Accelerating export growth via the web

Accelerate your export growth with the web: detailed strategies and practical tools

International expansion is a major challenge for companies seeking to diversify their markets. However, making this transition successfully requires a well-structured web strategy. Here's how to maximize your chances of success by following four basic steps.

1- Web export market research: laying solid foundations

Identifying opportunities and understanding online purchasing behavior

To develop a successful export strategy, the first step is to fully understand your target markets. This involves an in-depth analysis of the opportunities and online purchasing behaviors specific to each region.
Our webmarketing expertise enables us to carry out this in-depth analysis and identify the most effective levers for your international development. Consumer trend studies to identify local needs and determine whether your product or service meets an existing demand or requires adjustment.
For example, in Germany70% of buyers prefer to pay after receipt. Visit ChinaAlipay and WeChat Pay are essential.
Conversely, at JapanIn France, a sober, minimalist site inspires confidence, while in India, colorful, content-rich interfaces are more appealing.
Finally, in Africa80% of online sales are made on cell phones, while in the United Statesdesktop still dominates for high average basket purchases.

Macro-economic analysis completes this approach by identifying the overall economic dynamics of the target country, such as the growth ratesthe average purchasing power or the conditions of economic stability. This data is used to determine which markets offer the greatest potential for profitable expansion.

Finally, the consumer segmentation plays a crucial role in fine-tuning marketing campaigns. By collecting precise information on variables such as age, urban density or habits This makes it possible to target specific groups effectively.
For example, a young, connected urban population might respond favorably to mobile and social networking campaigns.

These combined analyses provide a clear, actionable view of market characteristics and expectations, forming a solid basis for deploying appropriate, high-performance actions.

A few points for further study:

• Analyze barriers to entryThese include specific regulations and taxes. For example, some products require special certification to enter the European or South Korean markets.
• Study the degree of competitiveness If the market is saturated with well-established local or international brands, your differentiation must be very clear.

Competitive analysis

Web competitive analysis is a powerful, practical tool for assessing the feasibility and potential of your export ambitions. By positioning you in relation to your competitors and identifying trends in your target market, this approach enables you to build a solid, relevant digital strategy.

Understanding your positioning: who are you?

Before diving into the analysis, it's crucial to clearly define the specifics of your business. This includes:

• Your expertise and added value What are your products, services, strengths and competitive advantages?
• Your background and history What actions have you already taken? What results have you achieved?
• Your clear objectives Do you want to increase sales, boost brand awareness or generate more leads?

At the same time, analyze the target market by integrating what you know about local consumers: their needs, purchasing behavior and preferred channels. A detailed understanding of these elements is essential to adapting your offer and your actions. We put our market analysis skills at your disposal to refine this data and adapt your offer with precision.

Establishing a list of priority queries: the key to digital success

To stand out on the web, start by listing the relevant keywords for your sector and target market. These keywords, chosen according to local habits and in the native language, should reflect what consumers are looking for ("customer-centric" logic).

Focus on the channels to be analyzed :

• Search engines (SERP pull logic) Identify keyword search volume using tools such as Semrush or Google Ads. This will help you measure real interest in your products or services. Use a VPN to simulate searches as your local audience would, to identify competition and understand the density of regional results.
• Marketplaces (Amazon, Alibaba, etc.) Marketplaces: These platforms are often the first point of contact for consumers in the purchasing phase. Treat search results on these marketplaces as you would a search engine to assess density and identify your competitors.
• Social networks (push logic) Evaluate the presence and habits of competitors on platforms such as LinkedIn, TikTok or YouTube. These networks enable precise targeting, particularly thanks to paid advertising.

Competition mapping: a strategic asset

After collecting your data, create a complete mapping of your competition on the web. This includes:

• Business positioning and SEO Which competitors are positioned on your priority keywords? Are they well referenced?
• Channel mapping What are the main channels (websites, marketplaces, social networks) used by your competitors?
• Best practices Identify the features, promotions or UX approaches that work for your competitors. For example, the use of guarantees or personalized offers to boost conversion.

Assessment: building a precise, usable view

Competitive analysis gives you an objective, quantified view of your market. By understanding where and how your competitors are positioned, you'll be able to :

• Identify opportunities to exploit.
• Estimate the investments needed to capture a significant market share.
• Minimize the risk of strategic errors by adjusting your priorities.

With this data, you can fine-tune your digital strategy and maximize your chances of success in international markets, while building a clear, actionable roadmap. Web competitive analysis is much more than just a step : it's the cornerstone of an effective, long-term export approach, and we're here to support you every step of the way..

2- Choosing the right channels: reaching your customers effectively

The choice of digital channels is a decisive step in the success of your export strategy. While prior analysis of target markets provides essential information to guide your decisions, the final choice will depend on your specific constraints: available budgets, human resources, strategic priorities and technical resources.
Here's an overview of the three main channels and their strengths and weaknesses.

Website and SEO: a long-term, sustainable investment

Creating or adapting a website dedicated to a specific market, optimized for search engine optimization (SEO), is a strategy that delivers lasting results.

Advantages :

• Total control over your brand You're in control of the image you want to convey and the user experience (UX).
• Targeted SEO optimization By tailoring your content and keywords to local conditions, you increase your chances of attracting qualified organic traffic.
• Direct collection of customer data You have access to crucial information for understanding your audience and fine-tuning your strategies.
• No platform commission : Unlike marketplaces, all profits are yours.
• Customization and integration : You can integrate adapted tools or services, such as local payment options or market-specific functionalities.
• Development of direct customer relations A well-designed website helps build customer loyalty through personalized interactions.

Disadvantages :

• High initial investment : Creating or adapting a site for a new market requires financial and human resources.
• Medium- to long-term results : Unlike advertising campaigns, a website doesn't bring immediate returns to an existing market.
• Full liability You manage technical operations, maintenance and safety yourself.

Marketplaces: rapid but limited visibility

Marketplaces such as Amazon, Alibaba or Rakuten are ideal for rapidly reaching a wide audience, thanks to their infrastructure and global reach.

Advantages :

• Existing and immediate audience : These platforms already attract millions of users, enabling you to gain visibility quickly.
• Consumer confidence : Customers tend to trust marketplaces for their guarantees and after-sales service.
• Simplified management : You benefit from a pre-established technical and logistical framework (payments, deliveries).
• Logistics infrastructure Marketplaces often offer services such as storage and delivery via their networks.

Disadvantages :

• High costs : Platform commissions can reduce your margins.
• Dependency : You are subject to the rules and policy changes of the marketplaces.
• Little control over your image The standardized aspect of product pages can limit personalization.
• Increased competition You share the platform with thousands of other sellers, including "private label" products from the marketplaces themselves.

Social networks: live engagement

Social networks, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok or InstagramThese play a crucial role in establishing an online presence and creating direct links with your customers.

Benefits :

• Direct involvement You interact directly with your audience and receive immediate feedback.
• Relatively low cost Social network advertising is often less expensive than other types of campaign.
• Sophisticated advertising targeting You can define precise audiences based on demographic, geographic or behavioral criteria.
• Viral effect A good campaign can quickly gain visibility through sharing and influence.
• Local adaptation : Advertising campaigns can be tailored to local market preferences.

Disadvantages :

• Lack of control over platforms : You are subject to the rules and algorithms of social networks.
• Competition for attention Content saturation makes it difficult to capture user interest.
• Measuring results : ROI from social networks can be more difficult to assess.
• Unsustainable performance : Campaigns need to be renewed regularly to maintain their effectiveness.
• Content management Creating and maintaining engaging content takes time and specific skills.

A multi-channel approach to maximize your export growth via the web

Ideally, these three channels must be used in a complementary mannerbecause they feed off each other:

• The website provides a solid foundation for strengthening your brand's presence over the long term.
• Marketplaces provide immediate visibility and allow you to quickly test a market.
• Social networks encourage direct engagement with your customers and drive traffic to your site or marketplace pages.

An in-depth analysis will enable you to identify the priority channels for your business and define the best way to exploit them. By making targeted investments, you can maximize your impact while controlling costs.

3- Facilitate conversions with high-performance marketing tools

Paid advertising (Ads)

Pay to appear quickly on SERP platforms: immediate, strategic visibility

Paid advertising on search engine results platforms (SERPs) offers a a fast solution for gaining visibility in targeted markets.
Unlike SEO, which requires continuous effort and time to produce results, advertising campaigns enable a company to appear immediately in the first search results, increasing its chances of being seen by consumers.

Each SERP (such as Google, Bing or other regional engines) has its own specific features that can be exploited according to your company's needs and the expectations of your target market.
Let's take two examples to illustrate this strategy:

Example 1: portable solar batteries
Suppose a manufacturer wants to promote its portable solar batteries in a given country. A preliminary analysis reveals that there is no significant search volume on local search engines for this type of product. However, active online communities on YouTube, focusing on themes such as survivalism or van life, are proving to be relevant targets. By exploiting these channels via ads on YouTube or Google Ads, the company can capture this niche audience, which corresponds to its potential customers.

Example 2: Duck meat in Scandinavia
A company exporting duck meat finds that online searches for this product are scarce in Scandinavia, making traditional Google Ads less effective. However, by turning to LinkedIn, it identifies purchasing managers in food distribution chains or at wholesalers. By targeting these decision-makers with personalized ads on LinkedIn, the company can directly reach professionals likely to place orders, maximizing its efforts.

These examples show that paid advertising is not limited to a single format or platform. Our webmarketing expertise enables us to tailor your advertising strategy to the search habits and preferences of local consumers or professionals.
By combining tools such as Google Ads for consumer campaigns and LinkedIn Ads for specific B2B targets, you can optimize your visibility and increase conversions, even in complex or niche markets.

Highlights :

• Real-time measurability (cost per click, conversion rate).
• Parameters can be adjusted during the campaign to optimize results.

Marketing Automation: a powerful lever for optimizing your digital campaigns

Marketing automation has become an indispensable pillar for companies seeking to streamline their marketing efforts while maximizing their impact. By automating repetitive tasks and personalizing interactions with prospects and customers, it saves time, improves campaign efficiency and delivers an optimized customer experience.

1. Lead generation and management
Thanks to marketing automation, lead generation is becoming more structured and proactive. Tools like ShopinMind enable you to capture prospects through a variety of contact points: web forms, email campaigns, social networks. Once leads have been captured, they are automatically classified according to their level of interest or behavior (e.g., frequent visits to a specific product), making them easier to manage.

Example An e-tailer can set up an automatic process whereby a prospect who visits a product page several times receives an incentive email containing a special offer or customer testimonials.

2. Campaign personalization
One of the great advantages of marketing automation is the ability to personalize each interaction according to the prospect's profile or actions. Thanks to fine segmentation based on collected data (purchase history, site navigation, preferences), messages sent by email, SMS or push notifications become more relevant and engaging.

Example ShopiMind: a tool like ShopiMind can send personalized campaigns for customer birthdays, product recommendations based on past purchases, or alerts on the restocking of consulted products.

3. On-site and push marketing
Marketing automation also extends to direct interactions on the company's website:

• Intelligent pop-ups Display special offers or targeted product recommendations based on visitor behavior.
• Push notifications Send reminders or alerts, such as a product left in the shopping cart.

These interactions boost user engagement, encouraging them to take action.

Example For example, a visitor to a fashion website may receive a notification offering an exclusive discount on an item.

4. Improving customer relations
Marketing automation also allows you to maintain lasting relationship with customers after their purchase. You can automate follow-up emails (order confirmations, feedback requests, additional recommendations) or loyalty campaigns (points programs, special offers for regular customers).

Example For example, a cosmetics site might send an email reminding a customer that a recently purchased product is about to expire and that it's time to renew it, accompanied by a promotional code.

Why adopt marketing automation?

Marketing automation is not just a tool for large companies. SMEs can also take advantage of it to :

• Maximize efficiency marketing teams.
• Delivering a better customer experience fluid and personalized.
• Optimizing budgets by targeting the right people at the right time.

Tools such as ShopinMind, HubSpot and Mailchimp enable you to implement these strategies, with features to suit every need. Adopting marketing automation means not only automating processes, but also transforming every interaction into an opportunity for conversion or loyalty. Our expertise guarantees efficient, cost-effective implementation, perfectly aligned with your web-based export growth objectives.

4- Monitoring and web analytics: measure, adjust and optimize your digital strategy

Monitoring your digital performance is an essential lever in ensuring the success of your export strategy. Thanks to monitoring tools and rigorous data analysis, you can identify what's working, correct underperforming actions and maximize your return on investment.
This process is based on two pillars use measurement tools and KPIs, and the development of effective dashboards.

Monitoring tools and KPIs: measuring for better adjustment

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are key indicators that enable you to evaluate the effectiveness of your digital actions in relation to your strategic objectives. They play a crucial role in the ongoing optimization of your campaigns.

Key KPIs to monitor in an export context :

• Conversion rates Measures the percentage of visitors who complete a target action, such as a purchase or registration.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA) Cost of sales: Indicates how much it costs to acquire a new customer or prospect.
• Return on investment (ROI) Calculates the ratio between profits generated and expenses incurred.
• Commitment rate Evaluate user interaction with your content (clicks, shares, comments).
• Bounce rate Measures the percentage of visitors leaving your site after viewing a single page.

These KPIs need to be segmented by target market to reflect local specificities. For example, user behavior in Europe may differ from that in Asia in terms of payment preferences or online purchasing habits.

Essential measuring tools :

• Google Analytics Track traffic, user behavior and conversions on your website.
• Google Ads & Meta Ads Manager To analyze the performance of paid advertising campaigns.
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) To track interactions with your prospects and customers throughout their buying journey.
• Integrated dashboards : Offered by tools such as HubSpot or Semrush, they centralize key data.

The process is based on a continuous loop: measurement > diagnostics > optimization. At every stage, the data collected must guide your strategic decisions.

Dashboards: a clear, shared view of performance

Dashboards are indispensable tools for compiling your data and visualizing your results in a synthetic and exploitable way. They make it easy to track performance across different channels and markets, while enabling effective collaboration between your teams.

Features of a high-performance dashboard :

• Accessibility and sharing The dashboard must be accessible to all stakeholders, from your marketing team to your partners and export managers.
• Omnichannel view Data integration: Data from different sources (website, advertising campaigns, social networks, marketplaces) must be integrated to provide a global view of your efforts.
• Real-time updates Dynamic dashboards enable you to react quickly to fluctuations in performance.

Example of an export dashboard :

• Segment 1: Website performance (traffic, conversion rate, most visited pages).
• Segment 2: Advertising campaign results (CPA, ROI, click-through rate).
• Segment 3: Marketplace analysis (sales by product, customer returns).
• Segment 4: Social network performance (engagement, new subscribers).

A well-designed dashboard helps to quickly identify areas for improvement. For example, if a campaign on a social network generates a lot of clicks but few conversions, further analysis may reveal a problem with the landing page or advertising message.

Why is piloting essential for export?

In an export context, each market has its own specificities, and consumer expectations can vary considerably. Monitoring tools and dashboards enable you to adapt your actions in real time to :

• Maximizing efficiency campaigns.
• Identifying markets offering the best return on investment.
• Optimize your budgets by prioritizing the best-performing channels and regions.

By combining rigorous data collection with clear, shared visualization, you can transform your digital actions into a high-performance machine, adapted to the realities of each market. Management then becomes a key competitive advantage for successful export growth via the web.

Soledis supports you in setting up and analyzing your dashboards.