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Grow your business beyond borders

Feb 15, 2018

[[read-time]] min read

Jay Bowden

Industry Director

As more consumers come online around the world, there’s more opportunity than ever for marketers to reach potential customers beyond your borders. In fact, research shows that customers aren’t concerned about where a business is based as long as they’re happy with the product or service. For example, 96% of people didn't know that Booking.com is from the Netherlands, and of these, 90% said this wouldn't affect the likelihood of their buying from the company again.¹

To get started, check out our Official Guide to Expanding Internationally with AdWords. This four-step guide outlines best practices and free resources that can help advertisers find more customers in new countries.

There are many tools and resources for businesses looking to expand. For example, Market Finder is a powerful tool built with insights from Google Search to prioritize the best markets for your business based on search volumes in your category, ease of doing business, consumer purchasing power, and more. It’s available in the US, UK, and China, with more countries on the way in 2018. Another resource is Consumer Barometer, which helps advertisers learn about consumer preferences and trends. Did you know that clothing, books, cosmetics, and computer hardware/software are the products most often purchased online from abroad?² Last but not least, tap into the Go Global Community for the latest research on emerging market trends, conversations with international market specialists, and updates on new ads innovations. Companies from around the world have grown their businesses with these tools. For example:

Kabam is a leading provider of mobile games, including Marvel Contest of Champions with over 130M downloads. To expand its game into Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Kabam used insights from consumer gaming trends and video engagement from each market to localize its Search and YouTube campaigns. As a result, the game reached top 10 in download charts for its category on both iOS and Android in target APAC markets.

French DIY website ManoMano offers two million products from 750 sellers, including electrical, hardware, furniture and tools. The DIY market is highly seasonal and constantly changing -- customers love gardening and outdoor activities in warm seasons and indoor projects during the winter. ManoMano predicted these purchase patterns, understood consumer trends in each market, and engaged customers with timely, localized campaigns. As a result, its sales more than doubled in 2016, and ManoMano now has nearly 2 million customers across Europe, with localized websites in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK.

It’s more important than ever for businesses, large and small, to think beyond borders with our Guide to Expanding Internationally. It’s a small world, after all.

^{1. UK Google Consumer Surveys, 2014

2. The Consumer Barometer Survey 2014/15}

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