International Market Research and Marketing
1- Export Market Research
The first step in exporting goods is to have a thorough understanding of international markets. To gain this view toward different markets, some factors are analyzed such as the import & export volume of the target country, market trend, market capacity, foreign and domestic rivals, political & economic & social & geographic & legal & technological & environmental situation, the accordance of goods with the target market, similarity and differences of goods with its rivals, behavioral and psychological factors, demand volume, substitute goods and so on. The final goal of marketing research is to assess the market, and ultimately by depending on the knowledge and gathered data an export business model will be structured.
During the process of market research, first the domestic and then foreign markets might be studied. At first, the principles and effective factors on export in the seller country were analyzed – such as prohibiting the export of a specific product for some time; besides the governmental support would analyze via some matters such as preferred tariffs, market competition adjustment, motivating export supports, transportation analysis, and others. On the other hand, domestic rivals and their performance, production size, product quality, and international performance will be analyzed. For instance, by analyzing domestic rivals, an exporter could change their sales approach which provides a competitive advantage for foreign buyers. After this step, some information that will be the starting point for international market research will be gathered and some proceedings like tariff assessment, export value assessment, and export certification request will be done.
An appropriate export market research might answer the following questions:
In which direction the business could be done?
What are the challenges and solutions?
Which learning materials are needed?
How much budget will be needed?
How much time is needed?
What are the requirements?
How much time will be needed to deliver the cargo?
How is it to assess the market’s capacity?
What are the characteristics of the target market?
Which approaches are used in customer deals?
How is it to manage the export risk?
What is the export pricing base?
For more information please call our office.
Don’t forget that market research work as a lighting through the export road path
2-International Marketing Process
Below you might find a brief description of the international marketing process:
A-Market Segmentation:
Market Segmentation will end with a meticulous definition of target market requirements; it includes a detailed definition of people’s needs and demands, detailed goals for marketing and sales, effective and efficient resource allocation, and finally improved marketing results. Market segmentation ends in the assignment of appropriate goods to the appropriate section and the following points should be noticed in this regard:
A-1) Geographical criteria: zone-city-distance from origin country
A-2) Demographic criteria: ethnicity – job – income – sexuality – lifestyle
A-3) Behavioral variables: reaction toward a product–consuming type
A-4) Development Level: income rate and GDP – the type of the economic system
A-5) Country’s resources
A-6) Country’s Infrastructure: transportation – banking system – distribution channels
B- Target Market Selection:
B-1) Single Section Focus: A single product for a single market
B-2) Selective Expertise: Multiple Products for Multiple Markets
B-3) Product Expertise: A single product for all export markets
B-4) Market Expertise: Multiple products for a single market
* Sieving method for target market selection
In this model, a general analysis is done and then some markets are selected. Some methods such as strategic analysis, competitive analysis, demand analysis, risk analysis, and benefit analysis are done in this approach.
* Characteristics of a desirable target market
– Political & economic stability
– Powerful currency
– Low inflation rate
– Comprehensive and clear legal system
– Powerful and big-size private sector
– Developed work culture and behavior
– Concordance between Government and Private sector
C- Positioning in International Marketing :
unfortunately, the international image of Iranian products is not appropriate and the government plays a key role in this positioning. Any seller should try to build a good image in the consumer’s mind. Price, quality, and services might play a key role in building the consumers’ image of the product. A worthy buyer builds trust and value for the organization; this value creation starts from understanding consumers’ needs and some points declared to the buyer which motivate him/her to buy.
D- Marketing Mix decisions
Each business has its aspects that create an appropriate development of trade; a gathering of these aspects is called the Marketing Mix which divides into some models like 4P (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) or other models such as 7P, 8P, or even 15P. A web search could help you find related concepts in this regard.
Following some points of the 4P model are briefly provided:
– Product:
-What is my product and what are the specifications?
-Which product I would like to design?
-How many types of products do I have?
-In which kind of packaging this product should be launched?
* Some other important factors concerning Product are: branding, product basket management, product change management readiness, new product development, accordance of product with market needs, differences and similarities with rivals, profit-making for consumers and customers
– Price:
Price includes subjects such as pricing models, effective variables on pricing, pricing barriers, and price adjustment approach.
-Place:
Place includes subjects such as third-party performance, good market entry, market entry barriers, market risk management, logistics system, and so on.
-Promotion:
Promotion could be done by agents or distributors and some proceedings like participating in fairs, catalog designing, website designing, and product campaigns are done in this field.
E- Organize, Perform, and Resource Allocation in Marketing
F- Marketing Control
Marketing control is the final step of the whole marketing process in which we recheck the prior steps and solve any failure. Some important points are like: What were our products’ failures? Was the price good? In which part we failed? At which stage we did do well? How we can build a market (a step after marketing)? How did we change the market? And so on. Besides we can compare the market before and after our entry which might be useful.
The ADLI export company utilizing the best modern trade solutions and approaches with a rich insight toward commercial goals at different levels will finalize the export market research of your specific business.
For more information please call our office.