contractors, a translation agency, or use a software solution like Crisp or Langify for Shopify stores.
2. Price your products in the local currency.
Currency can make or break your attempts to go local. You must be able to accept the local currency in order to expand your Google Ads marketing. Most leading ecommerce store options, like Shopify, offer support for multiple currencies — but it’s always worth double checking first.
3. Set up shipping and logistics.
Before you launch your Google Ads marketing in another country, you want to ensure that you are actually able to ship there. You also want to familiarize yourself with customs and how it might delay packages.
For example, let’s say you heavily promote fast shipping throughout your site. If international orders get stuck in customs for an undue amount of time — or never make it to the customer at all — you’re going to get slammed with negative reviews.
Set up shipping and understand the time frames. Then, share the details in your FAQ to avoid unpleasant surprises.
4. Build trust with reviews and local press.
Speaking of reviews, they’re an essential part of getting prospective customers to trust you after your Google Ad piques their interest. Remember: you’re new to the country, so establishing trust is critical. The average shopper reads at least seven reviews before deciding to trust a company.
Feature rave reviews on the landing pages for your ads, written in the native language. You can supplement customer reviews with additional social proof via local press mentions. Partner with local journalists and news sources. If you have existing customer testimonials in video form, even better. Just translate them before adding them to your landing pages!
5. Adjust your (budget) expectations.
Brand awareness takes time to build, sometimes as long as three to six months. Treat expanding into a new country similar to your initial launch. Since you are brand new to the space, you have to do a major push to build brand awareness before you start seeing sales. That means leveraging a mix of Display ads, YouTube ads, and Facebook ads to target potential customers.
6. Understand the economy of the country.
Succeeding with Google Ads campaigns goes beyond knowing how to develop a solid advertising strategy. You also need to understand the local market, and price your items accordingly. Some countries are wealthier than others, which may affect which countries you choose to expand into, as well as how you price and market your products there.
It’s also important to understand the local culture of a country and be aware of what is happening. For example, one client of ours, who sold a winter-related product, was seeing good returns in Australia during their winter months. Then the COVID-19 shutdown happened, and their sales dropped significantly because people were staying inside. You have to stay on top of what is happening politically and socially to avoid overspending.
Are you ready to go global?
At Your Marketing People, we’ve helped our clients launch in global markets, and successfully scale their Google advertising to drive sales and customer loyalty. Contact us today to learn what we can do for you.
