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Marketing Potential In Global Markets
By Brian Turner
Expert Author
Article Date: 2007-10-16
Sandra Niehaus visits WebbyConnect 2007 and provides a seriously in-depth coverage - but something that really struck out was the presentation by Vint Cert on internet use and presentation as measured across the globe:
Live from WebbyConnect 2007 - part 3 * Approximately 3.6 billion telephone terminal, including 2.5 billion mobiles
* Asia has 436.8 million internet users, but only 11.8% penetration rate.
* Europe has 321.0 million internet users, at 39.8% penetration.
* North America has 232.7 million internet users, but has a high 69.5% penetration.
* Latin/Central America has 110.0 million internet users at 19.8% penetration
* Middle East has 19.5 million internet users at 10.1% penetration What this shows is a very interesting snapshot of market potential - with the US showing itself to be a reasonably saturated and therefore competitive market, but with the Middle East and Asia showing greatest potential.
Luckily, Europe still also shows a lot of potential, though like Asia a big complicating factor is the multi-linguistic nature of these markets.
This means that, where possible, multi-linguistic approaches to sales and marketing offers greatest potential growth potential.
Additionally, the ability to tap into Asia offers a particularly strong audience potential, not least because with India and China along taking up one-third of the world's population.
However, an important pointer to emergent markets not easily factored in by these figures is actual audience potential, as defined by economic factors.
While there may well be over a billion people in China, the actual number of consumers that are targetable remains far less than this - somewhere in the region of 250 million. China's rampant rural poverty class means that as a marketplace it's important as ever to remember audience targeting.
Even still, like Europe, it does suggest that the internet penetration rate could as much as double over the next decade, opening up far larger consumer bases.
The question for expanding and emergent companies is how to not simply target the growing potential audience numbers, but also properly cross language and cultural divides. There are likely keen differences between selling to a consumer in India, and one in China.
While consumer needs and marketing philosophies may hold well across cultural differences, as the HSBC latched onto with their more recent "local bank" campaign, the ability to understand local cultural demands can offer a potential competitive advantage.
Overall, the picture Vint Cerf projected is one of overall growth - believe it or not, we are still in the formative days of the internet. While an increase in internet penetration in any particular geographic market also means you should expect a correlation with competition, it does still mean that niche markets in emergent countries likely remain wide open, and the ability to invest in generic targeting remains strong.
In the meantime, it remains as important as ever to keep keenly in mind your target market online, not matter which vertical you aim for a presence in.
However, what remains clear is that those who can plan to cover emergent markets intelligently, can still dare to win.
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About the Author:
I'm a SEO & business consultant in the UK, specialising in SME's and start-ups.
I run Platinax Internet as a free resource for small business trying to get the best out of being online and offer internet management services from my main company, Britecorp.
In my spare time I'm an aspiring science fiction and fantasy writer, and currently live with my family in the Highlands of Scotland.
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