International PR Strategies to Grow Your Business Around the World

Public relations is a massive industry, and your business must invest in public relations at home and abroad. You are clear on what works in the American market, but you have customers all over the world who want to love your products and services. You must use varying strategies overseas to market your company, and this article explores options you may not have considered. Do not run your American overseas without a thought, and ensure that you have considered your international audience.

Do You Speak The Language?

You must work with a public relations firm that uses translators. The taglines and slogans we use in America will not translate perfectly to other languages, and you must work with a translator who can turn your slogan into something meaningful in another language. Things we say in America without a thought could be offensive in another culture, or the references may not make any sense.

Colloquial language must be removed from your ads, and colloquial language for each nation must be substituted. A translator who is a native speaker will help you create words that make sense to an international audience, and you will avoid a very uncomfortable scandal over your use of a foreign language. Everything is reprinted in the media, and one slip could cost your company dearly.

Do You Understand Local Customs?

Every nation has different customs that may interfere with your marketing campaign. You cannot ask a Christian nation to visit your company on a Sunday, and you cannot run ads in Israel asking locals to visit your business on a Saturday. Local customs may include small things like shaking hands, bowing and waving to passersby. You cannot do anything offensive in the name of your company, and a local translator will save you from a potentially embarrassing situation.

What Do International Audiences Love?

Your most popular food product in America may be a hated product overseas. The product that performed worst in America may be a hit overseas, and you must push the products that are most loved overseas. You cannot assume that people overseas will love the things we love in America, and you cannot assume that people overseas hate what we hate. Do your research before running a single ad.

Working With International Media

The American media is closely tied to public relations agencies all over the country, and working with the American media is relatively simple. Your PR firm can get in touch with any news agency in a split second, and you can get in front of negative news stories. Bad press overseas is much harder to deal with. You need a PR firm that will work with international news outlets to help control the news cycle. You may do well in America, but you could be crucified in Europe, Asia or Africa.

Doing Business Deals Face-To-Face

Your overseas business partners may have a perception of your business derived from the news, but you must work with people in person to get business done. A proper PR firm will provide you with translators who help you speak to your overseas partners properly. A good translator uses the language properly, and you may travel with a translator who will make every business meeting must easier for you.

Tracking The News Cycle

Public relations firms must track the news overseas for information on other companies. Your competitors are easy to see when on the news in America, but you may not idea what is happening overseas. Your public relations agency must know what is happening overseas, and you need to react to all overseas news as quickly. Your respond will determine your company’s position relative to international news, and can take an open opportunity to be heard among all the noise of the international press.

Press Releases In Foreign Languages

You cannot translate your press releases into other languages using a compute program. A PR professional must review your documents during translation, and a native speaker must read your press releases before they are released to the media. Your company’s reputation overseas depends on proper use of the language, and a badly written press release could end up on social media quickly.

Working with a public relations firm is a good idea for your business, but you must take your public relations game to the next level when working internationally. Every country around the world has its own language, culture and jargon.

You must speak to the people of each nation carefully, and your PR firm must review everything you do in a foreign land for proper use of the language. You could lose millions of dollars with a single misspoken word, but a public relations firm that understands international business will help you speak to everyone worldwide respectfully.