Rob Sanchez is CEO of Anteriad, a leading provider of B2B marketing solutions. Data-Driven. Tech-Enabled. Growth-Obsessed.
Many companies are setting their sights on international expansion as a way to grow their business now that AI is raising the bar on how data and technology drives the global economy. Industries including technology, retail, manufacturing, fintech and life sciences are poised for global expansion.
There are several factors that create a favorable environment for international expansion. A lot of people work remotely, making it more feasible to include remote teams in other countries. Many buyers now research and buy online both B2B and B2C products and services, making it easier to reach and interact with them. And the rise of data, AI and technology enables scale, precision and efficiency that promises to lower the cost of doing business anywhere a company operates.
However, international expansion can only succeed when the business delivers relevant value at the regional and local level as well as at the global level. This means speaking the language, understanding the culture and operating within the market effectively. While some companies will “go big” on international expansion with on-the-ground investments in teams and infrastructure, even highly targeted international expansion efforts, consisting of a few local salespeople with remote marketing support, need to have the right elements in place.
Combining Data And AI With Human Expertise
The data and AI revolution gives companies unprecedented insight and leverage that helps with international expansion. Companies can collect information about customer behavior from around the world and analyze it at the home office in real time. They can launch marketing campaigns digitally, dynamically changing content for different languages and cultures. And they can measure success and optimize strategies across channels with AI.
These innovations make the global market much more approachable in theory. However, they are most valuable when combined with human expertise. Consider a B2B technology company that simply translates their sales and marketing material into another language and launches a campaign in a new country without understanding the market. Data and AI can deliver efficiency, but expertise is needed to understand:
• Customer use cases, maturity and budget.
• Competitive market and other offerings available.
• Regulatory landscape and local requirements.
• Cultural nuances and norms for doing business.
Creating A Flywheel Of Improvement
Each element—data, AI and human expertise—provides significantly more relevance for an international expansion strategy when it is designed to work together, learning and improving over time. These three pieces each have a distinct but connected role to play:
Data
Having access to relevant data ensures that the business has context and scale to operate in that region—including buyer and market data.
AI
AI technology helps to automate, scale and analyze business efforts. It can dramatically improve the efficiency of operations that used to require a lot of manual labor, making it easier to enter new markets.
Expertise
In addition to local language experts, business leaders need to rely on professionals who know the region, regulations and customers. This combination can be used to create a “flywheel,” where small tests provide learning and feedback that the company can use to adjust and improve.
For example, if the same B2B technology company I discussed above hires a local sales and marketing consultant, uses regional data to find the right audience and taps into an AI platform to develop a new version of a recent sales campaign, they are hardly finished with their work. This is just the beginning of their learning journey in the new market. AI can then be used, along with expert analysts, to determine what elements of that initial outreach worked, and what needs to be adjusted.
For US businesses entering areas that have many languages, regulations and distinct cultures such as Europe or APAC, this flywheel can deliver short and long-term returns. By starting in one country or region and learning, businesses can master and repeat their strategy, potentially unlocking global opportunities.
To succeed, companies should harness the latest innovations in data and AI technology but must combine it with a strategy founded in localized human expertise and business best practices.
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