Digital marketing
Opening a first foreign market through digital marketing is cheaper than it has ever been — but there are plenty of pitfalls. Let us go through how to do it without losing everything.
In brief
- Choosing the first market decides everything.
- Localisation means more than translation.
- A realistic starting budget per market: €2,500–10,000/month of media.
- A local domain (ccTLD) or a subdomain — both have pros and cons.
- Attribution has to be adjusted for currencies and taxes.
The best channels
Meta and Google Ads
The fastest way to test demand in a new market before investing in SEO.
Localised SEO
Localised search terms and content, on a 6–12 month timescale.
Local partners
Distributors, affiliates or influencers who already have the audience.
Local customer service
Answering in the local language is often what decides the first sale.
Choosing the market: the critical decision
A language area or a cultural area? (The German-speaking region versus Germany alone, for instance.)
The state of competition in the target market.
Your product’s USP in the target market.
Logistics and taxes: easy or difficult?
Content localisation
Translation is not enough — the cultural context has to be taken into account.
Localise the search terms: “holiday cabin Finland” becomes “Ferienhaus Finnland”.
Images and colours can mean different things in different countries.
Change the people and audience imagery to local ones.
Technical SEO when going international
hreflang tags: they tell Google which page is in which language.
A local domain (.de, .se) or a subdomain (de.brand.com) — you have to decide.
Geo-targeting in Search Console for each market.
Frequently asked questions
How much money to open a new market?
€30,000–100,000 realistically in the first year.
How long does opening a new market take?
6–12 months to brand awareness, 12–24 months to profitability.
Use the existing site or a separate one?
Usually a separate one — it makes localisation possible.
Worth a look too
Read these related articles and service pages too:
External sources:
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