If you’ve already established a successful affiliate marketing program within the U.S., you’re off to a great start, but there are unexplored lands you’re overlooking where your business may be able to thrive. Depending on your industry, you might have an untapped audience somewhere else on the globe. These are people who are a part of your niche but don’t know you exist — all because you’ve never crafted a marketing campaign to reach out to them.
If you’ve been worried about expanding, don’t be. It’s understandable to feel anxiety over expanding your business, but there is a lot that can be gained from making your national audience into a global audience. Here’s how:
Why You Should Expand Overseas
Many businesses aim for growth from their start, but expanding overseas usually isn’t the first start. However, it’s the right move to make for businesses that are established and experiencing some success, especially those with a noteworthy affiliate marketing program.
One way you can know if your business is ready is by consulting data related to your existing affiliate marketing strategy. Is there room for growth? Do you have a high ROI that is funding the program — and then some? Is there a part of your market that is lacking or could potentially see further growth if given more focus? Do you have customers from regional pockets outside the U.S. that deserve more attention?
The answers to any of these questions can be quite complex, but that last one is of particular interest: If you already have a slight customer base outside of your borders, you should consider capitalizing on that while you can, finding a way to spread growth elsewhere.
Best of all, if you can find similar industries overseas, you can create collaborative relationships that work to promote one another within your own niches, helping to create a global partnership that grows both businesses at once. While this is all great news for a business looking to expand, it’s worth considering just how this can be achieved. Let’s take a closer look to understand the ways you can increase your overseas engagement.
Ways Affiliate Marketing Can Increase Overseas Engagement
- Focus on what matters.
You should never stretch your business too thin when expanding; rather, now is the time to solely focus on what matters. When starting out, you should be working with what you have at the ready, from finances to personnel. Moreover, you should be working with methods used with your current audience. While it might not be ideal in the long run, it will provide your business with a benchmark to work from going forward.
- Understand the trends of the area.
Part of being successful abroad involves understanding how the region works. In particular, you’ll want to know what similar successful businesses are doing. By following their lead, you can get a foot in the door before you even begin promoting your business there.
- Create local content.
Content developed for the U.S. may work abroad, but it won’t be perfect — there are certain idiosyncrasies so every region that doesn’t translate well elsewhere. Get someone fluent in the language and aware of the region to help or conduct direct research in the area. You should be as much an expert on the region as you are the content you’re developing. The two go hand-in-hand for the development of a successful affiliate marketing strategy, so it should be an immediate goal.
- Develop real relationships.
The biggest thing you can do when increasing overseas engagement is creating real relationships abroad. While you can develop front-facing professional relationships that go nowhere beyond that, you should take the time to make real connections when possible. If you can visit the country in person, consider going there to meet with your affiliates to strengthen that partnership.
If you happen to have several publishers in a country you’ll be visiting, consider organizing an event to get everyone in the same room. This doesn’t have to be large or overcomplicated; even just inviting your affiliates for a coffee can show you value their work with you.
Let Refersion Help You Make the Leap to a Global Strategy
Expanding your affiliate marketing strategy to a global one won’t be easy work, but there’s a lot to be gained from taking that leap. If you’re unsure of where to start, consider doing your research on your countries of interest and then reach out to a Refersion expert. One of our representatives should be able to answer your questions, helping you to expand your strategy in no time.
