“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road with take you there”. This is one of my favourite sayings, and I use it almost daily with drinks business clients with whom I’m chatting about digital marketing. It’s credited to Lewis Carroll and even Henry Kissinger! Moreover, how does it link to the current position and goal-setting for your drinks brand?
Because if you don’t know your strategic goal or destination, how do you choose a route to it? How do you get “there” when you don’t know where “there” is? Where are you going to and from where? Until you know the answer to this question, you can’t say that one strategic route is better than another.
It’s the same with international digital marketing. If you don’t know what your strategic goal is, then how do you know what social media platforms you should be on? How do you know what content you should share to engage with your target audience? How do you know what influencers you should be engaging with? What paid ads strategy? How do you know what KPIs you should use to track your progress against to ensure that you are on course for achieving that goal?
As a drinks business looking for a successful expansion into international markets, it is essential to your success in digital marketing to understand where you are now and where you want to get to.
So what is the best approach to take?
Conduct a Social Media Audit
The first step to taking your drinks brand across borders is to audit what your “here” looks like. Get a good understanding of your current position by reviewing your current social media profiles to find your current position.
Check to see if you have consistency in your branding and messaging across your social media accounts.
Assess the performance of your posts. Look at engagement rates, reach and follower numbers to understand how you are currently doing. Are your posts currently resonating with your target audience? Make a note of the strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement that you find.
Define Your Export Goals
Once you understand where you are, you can decide where you want to be. Set clear and , measurable objectives for your international expansion such as entering three new markets within the next year or achieving a 20% increase in global sales. Try to make them SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound.
Once you’ve decided on your business goals, you can align your digital marketing goals with them for the digital activities that will best take these goals forward. Prioritise understanding your current position and goal-setting before taking action.
Find out about what each social media platform is used for.
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