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International markets are widely considered a brand's next biggest growth opportunity. However, for most merchants, the path to capitalizing on it is less certain.
And while Shopify provides a powerful toolkit in Shopify Markets, allowing brands to create localized shopping experiences from a single admin, it's still up to you, the merchant, to build a customer base and create awareness in new regions.
Marketing plays a crucial role in helping brands gain visibility and attract customers from around the world. Below are practical strategies and insights that can help you succeed in expanding your brand's reach globally.
Create region-specific campaigns: To optimize advertising in new regions, we recommend splitting your campaigns and localizing both their copy and imagery. If you use dynamic retargeting in Facebook, Google, or Pinterest, localize information like language, pricing and stock availability to the buyer’s regional preferences.
There are many options when it comes to displaying the local currency and language with your social advertising and retargeting. Here are a few recommendations that work well with Shopify Markets:
Check these guides to learn more about advertising on social media platforms:
Make sure to review the advertising policies on your chosen ad platform based on industry and region.
Find and partner with regional influencers: Regional influencers can help you drive traffic, convert new buyers, and sell your products in the new regions you’re expanding to. Connecting with the right influencers is easily done with Shopify Collabs, Shopify’s influencer marketing tool built right into your admin. Install Collabs in the app store, set up your brand profile, and get started recruiting creators by clicking on Recruit.
There you’ll find a huge database of influencers you can search and filter by location, keywords, social platform, audience size, and more. Sending samples, incentivizing with affiliate commissions, tracking performance, and paying commission can all be done right from Shopify, and Collabs is also free to install with your Shopify plan.
Create first-purchase promotions for international customers: Check your current customer list to see if you have any customers who live in your new countries already (i.e., signed up to be on your email list, but haven’t made a purchase because you didn’t sell there at the time.) Save that segment, set up an exclusive discount that can only be used by that segment, and then send a Shopify Email to that segment promoting the discount and your new availability there.
Add or update an instant answer in Shopify Inbox: Let international customers know your new shipping availability in the new countries by updating the automatic answers customers can find in your Shopify Inbox online store chat.
Add Shopify Forms to your store to build your email list: When you’re promoting your store in a new market, you’re spending time and money getting people to your store, and it’s important to make the most of every visit you get. Shopify Forms is a free lead capture tool that lets you easily promote discounts or other benefits of being on your list, so even if someone isn’t ready to buy, you can email them and build a relationship.
You can download the Shopify Forms app here.
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Remember, expanding your business globally is a journey—one that can be accelerated with the right combination of steps.
Learn more about Shopify Markets