The world as we know it seems to be getting smaller, more connected and more international by the minute. We have never been as interlinked through Social Media, doing business internationally and  ordering products from exotic foreign countries has never been easier than it is now. In fact, in the Western world, it sometimes seems we are more defined by our consumer choices than by national borders.

But the appearance is deceiving: While it is true that the world we live in is a highly globalized one; that we are united by the fact that Google, Facebook and Youtube rank as top 3 websites in the large majority of countries and that international (online) shopping has never been easier, this does not in any way mean that cultural differences have disappeared.

In order to be successful across national borders, entrepreneurs needs to take local preferences into account, adapt to specific customs and take their international strategy a little bit further than simply  translating the website – there are many things to consider when taking a campaign abroad.

Even in countries that seem quite similar on the surface, such as the Netherlands and Belgium or Germany and Austria for example, there are small cultural differences that can make a large difference in running a successful marketing campaign. From an outsiders perspective, language culture and consumer behaviour might not differ much, but locals will highly appreciated if one takes their distinct features seriously and such appreciation will be reflected in purchases or online traffic.

It is definitely not uncommon to make mistakes when going abroad, prestigious global companies such as IKEA or Walmart have also been there: For example, when the Swedish

furniture retailer entered the American market, they did not take the different dimensions into account, that American consumers were apparently used to: regular water glasses did not sell at all, while the sales numbers for vases rose unforeseeably – it turned out, American customers were used to much larger sizes for glasses – and simply assumed that what the Swedes had labeled as vases had to be the proper glasses to drink beverages from. Walmart had big problems trying to enforce their “American Spirit“ on local employees when setting foot on the German market had to defeat after an enormous failure. There are various other examples to illustrate the difficulty even major cooperations face when entering new territory. But instead of gloating over other people’s failures, one should always try to learn from their mistakes in order to enter the foreign market fully prepared and ready. Keeping an open mind about cultural differences and an eye open for small details is the first step for taking global strategies to a local market.