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When was the last time you stopped to consider where the business you were buying from was founded? The meteoric rise of ecommerce means we’re now able to buy from businesses based all over the globe in an instant.
In fact, cross-border ecommerce sales in Australia now account for approximately AU$18 billion, or 29% of ecommerce transactions1. While this may mean increased competition on a domestic level, the good news is that it works both ways, and Aussie brands are in huge demand across the rest of the world - opening up huge new markets of new potential customers.
Just ask Canva, The Oodie, Culture Kings, Hismile, Quad Lock or any of the thousands of Australian-founded businesses that have moved into new markets using the array of tools at their disposal, something we have explored in our new white paper ‘Breaking into New Markets: A Guide to Going Global’.
The biggest obstacle for most Australian businesses is how to get started. And while it may seem daunting to people who haven’t done this before, getting started is actually as simple as ABC.
A is for AI
We’re living in a new era - one that is increasingly being defined by AI.
While a lot of AI technology is still being honed, there is something it is already incredibly good at - helping businesses get discovered by new potential customers more effectively and efficiently. This is a real game changer when you are thinking about expanding your business overseas, and Meta has been investing in this technology.
Meta’s Advantage+ shopping campaigns gives marketers the ability to target multiple countries in one campaign, optimise across multiple spend areas and match campaigns to the people it identifies as ready to buy. Research shows these campaigns see a 32% increase in return on ad spend and 17% improvement in cost per conversion2.
And, when coupled with Shops ads, which send people to either your website or your Shop depending on where they are most likely to make a purchase, the results are potent. Hismile discovered this in a recent campaign to improve online sales in the United States, where it combined these features to achieve a 56% lower incremental cost per purchase than an Advantage Plus shopping campaign alone3.
These capabilities remove one of the big barriers to moving into overseas markets - finding likely customers.
B is for Brand
You can’t sell a secret. Trying to sell a product no-one has heard of is incredibly difficult, which is why creating a brand is important, so people know who you are, especially crowded markets like in the United Kingdom and United States.
Businesses going cross-border shouldn’t assume a new audience knows anything about their offering or values. Similarly, don’t assume that what resonates with Australians will work in other markets, particularly large and culturally diverse ones. Investing in brand is incredibly important.
In some cases a product might be so revolutionary it doesn’t exist yet in that market. This was the case for Aussie business Boody, which sells bamboo underwear, something it discovered was completely unknown in the US. So Boody invested heavily in brand activity to educate people about the benefits of the products, to great effect.
Brand is something all businesses should invest in, because at a certain point performance tactics will run out of steam. Once you’ve reached all your low hanging fruit, focusing on mid and top funnel activity will be more important than ever.
C is for Creators
Finding ways to connect with audiences in new markets is essential. Culture, creativity and creators are increasingly the winning trifecta for marketers looking to find a spot in the hearts and minds of audiences.
Creators are a great way for brands to connect authentically in new markets - we think of them as ‘culture carriers’ who can connect an Australian brand into the hearts (and shopping carts!) of customers all around the world.
Local creators are likely to have a deep understanding of the market, particularly what will work and what won’t. They are also experts at understanding audience niches, and will know how best to engage their particular audiences. It doesn’t always come down to audience size either, and it’s worth considering the benefits of both micro and macro creators.
When you choose to work with creators in new markets, think beyond campaigns and understand what it is about them that truly aligns with your brand, then work with a mix of them to access different audiences.
Huge leaps in technology mean that the path from local favourite to global contender is more accessible than ever before. If you want to find out more about how your business can take advantage of this revolution then check out ‘Breaking into New Markets: A Guide to Going Global’, and remember your ABCs.
Sources:
1. PPRO Country Reports, Australia, EDC Analysis
2. Meta internal study on 31 advertisers from NA, APAC, EMEA and LATAM from Jul-Sept 2022
3. Meta case study, May 2024. All results are self-reported and not identically repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
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