NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERNATIONAL MARKETING IN THE ERA OF DIGITALIZATION

НОВЫЕ ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОГО МАРКЕТИНГА В ЭПОХУ ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИИ

Кононенко Дарья Сергеевна

cтудент, Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, РФ, г. Санкт-Петербург

Воробьева Ирина Валентиновна

Научный руководитель, канд. экон. наук, доц., Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, РФ, г. Санкт-Петербург

Abstract. The article identifies the most significant advantages of digital transformation and their impact on the field of international marketing. Based on statistical data, the paper compares the volume of e-commerce in the five leading countries. The main attention is paid to the analysis of the impact of digitalization on international marketing mix and its strategies.

Аннотация. В статье рассмотрены наиболее значимые преимущества цифровой трансформации и их влияние на сферу международного маркетинга. На основе статистических данных в работе сравниваются объемы электронной торговли в пяти ведущих странах-лидерах. Основное внимание уделяется анализу влияния цифровизации на международный маркетинговый комплекс и его стратегии.

Keywords: marketing mix, international marketing, digital economy, e-commerce, marketing strategies.

Ключевые слова: комплекс маркетинга, международный маркетинг, цифровая экономика, электронная коммерция, маркетинговые стратегии.

Advances in information, communication and transport technologies, combined with the intensive use of the Internet and social networks on a global scale have led many firms to increasingly overcome the barriers they face when working outside national borders. New digital technologies have truly revolutionized the way firms conduct their business abroad, providing significant assistance in finding, targeting, servicing and communicating with customers in any part of the world.

The new digital era can benefit firms operating or wishing to operate in the international market by establishing and maintaining business relationships with customers in various foreign markets, regardless of economic, political, cultural or other differences. In addition, digitalization contributes to the collection of reliable and useful information about customers, competitors and environmental factors in different countries, thus helping make more informed international marketing decisions. Another advantage is faster and cheaper management of cross-border business operations, which increases firm’s competitive advantages and improves financial performance. It is also worth noting the simplification of international business, which can be carried out, for example, through electronic data transmission, electronic payments and online export assistance [3].

Firms can use digital technologies and tools as a means of circumventing various barriers that may be associated with analyzing foreign markets, identifying foreign opportunities, as well as interacting with foreign customers. This is due to the fact that, unlike the traditional method adopted in foreign market activities, the introduction of a digital approach to international business is less expensive and risky when working in foreign markets, while transactions with foreign clients are carried out more smoothly. The digital approach also helps to weaken the deterrent effect of various geographical and psychological constraints, which allows the company to work more competently in diverse, complex and remote markets [7].

It is worth noting that the interest in international marketing strategies in the digital era is primarily associated with the constant growth of e-commerce (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Five largest e-commerce markets in 2021, billion dollars

Source: [5]

China is the world’s biggest e-commerce market with volume of $2779.31 billion online sales in 2021. China is also one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets. The US e-commerce market size was $843.15 billion, which is less than a third of that of China’s. After China and the US, the country with the third largest e-commerce market size is the United Kingdom. Total e-commerce sales in the UK were $169.02 billion in 2021. Two other Asian countries wrap up the list of the five largest e-commerce markets: Japan brought in $144.08 billion in e-commerce sales, while South Korea accounted $120.56 billion. As it stands, three out of the five biggest e-commerce markets are in Asia. Coupled with the fact that the Asia Pacific region makes up 62.6 percent of the global e-commerce size, this is perhaps a reflection of the region’s e-commerce potential. This makes it an important market for e-commerce store owners to focus their efforts on.

Due to the growth of e-commerce in different countries and the increasing interest in promotion via the Internet, it is also necessary to identify the impact of digitalization on international marketing mix and its strategies. International marketing mix involves the usage of different marketing instruments to achieve positive financial results by company operating on international or global markets. These instruments include: product, price, distribution and promotion.

Talking about international product strategy, it should be mentioned that in the past, international firms had to make a specific choice between standardization of products and their adaptation. However, with the advent of digital technologies, firms can now be more flexible, simultaneously applying both strategies, while focusing on different segments of foreign markets. Today, many firms (for example, Nike, Marks & Spencer) also use mass customization strategies when selling in various foreign markets, thanks to which firms can combine the advantages of both standardization (for example, achieving economies of scale) and adaptation (for example, meeting certain customer needs), thus creating competitive advantages in the international market.

Digitalization can also help in the development of new products and services through online support of innovative developments provided by other firms or offers from foreign buyers from different countries [4]. The usage of the «crowdsourcing» method in social networks, which involves obtaining the collective knowledge of large groups of foreign clients in order to provide ideas about new products and improvements to existing ones, is increasingly gaining momentum among international marketers.

Digitalization can also contribute to strengthening the brand’s credibility in international markets, through attractive websites, interesting content on social networks and targeted viral positive messages of the company. All these digital strategies are used to increase customer awareness, brand reputation and image, as well as to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty in many countries [2].

As about international pricing strategy, in this case the Internet provides the company with a useful environment for tracking the retail prices of its competitors in different countries. At the same time, international competitors have the opportunity to track the company’s prices and how they are adjusted in each country. This fact implies the development of pricing strategies aimed at competing for a large share of the international market, taking into account the strategies, movements and reactions of competitors in the global market.

Using Internet technologies, the firm is also able to change its prices in international markets faster and at more frequent intervals [6]. Digitalization can also help a firm to identify and combat situations where resellers in international markets are trying to significantly differentiate their prices from those originally agreed, thereby contributing to achieving and maintaining greater standardization of prices both within and between countries.

Digitalization has also affected international distribution strategy. The transition to the D2C (Direct to Consumer) model in B2C markets (Business to Consumer) affects how international companies not only design, create and evaluate, but also distribute their products and services. D2C marketing eliminates the need for expensive distributors, however, in some industries (including highly regulated ones) distributors will still be needed as they help brands meet standards and provide quality assurance. At the same time, the D2C trend is becoming more widespread, including those areas of activity where no one expected it.

The strategy of international promotion has also undergone changes due to digitalization, since many leading local and international companies started to use various digital marketing tools to promote their products and services in social networks:

1. Content marketing. In 2022, high-quality content marketing is still working well. Almost all large companies have their own blogs, where they share useful and relevant information, showing expertise in the chosen niche. This causes an increase in user trust and increases brand awareness. Blog readers are potential customers. It is easier to warm up such an audience, because a person is more likely to buy goods from a company whose blog he regularly reads than from an unknown company. According to Demand Metric research, content marketing is 62% cheaper than traditional marketing, but at the same time generates 3 times more customers.

2. Microinfluencing (influence marketing). Up to and including 2020, classic influencing was in the trends, when firms tried to get advertising from popular bloggers with an audience of millions. However, despite the huge coverage of advertising records, the results were not always positive, since there was no exact hit to the target audience. From 2021, microinfluencing replaced the marketing of influence, when advertising is purchased from bloggers with a small audience within 10 000 – 100 000 subscribers. Channels of a narrow subject corresponding to the promoted product are selected. As a result, the conversion rate is higher with less coverage and financial costs.

3. Interactive content. Users’ interest in interactive content has been growing since 2016, when the first online quizzes and other similar projects began to appear on the network. Such content is attractive because users can actively interact with it, and not just read and watch. Types of interactive content are quizzes and quizzes, tests and online surveys, simple games, slide show, constructors.

4. Omniquality. The trend implies an increase in the number of points of contact with users. Today it is not enough to have only one channel to attract customers, it’s important to develop and support several directions at once, and to combine information from all channels into a single system. For example, a person buys an online school course after seeing an ad. It can be assumed that it was the advertising campaign that gave the result and brought the sale. However, earlier the client studied the company’s blog, was subscribed to the social network page, participated in free webinars. Only all actions together led to the result [1].

By implementing international marketing strategies based on digital technologies, firms can gain many advantages, including achieving economic efficiency, entering specific markets, spreading news through social networks, increasing brand credibility, as well as increasing sales and profits. Firms can also establish contacts with customers on a global scale, as well as attract new customers through continuous interaction aimed at achieving their marketing goals for each foreign country.

Thus, by combining digital and traditional approaches, the firm will be able to build positive, long-term and valuable relationships with customers around the world, thereby gaining competitive advantages.