Development of an international and global vision

Whoever directs the company must be immersed in the market in which he intends to settle; although market analyzes and studies are the essential bases, with marketing reports in the strategic decision-making process, the value of a reference or a physical presence in the target country is undeniable.

Marketing research is the systematic collection, structuring and analysis of data to provide useful information in the decision-making process which, however, must necessarily be followed by cultural considerations.

Even if the research activity is usually structured in the same way, regardless of the country in which it is carried out, the data must be interpreted very differently due to the different social, cultural, legal, religious and economic assumptions that may subsist in different countries.

The collection of information must be done in the “survey” language and the data must be adapted to the buyer personas of reference.

The main differences between a domestic and a foreign research undoubtedly lie in the breadth and depth of the analysis.

Searches can be divided into three types:

general information on a country, area, market;
Useful information to predict future needs by anticipating social, economic, industrial and consumer trends;
Specific market information for the production, promotion and distribution of products and services in a foreign country.

In any case, it is always necessary to precisely define the buyer personas involved and map the segments of the target market.

The information to be collected in the international marketing research phase must be specific like domestic ones obviously, but extended to other aspects such as: economy and demography, political, cultural and social climate, generic market conditions, technological situation, competitiveness and competition .

The management of cultural barriers is the key element that can determine the quality of the objectives achieved by the final report of the market research.

It is possible to either use agencies or rely on software managed by analysts with specific skills.

As always when speaking of exports, there is no solution that is preferable to the other, but for each specific case, more congruent and more consistent modalities can be identified with the company objective and with the company’s need for involvement in the phase. research planning.

Market research process for export

The international marketing research process is developed over various crucial phases to obtain data and information oriented to a reliable decision support, it is therefore necessary:

define the objectives of the research and the keys to interpreting the data;
identification of research obstacles or problems (availability, reliability and comparability of data, consistency and validity over time)
determination and choice of information sources (qualitative / quantitative, primary and secondary sources)
data analysis method
integration and enrichment of the collected data
presentation and reading of the results

How does your company approach export markets?