Marketing strategies to fit emerging markets

Most businesses today are focused almost exclusively on just a few geographical areas: Europe, North America, Australia and the Far East. However, by 2025, two thirds of all households with significant disposable income will be in what is now referred to as the developing world. Doing business in these countries cannot simply be done in the same way it is in familiar territories. Their economic growth doesn’t mean that they’re becoming culturally synonymous with the West, nor that their infrastructure is laid out in the same way, so marketing strategies need to be developed that can take account of differences and successfully reach out to these millions of potential new customers.

Preparing for change

To an extent, strategies for coping with this changing global economic picture need to be tailored country by country, and sometimes within countries – in India, for instance, linguistic, religious and geographical differences mean that markets differ widely from state to state, even among the affluent middle classes. Recognising this, however, is part of the battle – it’s important not to rely on stereotypes and, where possible, to take advice from local business people themselves. There are certain factors common to the emerging markets in Africa and Asia that are relatively easy to account for.

Social media

Most people in developing nations connect to the internet using mobile phones and use them for all their online interactions. Internet access may be scrappy, so the most popular means of communication are social media platforms with reliable apps that don’t need much bandwidth. This means that social media – especially Facebook, with the preference shown for other platforms differing from country to country – is the best platform on which to advertise, but ads need to be easy to load. When designed for a country where multiple languages are spoken, they should be produced in the most popular language but with wording kept simple for those less familiar with it. Websites, meanwhile, should incorporate responsive design and avoid elements that will increase loading times.

Nigeria

One of the biggest success stories that Africa has produced in recent years is Nigeria, whose GDP has been steadily growing at the rate of about 1.3% a year for the past decade, whilst sectors such as oil and IT have boomed. Business people such as Francis Josiah have led the charge by successfully developing international connections, illustrating the fact that strategic development in international business regulations is a two-way street. Josiah’s ability to market his work in different countries has ultimately been just as important to his success as his expertise in IT engineering, and it’s this combined approach that has helped his country to get ahead of its neighbours.

The international business world is becoming more complicated than it has ever been. This presents a lot of challenges, but many marketers will feel that it also makes their work more interesting. Importantly, it creates an environment in which hard work and smart thinking are much more valuable, and companies that invest in them can really get ahead.