My Thoughts on Preparing for the KOTRA Training?
The KOTRA training conducted by KOTRA Chungbuk Regional Office was special.
This lecture, which came about through a referral from a representative after the B2B Export Marketing Training conducted by the KOTRA Gyeonggi Northern Regional Office earlier this year, required extensive preparation.
While it’s always a pleasure for a lecture to be arranged through a referral, I prepared even more diligently than usual, mindful of the goodwill of the referrer and the high expectations of the training managers who invited me.
In the training field, global marketing curricula are often primarily structured around LinkedIn marketing.
However, what if we delve into the practical marketing areas conducted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? Fewer contracts are concluded via LinkedIn than expected.
The reason is that establishing a network with overseas buyers, either by building LinkedIn followers or through “Sales Navigator”, is a time-consuming process.
However, while building infrastructure for overseas distributors or resellers offers a higher probability of success, this is only achievable with consistent effort and feedback.
So? What strategies should SMEs use when attempting global marketing?
This lecture focused exclusively on the most easily applicable methods for SMEs.
What is the Easiest Way to Start Overseas Marketing? Email Marketing.
This KOTRA training began by introducing the email marketing lecture right from the start. Email marketing is one of the easiest overseas marketing strategies for SMEs to start.
Marketing is possible even without a website, and unlike LinkedIn, you don’t need to build a follower base to start, making it easy for anyone to begin.
While it would be easier if your company already has a customer list of overseas companies and buyers, there are ways to start even without a customer database.
That is, by using global marketing tools.
During the training, I demonstrated how to collect a large number of overseas buyer emails and provided detailed instructions so that marketing can be started by simply understanding how to operate the tools.
Therefore, attempting overseas marketing using the email marketing tools introduced in this lecture can be considered the top priority.
Key to Overseas Marketing! Build a System for Automatic Customer Inquiries.
While email marketing can yield temporary results, it is not a fundamental solution.
To properly execute overseas marketing, you need to create a system where customer inquiries consistently flow in. This means optimizing your webpage for search exposure (“Search Engine Optimization”) so that buyers worldwide can find it.
Throughout numerous global marketing efforts, I have consistently emphasized the importance of Google SEO training.
Global SEO is not an easy field to start, as it is relatively complex and time-consuming. However, companies that recognize its value have attempted it and are achieving tangible results.
If email marketing relies on diligence and individual effort? Performing “Google Search Engine Optimization” to gain exposure to buyers worldwide is a systemic approach.
In other words, while it requires significant initial effort, once optimized, you can consistently receive buyer inquiries 24/7, enabling highly stable overseas marketing.
Furthermore, because inquiries come directly from buyers with genuine trade or export needs, the likelihood of successful transactions is high, leading to meaningful contracts.
Global marketing utilizing Google SEO is expected to see even greater demand as economic conditions become more challenging.
This is because while paid advertisements disappear after a click, search exposure optimization steadily accumulates, making it a far more efficient method from a long-term perspective.
In 2024, as the Domestic Market Stagnates, the Solution Must be Found in Global Marketing.
Many experts predict that South Korea’s domestic economy in 2024 will not be very bright.
There are also many opinions that we will enter a long-term economic recession starting in 2024, which has many SMEs on edge.
I believe that the future marketing breakthrough must be found in the “global market”.
While transforming existing relationship-based infrastructure into digital requires significant time and effort, online marketing is expected to become central in the realm of overseas marketing. Therefore, preparing now can lead to consistent business growth.
