By: Emily John, Account Director
When expanding into international markets, PR can play an important role in helping brands to generate awareness within the new regions and stand out from competitors. However, creating a cohesive PR strategy that is localised for all markets can be a difficult task.
With each country comes a new audience that has different influences, trends and ways of consuming media, not to mention an entirely new list of target publications and journalists. While this might seem a daunting task at first, a few key considerations can make a big difference in the success of launching a global PR strategy.
Communicating in a new media landscape
To build positive relationships with relevant media contacts, brands must identify the key targets - whether influencers, publications or specific journalists - in the chosen markets. Once target media has been established in each region, companies should begin with introducing themselves. An introductory briefing can go a long way to establishing early media relationships and communicating key messages from the get-go.
Research is also crucial in helping understand the main forms of media consumption within the country - or countries - the brand is launching in. Whether print media still dominates over online, certain social media platforms outrank others, or if media buying reigns supreme, knowledge of the local media landscape will help to decide the main aspects of regional PR strategies.
Identifying, and making contact with, key media is one thing. But businesses can enhance their chances of success by developing a deeper understanding of what the journalists cover. Some publications might only cover news, or comment pieces, or both. Some will exclusively review products, whereas others might prefer to receive thought leadership from contributors. An understanding of the types of content publications want to receive, and more importantly, the topics they want to cover, will allow organisations to prioritise different types of content across various markets.
Understanding your audiences
Each audience will be different in a new market, and so the way in which brands communicate with them will have to be tailored. Once a company has defined its segments around the world, they must then research their audience’s behaviour and purchasing motivations. This will create the foundation for the content and messages they convey in their PR activity.
It’s crucial to identify the main trends in the target regions as they will probably be different to their current market. Think of it as identifying a problem, and communicating a solution to the problem for the audience.
Brands also need to have an understanding of the cultural sensitivities across various regions. The last thing they want to happen when launching in a new market is for their message to be interpreted in a negative way due to differences in culture.
Adapting your content
With approximately 6,500 languages spoken around the world, a global PR campaign needs to take into account the dominant languages within the focus markets.
Just like the saying ‘it’s 5pm somewhere’, it’s also 5am somewhere else. Businesses need to acknowledge the time differences when pitching content around the world, especially if they plan to follow up on the phone. To reach journalists at suitable times, and avoid waking them up at unreasonable hours, be mindful of the time differences.
Finally, keep a calendar of all the key dates for the regions that the business is targeting. This will help brands avoid instances such as planning a big product launch when it’s Thanksgiving in the US, as the news simply won’t be covered.
Our team successfully runs PR campaigns all around the world and we’re skilled at combining the elements explored in this blog to create a global PR campaign that helps our clients achieve their long-term goals.
To find out more about our campaigns, please get in touch.