By 2020 over £28 billion in UK online retail will come from international consumers, reveal paid search marketing agency, Net Media Planet.

This is the staggering figure predicted by recent research from OC&C Consultants and Google, says Marketing Manager, Carolyn Seaman

For UK businesses with strong brands and high export potential, expanding into new territories offers great potential for growth.  

However there are many obstacles - to the point where my Paid Search and Display marketing agency decided to publish our very own Whitepaper on the subject.

It explored the ways UK brands can maximise the international opportunity by using Search and Display advertising- a tool that has evolved way beyond a fleeting marketing agency trend and is now transforming the way brands work and interact.  

How does a paid search and display advertising agency work?

Through Paid Search and Display advertising agencies and client-side advertisers are able to drive incremental revenue whilst building their brand’s profile and gaining valuable business intelligence of a new target market. 

As a first crucial step, the brand, client-side advertiser or advertising agency must choose the right advertising platform and approach for their campaign objective, from the myriad of advertising options available. For example, brands need to understand which search engines dominate in their target markets and select the right one.

Once brands have established which platform and approach will work best for their target market, they must then focus on localising their marketing activity so that the consumer experience is relevant to the local audience.

Localisation- how marketing agencies do it

Localisation is not just about translating marketing messages into the local language. Localisation is about making your marketing campaigns relevant to a geographically, linguistically and culturally specific audience. This can only be achieved by understanding your local customer, your local competition and applying those insights into your campaigns.  

When advertisers to take the time to research their local market and develop the right approach to their advertising campaign, they place themselves in the best position to effectively build a brand abroad and drive more international sales as a result.  

There is clearly a real opportunity for brands to drive growth and profitability by looking to new international markets.

Given that 40% of all online UK sales in retail are anticipated to come from abroad by 2020, it is the brands that invest in this opportunity that will get ahead and stay ahead.