School of Economic Sciences > Extension Economics > Step 4: Marketing

Step 4: Marketing

Now that a target country is identified, you must choose a method to distribute your product abroad. If you are not able to distribute it abroad directly (and most are not initially), then there are intermediaries available to assist you. The flavors of these intermediaries are export management companies, international distributors, and export agents.

Step 4.1: Direct or Indirect Marketing?

Once you have identified your target market, you next must decide how to market and distribute your product abroad. You can market your products directly, though the many new exporters choose to market their products indirectly.
Action: Factors to consider when deciding whether to export indirectly or directly include:

The resources you have available to devote for export
Whether you will devote employees to direct marketing
Your risk tolerance
The nature of your products (perishable or large, for example)

Step 4.2: Choose a Marketing Channel

There are four common approaches to exporting depending on first point of sale.

The product orders are from domestic customers who are resalers. Then domestic customers export products, and you may not know your products are exported!
The product orders are from domestic customers representing foreign buyers (or foreign buyers located in the United States). In this case, you may or may not be involved in the export process.
The products are exported indirectly via intermediaries. You are in charge of sales, but the intermediary assists in marketing and foreign distribution.
The products are directly exported to foreign customers. This means that you are involved in each step of exporting process, including foreign distribution and payment collections.

Action

Approaches to direct and indirect exporting (Exports.gov)
Distribution channels (Exports.gov)
Export directory of U.S. Agricultural Suppliers (Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA)
Export directory of Washington Commodity Suppliers (WSDA)
Agent distributor qualifications checklist (SBDC)
Sample introductory letter to potential overseas representatives (SBDC)
Sample foreign representation agreement (SBDC)
Sample foreign representation agreement (CITD)
Sample export sales representation agreement (CITD)

Step 4.3: Decision

You have assessed your situation in step 4.1 and seen samples of the different marketing channels in step 4.2. Now choose which method is right for you.

The financial and resource commitment ranges from low to high as you move from approach 1 to approach 4. The market control and feed back ranges from low to high as you move from approach 1 to approach 4.
The decision for marketing channel may differ depending on your target destination. For example, you might choose approach 4 if you have a reputable buyer or the market has strong legal protections. You might choose approach 3 for a market or buyer you are not as familiar.

Action: One conrete step you can do is develop a website localized for the foreign market. That is, have a website in the foreign language and using tagged with foreign keywords for international web searches. Be careful of using programs or machine to do translations as often the translation is literal, and therefore awkward to a foreign reader.

Disclaimer: This manual is a demonstration based on interviews of successful exporters. Each individual case is specific and optimal strategy may differ from those discussed here. References to sources and documents outside of WSU Extension and the IMPACT Center are for reader convenience. WSU does not review, control, or take responsibility for their content, nor does WSU or any person therein explicitly or implicitly endorse the positions or policies of these sources.

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