Enterprise Ireland - eMarketing Event - Dublin - Oct 2013

1. Web presence abroad:
What’s so different and how to
best approach it
Susanne Dirks
sudirks@evorsprung.com
Ph. 086-2375131

2. Best Practice Guide available on EI website:
Introduction and
background
Susanne Dirks MSc BSc
ie.linkedin.com/ie/susannedirks
www.enterprise-ireland.com/localisation4germany

3. Need for action: Unleveraged opportunity
Audit of EI companies for:
• Website Visibility
– 17 criteria across 4 categories:
Technical Tuning, Onsite SEO,
Offside SEO and Social media
• Website Impact
– 17 criteria across 4 categories:
Content & Translation, Customer
Service Support, Clarity of
Website, Trust-enhancing
Features
– Plus 4 additional criteria for any
companies that provided ecommerce type of transactions
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4. Agenda
• Considerations: How web presence abroad is
different to web presence in Ireland
• Action: What are the key action areas for
establishing a successful web presence abroad
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5. Web presence abroad
means operating in a different environment
Competitive
Environment
Socio-cultural
Environment
Technology
Environment
Legal
Environment
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6. New opportunities and new challenges:
More competitors, different ways of competing
• Different and additional competitors
– Offline competitors PLUS online competitors
• Different ways of competing
– Attention + Interest:
• Search engine marketing: SEO, SEA, SMO
– Desire + Action
• Online articulation of value proposition, website
functionality/appeal/localisation
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7. Example ‘Butter’:
Different offline competitors in Germany
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8. Example: ‘Butter’
Different online (types of) competitors in Germany
Ireland (google.ie)
Search:
(in native language)
butter
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Germany (google.de)

9. Example: ‘Mobile Phone’
Different online competitors in Germany
Search:
Ireland (google.ie)
(in native language):
Mobile phone vs. Handy
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Germany (google.de)

10. The impact of a different cultural environment on
web presence in Germany
Competitive
Environment
Technology
Environment
Socio-cultural
Environment
Legal
Environment
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11. The cultural environment directly determines the
(online) marketing approach
• Culture is
– “a universal orientation
system typical of a
society, organisation or
group”
– Influences the way all of
its members perceive,
think, value, act :
•
•
•
•
“The web is not a culturally
neutral medium
a website has
to be designed for a targetted
customer segment
Local
adaptation should be based on
a complete understanding of
a customer group’s culture ”
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
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12. Many users only perceive, think, and value only
in their own language
Question:
Do you use a language other than
your own to read/watch content
on the Internet ?
Considerable country variances !
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13. ... and usage of another language is not very
frequent (and not necessarily English) ...
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14. ... and usage of other language(s) online declines,
the more serious the transaction is
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15. Language’s influence on purchasing decisions:
“Can’t read, won’t buy !”
• Real foreign language proficiency (and use) is lower than you
think
• Most people prefer to buy in their own language
– 52.4% only buy from websites in their own language
• Language is particularly important for complex and larger
purchases
• No translation or ‘bad’ translation is not really an option
– First impressions count !
• After ‘brand’, the most important decision factor is
‘language’
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16. At the most basic level, cultural localisation is
about local standards and conventions
• Important conventions for cultural web
presence localisation include:
– Use of colours
– Use of formats
– Use of measurements
– Use of symbols
– Use of icons
– Use of pictures
– Use of currency
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17. But culture goes deeper and impacts thinking
(“value”) and behaviours (“act”)
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
• Power distance
– Attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst its members
• Individualism
– Degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members
• Masculinity/femininity
– Main motivations in people, wanting to be the best (masculine) versus liking
what you do (feminine).
• Uncertainty avoidance
– Extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations
• Long-term orientation
– Extent to which a society shows a long-term versus a short-term point of view of
the future
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18. Comparison: Ireland - US - UK
PDI = Power Distance
IDV = Individuallism
MAS = Masculinity/Femininity
UAI = Uncertainty Avoidance
LTO = Long-term Orientation
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19. Comparison: Ireland - China
PDI = Power Distance
IDV = Individuallism
MAS = Masculinity/Femininity
UAI = Uncertainty Avoidance
LTO = Long-term Orientation
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20. Comparison: Ireland - Spain
PDI = Power Distance
IDV = Individuallism
MAS = Masculinity/Femininity
UAI = Uncertainty Avoidance
LTO = Long-term Orientation
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21. Culture’s influence on purchase value and
speed of decision
Business, France
Business, Japan
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22. Culture’s influence on
purchase order value over time
• Travel industry, UK
• Travel industry, Germany
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23. Culture’s influence on channels in sales process
Examples for auto sector
UK
France
Germany
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24. The impact of different technology usage on
web presence in Germany
Competitive
Environment
Technology
Environment
Socio-cultural
Environment
Legal
Environment
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25. Successful web presence abroad requires an
understanding of technology usage patterns
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Preferred search engines
Approach to search
Preferred websites / blogs
Preferred social media platforms/channels
Preferred online directories
Preferred price comparison engines
Online usage patterns
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26. Example:
Different social networks in Germany
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27. Example:
Different preferred retail sites
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28. Technology and culture:
Differences in the role of smartphones
Smartphone penetration, December
2012
Share of smartphone users who
accessed online retail in May 2012
UK
23.10
Germany
22.60
EU5
16.60
13.60
Italy
France
10.20
Spain
0.00
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9.80
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00

29. The impact of different legal and/or regulatory
requirements on web presence in Germany
Competitive
Environment
Technology
Environment
Socio-cultural
Environment
Legal
Environment
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30. Legal considerations for web presence abroad
• Online legal aspects different from country to country
include areas such as:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Privacy and data protection legislation
Advertising legislation
Brand legislation
Consumer legislation
Copyright
Terms and conditions
Liability
Domain names
Website content
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31. Example of legal requirement in Germany:
‘Impressum’
•
‘Impressum’ is a legally mandated
statement of the ownership and
authorship
•
Required in Germany for all forms of web
presence as per § 5 of the
Telemediengesetz (2007)
•
Needs to be clearly visible and easy
to find, and immediately and always
available
•
Needs to contain certain minimum
information, including: information about
the publisher, including their name
and address, telephone number or
e-mail address, trade registry number,
VAT number, and other information
depending on the type of company
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32. 4 steps for a successful web presence abroad
1
2
4
3
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33. Step 1:
Define your online strategy for the new market
• Do target market research
– Offline market
– Online market
• Review and refine your online value
proposition for your target market
– Clear competitive differentiation
• Online content and design
• Online visibility
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34. Kerrygold Ireland value proposition
as per Irish home page
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35. Kerrygold Germany value proposition
as per German home page
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36. The impact of Kerrygold’s
German value proposition on search results
Searching for
“Gesunde Butter”
In www.google.de
=> SERP 1 for
Kerrygold
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37. Aldi Sued Germany value proposition
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38. Aldi Nord Germany value proposition
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39. Aldi Austria value proposition
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40. Aldi UK value proposition
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41. Aldi France value proposition
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42. Aldi Ireland value proposition
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43. Step 2:
Make sure your target customers can find you online
• Domain Strategy
– Domain name
– Domain URL structure
• Search Engine Marketing
– Search engine optimisation
– Search engine advertising
– Social media optimisation
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44. Domain name:
Name that is meaningful and easy for target market
If possible, a search-friendly domain name
• For search engines and target market users
• Meaningful in native language
– Example (Germany): www.franchise-direkt.com
– Example (Germany): www.promobecher.de
• Keyword-friendly in native language
• Easy to remember
• Easy to spell
• No double meaning
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45. Domain URL Structure Options
• Option 1: Country-code TLD (ccTLD)
– Example: www.tricel.fr
• Option 2: Subdirectory
– Examples: www.combilift.com/de,
www.keenan.com/de-de
– Avoid non-standard subdirectories:/ger,/deutsch
• Option 3: Subdomain
– Example: www.French.hostelworld.com
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46. Search engine marketing for new market
• Keywords for SEO and
SEA for target market
Keywords !!!
– Value proposition
– Target market language
– Used by target market
online users
– Differentiating
• Off-page SEO for target
market
• Social Media for target
market
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47. SEO and SEA play a key role in attracting online
customers abroad
Example: German e-commerce companies’ approach to
internationalisation:
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48. Good keywords are not only translated, but must also
reflect native language search patterns
79
1
Also watch:
- Language and grammar
- Different thinking patterns
Source: Google Trends on 103372013, Germany, past 12 months
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49. Example Kerrygold:
Good keywords express local differentiators
Keyword
Irish search result
(google.ie)
German search result
(google.de)
Page 1 (Place 5)
Page 5 *
healthy butter (gesunde
butter)
Not found
(on first five pages)
Page 1 (place 6) **
Irish butter (irische butter)
Page 1 (Place 1)
Page 1 (place 2) **
butter
•Organic search results only, Google ads shows earlier
** First product in the listing
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50. Focus needs to be on attracting the right visitors
and meeting their implicit search needs
•
Good points:
– Website translated
– Subdirectory (/de) for Germany
Client example:
•
Only 10% of all visitors from
German market
Only 1% of all visitors looked at•
www.IrishSME.com/de
?? %
?? %
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Areas neglected:
–
–
–
–
(Mediocre) translation
No geo-target set
Visitor IP-location ignored
Minimal on-page optimisation
Impact of lack of optimisation for
German market
– Little awareness created with in
Germany (10%) due to focus on
English-language search terms
– Little interest created with Germans
(1%), as Germans landed on English
language parts of website

51. Off-page SEO for foreign markets:
The importance of local links
• Create inbound links from reputable websites in the
target market
– Example: www.german.hostelworld.com
• Encourage local links and followers
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52. Other Off-page SEO for new markets:
Being seen in the ‘right places’
• Locally used generic directories
• e.g. for Germany: www.allesklar.de
• Locally used industry directories
• e.g. for Germany: www.psiproductfinder.de
• Local price comparison websites
• e.g. for Germany: www.geizhals.de
• Social networks
• e.g. for Germany: Xing
• Social bookmarking sites
• e.g. for Germany: www.mister-wong.de
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53. Step 3:
Make sure your target market customers
buy into you online
• Appropriate and local language content
• Cultural adaptation of web presence
• Making your web presence looks local
• Legal requirements for web presence
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54. Kerrygold content for German products page
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55. Different countries prefer different formats of content
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56. Website translation is more than just translation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Translation quality
Avoid:
Translation scope
- Google Translate & Co!
- Unqualified translators
Translation updates
- Mixed-language approaches
Style of translated text
Formatting of translated text
Consistency of translation
Keyword focus on translated text
Quality assurance
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57. Examples of translation considerations
• Video content:
– Keenans – fully dubbed
– Combilift – ‘silent’ movie
Franchise Direkt
• News section:
– Franchise Direct
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58. Tackling ‘uncertainty avoidance’ online
• Customer service: FAQs, customer service options, customer
help/contact
• Guided navigation: Site maps, well-displayed links,
forward/backward navigation
• Tradition theme: Emphasis on company history, phrases like
‘company legacy’, ‘for generations’ etc.
• Local stores: Contact information for local dealers, shops etc
• Local terminology: Use of country-specific metaphors, local touch
of the website
• Free trials or downloads: Free stuff, free downloads, free product
trials, free memberships, free service information, toll-free numbers
• Transaction security and testimonials: Customer testimonials,
seals of trust, ethical business practices from third parties
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59. Tackling uncertainty avoidance:
Customer service support in forms of FAQs
Keenan, France
3DIssue, Germany
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60. Tackling uncertainty avoidance:
Different forms of customer service support
Vitalograph
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61. Tackling uncertainty avoidance:
Sitemaps for website clarity and structure
Multihog
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62. Tackling uncertainty avoidance:
Breadcrumb navigation for website clarity
and structure
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63. Tackling uncertainty avoidance:
Scientific/academic evidence helps build trust
Keenan
Kerrygold
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64. Tackling uncertainty avoidance:
Displaying seals of quality
• Online seals of quality recommended by D21
initiative for Germany
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65. Tackling uncertainty avoidance:
Tradition and trust go hand in hand
Vitalograph
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66. Making your web presence look local
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
German domain name and/or German ccTLC
Providing local payment options
Local contact options, e.g. Address/phone number
Local case studies
Seals of approval by local organisations/bodies
List of local events
List of local websites
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67. Germans’ preference for payment options
Preferences for payment on the Internet (averaged):
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68. Example:
Country-specific payment types
Country
Country-specific payment type
Benelux
Bancontact / Mister Cash
IDEAL
France
4etoiles, Carte Bleu, Carte Aurore,
Cofinoga
United Kingdom
Maestro UK
Italy
Carta PostePay,
CartaSi / Sipay
Austria
Eps-Online-Überweisung
Paybox
Switzerland
myOne,
Postfinance Card / e-finance
Scandinavia
eDankort
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69. Looking local:
Local contact options and/or local presence
Keenan
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70. Looking local:
Local case studies have more relevance
Kingspan
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71. Looking local:
Local approval of quality counts more
Aldi Germany
Aldi Ireland
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72. Looking Local: Listing local events
Keenan UK
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73. Looking local:
Listing links to locally relevant websites
www.vitalograph.de
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74. Looking local:
Meeting legal requirements and conventions
Vitalograph
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75. Step 4:
Make sure you can do business with the your new target
market customers
•
•
•
•
•
Channels
Communication
Resources
Skills
Processes
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76. Channel strategy for new markets
• New channel created due to web presence in new market
– Where does this fit in overall channel strategy for new market?
Source: Alex Osterwalder: Business Model Canvas
• New web channel will lead to increased communications
– What are the implications for channel strategy, resources, skills, response
speed/format ?
– How to best deal with your new communications: Planned and unplanned as
well as incoming, outgoing, ongoing ?
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77. Question: How to you provide telephone support
to non-English speakers ?
Languages spoken well
enough to hold a
conversation
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78. Question: How do you deal with foreign language
enquiries or comments ?
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79. Language strategy is worth the effort
74.7 % say availability of after-sales support in own
language influences their buying decision
Source: European Commission PIMLICO Report: Language Management Strategy and Best Practice in European SMEs (4/2011)
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80. Next steps
• Planning web presence for new market
–
–
–
–
Online value proposition for new market
Monitoring
Strategy
Quickwins
• e.g. Domain registration, homepage
• Improving web presence for new market
– Checklist
– Quickwins
• E.g. FAQ, Certification, QA, Audit
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81. For more info, contact:
sudirks@evorsprung.com
THANK YOU
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