International business expansion involves taking your business’s sales, operations, and products outside of domestic markets and increasing its presence in a foreign country or region.
Tapping into global markets offers new business opportunities, secures a bigger customer base, keeps your business competitive, and helps create new revenue streams and growth opportunities.
Global expansion offers much to be won. But nothing worth having tends to come easily…
New regions often come with complications — legal, financial, and cultural, to name a few.
We asked Jonathon Ilett, VP of Global Sales at Cognism and Liam Bartholomew, Cognism’s VP of Marketing about the strategy that helped Cognism, a UK-based company, successfully expand into international markets in Europe.
Expanding into international markets often means dealing with a variety of different languages (24 official languages in Europe to be exact), distinctive cultures and slightly different ways of operating.
It’s much easier to say, ‘let’s expand into international markets’ than it is to actually do in practice, because you can’t blanket the same business strategies and messaging across each of these countries. They’re too different.
Your international business expansion strategy can’t be a copy-and-paste of your current GTM strategy. Just because this worked in one territory doesn’t mean it’ll work in another.
We’ve all heard the McDonald’s example, where they initially struggled to break into the Indian market due to a lack of cultural understanding. American fast food culture wasn’t instantly appealing in this new location.
Another example is the Chevy Nova - a very popular car in the States. So Chevrolet decided to bring the car to a Spanish-speaking audience.
What they hadn’t considered, however, was how the car’s name translated into Spanish…
No = No
Va = Go
It’s unsurprising that this car wasn’t hugely popular in Spain!
Now, you might think that’s a silly reason for a car to fail in a foreign market - and who knows if that’s really the reason the car didn’t perform well.
But the main point here is that many cultural nuances can impact the success of your international business expansion strategy, depending on native perception.
You can’t make assumptions about what will or won’t work for your business in a new environment.
Regional GTM strategies require special thought due to:
International expansion presents a great growth opportunity for your business. But how do you know if you're ready to move into new global markets?
Here are a few signs to consider:
Liam Bartholomew, Cognism’s VP of Marketing, said:
“The main thing to look for is demand. Before we internationally expanded into new regions in Europe, we’d be noticing a percentage of our opportunities and inbounds were coming from this place.”
“It was slightly different when we first expanded into France. We purchased Kaspr, which was an already established business in France. So we knew that they had demand there already.”
“And when we decided to move into DACH, one of the main motivators was a lack of competitors in the market.”
“But as soon as there’s a sign that there’s demand, that’s a big reason to look into moving.”
Liam suggested a way to test out a new market before making the jump:
“We sometimes run ‘R&D spend’ - as we call it - in different countries and when they hit certain benchmarks, i.e. x number of opportunities from a country based on the small amount of spend then that’d trigger a threshold for expansion.”
When creating a strategic expansion plan, you need to take several factors into account:
That’s where on-the-ground research in new regions comes in.
It’s easy to say you’re going to move into a new region - but where? And once you’ve got a new country in mind, how do you confirm it’s the right choice for your business and international expansion strategy?
At this stage, thorough market research is your best bet. That way, you can conduct a thorough market analysis and risk assessment.
Liam said:
“There’s loads of research that should be carried out before you make the leap into global business expansion.”
Here are some important areas you need to deep dive into:
Is there a genuine opportunity in this region that can drive sustainable growth? Can you be successful by putting resources here?
Do the people in this new region operate in the same way as your ICP at home? Do they have the same pain points? Would they use your product for the same use case?
At Cognism when expanding into Europe, this was key. Liam explained with this example:
“In DACH, you need double opt-in consent to email someone. Therefore, the email data available in the Cognism platform isn’t compliant for them to email to.”
“Pushing how Cognism has email data in DACH wouldn’t make any sense. So it makes more sense to focus on phones, mobile data and enrichment.”
Another example:
You could use the Cognism product for a demand gen approach by creating lists of contacts for targeting your ICP with relevant content.
However, if marketers in Germany or France are still more focused on lead gen, then messaging about demand gen wouldn’t make much sense there.
ICP interviews in your new region are imperative for building your international business expansion strategies. There’s no space for assumptions.
How would your product fit into their working lives, and does that match how you currently market your product?
Is there a way to market your product so that it does appeal to their particular circumstances?
Liam gave us some questions you should ask your ICP during these exploratory interviews:
He added:
“You need to build your ICP in this region from scratch.”
If the results from your interviews indicate demand for your products or services in this new region, and there’s a gap in the market that your company can fill, it’s a positive signal for international business expansion.
Arguably, one of the most important things you need when expanding internationally is local knowledge and industry-specific talent.
If the McDonald’s and Chevrolet examples have taught us anything, it’s that it pays to understand the local culture and language.
Jonathon Ilett, VP Global Sales at Cognism, said:
“Your base should be around the available talent pool. Where are the hubs for talent in those regions, and are they accessible? That’s the key one for me.”
And we don’t just mean local tour guides or translators who know the area.
We mean local experts in your niche. You need someone who understands your target market, their problems and needs. Who can advise you on whether or not your messaging will resonate well in the region?
If we hadn’t had this local expertise early on in our expansion into Germany, for example, it would have taken us a lot longer to realize that the German B2B buyer journey was a few years behind the UK in terms of development.
That meant when we expanded into Europe, we could adapt our business strategy to reflect this from the beginning, saving us a lot of time, resources, and stress!
So the first thing on your list when it comes to international business expansion should be talent acquisition and asking yourself ‘can we get the right people on the ground to get our GTM motion off to a solid start in this region?’.
Jonathon said:
“Focus on the skills they have rather than the title; people who do similar jobs and have similar responsibilities might be called something different to what you’ve heard them called.”
In other words, job titles might not match up to titles you’re used to. For example, CROs are super common in the States, but are only just starting to pop up in Europe.
Jonathon added:
“A top tip for hiring in Germany: almost all first-time hires in entry-level positions are all still doing their degree. So if you’re hiring SDRs in a new region, it’s good to partner with universities to get the talent.”
What this boils down to is doing your research and being prepared before you start your international business expansion. You want to understand the region you’re moving into as much as the one you’re moving from.
As we discussed above, your business is looking to find a gap in the market and provide a competitive edge. Hopefully, that means there’s not a lot of competition - but in an increasingly competitive world, having no competition is becoming increasingly rare.
Liam said:
“You should look to pin down the other competition in the market. What are they charging? What do they offer? Who are they targeting? How could you position yourself in the market next to them to stand out?”
Here are some steps you can take to understand the current players in the global market:
Begin by identifying your direct and indirect competitors in the international market. Look for companies offering similar products or services within your industry.
Create a list of ones you’re going to keep an eye on. And continue to keep your eyes peeled for future market entrants.
Analyze the global market conditions and dynamics in the countries you want to expand into.
Consider factors such as market size, growth trends, and any specific challenges or opportunities unique to the region.
Break down the market into customer segments and identify your target audience within each segment.
Take the time to deeply understand the preferences and needs of these segments. Then you can tailor your international marketing strategies effectively.
Evaluate how your products or services differ from your competitors. This is an integral part of your international business expansion strategy.
Identify unique selling propositions (USPs) that can give your business a competitive advantage.
How can you make yourself different from others in the market? In other words, why would customers choose you?
What prices are your competitors charging? Do they have similar products for a similar price point? How does your pricing compare, does it align with the market norm?
Study the marketing and branding strategies your competitors use so that you can craft your branding and marketing messages to local preferences.
Examine their online and offline presence, messaging, and positioning. What are the strengths and weaknesses in their marketing approaches?
Also, study successful marketing in this country in general. What are the common themes of things that work? This will inform your international strategy.
This is a super-important bit to get right when you’re considering international expansion.
Liam said:
“Like I mentioned earlier about how our email data isn’t compliant in DACH due to their strict double opt-in rules - there might be ways in which you’re operating in other jurisdictions that you can’t do in this new region.”
“You need to make sure that you comply with all the local regulations before you start selling.”
Each country applies these regulations slightly differently, and we had to consider these legal practices when expanding into Europe.
These include:
The GDPR is very important to understand as it can land you in serious hot water if you don’t comply.
While GDPR laws apply to all EU countries, how the GDPR is interpreted across those countries can vary, emphasizing the need for local legal knowledge.
This is especially important for those organizations hoping to build local sales and marketing teams in new regions, as you may not be able to operate in the same way as you do in your HQ country.
Arguably the most important compliance consideration, however, is where your data is hosted.
If you’re operating in Germany, for instance, you’ll need to guarantee that your German business data never leaves the country.
Employment law can also be complicated and is far more likely to vary from country to country. This was something Cognism had to consider when expanding into Europe.
Liam advised:
“You should get professional advice before you hire in a new place. Some countries have much stricter rules on what you’re allowed to do regarding hiring and firing.”
For example, in the Netherlands, ending a permanent employment contract unilaterally is not allowed.
As a result, the majority of employment agreements in the country are typically agreed as fixed-term contracts rather than indefinite ones.
And in the UK, notice periods for terminating employment are generally shorter than in other European countries. It’s common for employers and employees to provide one to three months’ notice.
Whereas in Germany, notice periods can be longer, with a standard notice period of four weeks, but this can extend based on an employee’s length of service, reaching up to seven months for long-term employees.
Another thing to take into account is that in some countries, like Germany, employees can set up workers’ councils.
Jon explained:
“Employees can set up workers councils if there’s enough people in the region and you have a German entity (five or more fully employed staff).”
Essentially, a workers’ council is elected members of staff who have a say in influencing workers’ rights and compensations. Such as increasing wages, workplace conditions and more.
Employers are legally bound to give these workers’ councils information, and they have a right to negotiate new terms.
This is a biggy, which if got wrong can lead to financial penalties and other punishments that we’d all rather avoid!
Each European country will have its own rules and regulations for businesses operating within them, leading to different tax rates.
Portugal, for example, had the highest combined corporate income tax rate in 2023, reaching 31.5%.
Whereas Hungary had the lowest combined corporate income tax rate, reaching just 9% in 2023.
Liam said:
“Even if you’re selling remotely into a region, you might be liable to pay VAT or sales tax.”
Engaging with legal professionals who are familiar with the specific jurisdictions you’re entering is essential to ensure a smooth and legally compliant expansion into Europe.
Culture can be so nuanced and isn’t necessarily written down in a textbook for someone to learn. So, arguably, this is even more complicated than the previous points when it comes to international business expansion.
Understanding cultural norms is important if you want to avoid accidentally alienating people in a new region and business environment, whether they are those you wish to employ or those you hope to sell to.
For example, at Cognism when expanding into Europe we found that when it came to outbound sales - communication styles in Germany and Switzerland often lean towards being more direct and to the point.
However, in France and Spain, a more indirect and nuanced approach is more common. And British audiences generally appreciate a process that builds on relationships.
Realistically, this is something that takes time to learn - however, you can speed up this process by bridging the gap with native speakers.
Jonathon said:
“Whenever we have expanded into a new country, we have always had a leader on the ground who has experience selling into that region. Rather than trying to cookie cut what we have working in the UK or US.”
“In other countries, people have different workflows and different ways of communicating. And the whole buying process is just different. So you need that local expertise.”
When it comes to becoming an attractive place to work, it can help to understand where you stand within the cultures in the workplace.
For example, most businesses in Spain will shut down for the whole of August, and employees are expected to take the bulk of their holiday dates within this month.
So, a company offering more flexibility with holidays has an advantage in attracting talent.
There are so many cultural considerations to consider when it comes to international business expansion - and each will vary from country to country. So we can’t cover all of them here.
Our best advice is to have people on the ground from the beginning who understand the landscape, language and culture so that they can help you learn fast.
At Cognism, we made the switch from lead gen to demand gen a few years ago, which means:
We have no gated assets on our website generating leads for sales.
Instead we deliver all our content up front, friction-free.
We prioritize providing our audience with value, maintaining regular contact through our ‘value loops’ until they’re ready to buy and come in-bound to us (e.g. request to speak to sales/a product demo)
We want to operate like a media company. Distributing content around what we want to be known for on multiple channels where our audience hangs out.
This delivers value-led or entertaining resources and content that educates and builds brand affinity with our ICP and target market, ultimately, helping us generate demand for our brand and product.
That means, when it comes to expanding into new regions, the most crucial aspect of localizing your international business expansion strategy is this:
It’s about more than just translating your content into another language.
Liam said:
“Translating content will only get you so far. It’s about creating regional-specific content. Content that’s written specifically for the needs, pain points and circumstances in that place in the language that they speak.”
In other words, you’re not just publishing the same things that you did back home. There’s no guarantee that what worked there will work in your new target market.
You want to establish an international presence. We have created regional-specific content and marketing materials focused on needs, pain points, customer preferences and circumstances in the regions we are targeting in the languages that they speak.
That means, you need to refer back to your research before the move. What did you find out about your ICP in this country?
Then, create dedicated content and marketing strategies to reach those customer bases.
Yes, it’s more work - but you’re far more likely to succeed when you make an effort to speak directly to the people you want to target.
In that same vein, you equally can’t just assume that the channels you used before will be the right channels in this new country.
Liam said:
“Different countries will have different variations of channels. For example, in DACH, there’s Xing, which is a competitor to LinkedIn.”
“Some countries use different search engines. Google isn’t as dominant as it is in the UK.”
“Again, speak to customers. Find out where they get their information and content. Where do they spend their time inside and outside of work?”
So you’ve decided which country to expand into, and you’re ready to put out some digital feelers to see if it’s a viable plan.
Here are some steps that Cognism’s Senior Demand Gen Manager, Jamie Skeels, suggests for dipping your toe in the water and developing your market entry strategy based on what we did when expanding into Europe.
Set up Google Ads campaigns targeting high-intent keywords (competitor terms and keywords with clear buying intent for your product).
Jamie says:
“Google Ads is a bottom-of-funnel, demand capture channel. By targeting these keywords, you’ll reach a problem-aware or solution-aware audience, likely with buying intent.”
You can use these Google Ads to:
If you have a large enough retargeting pool for this region, you can start serving them tailored retargeting ads on LinkedIn.
Jamie says:
“You can retarget in different ways. Common audiences include previous website visitors, previous engagements with other ads or video views.”
This is another ‘safer’ way to test the waters via paid ads with a warmer problem or solution-aware audience.
This will help you to validate if there is pre-existing demand to be captured.
It will also help validate that there are multiple online channels where you can easily reach buyers in this new region.
If your Google Ads and retargeting campaigns are performing well, we’d recommend then building out some cold audience campaigns.
The goal is to build your retargeting pool and grow your awareness with a wider audience in the region.
We have dedicated teams for DACH and France who produce regional specific content and campaigns to specifically target prospects in these countries.
Start creating thought leadership content based on the accounts you are engaging with and your ICP.
Our content strategy in France was as follows:
We also:
The DG team in France used its media machine to build awareness and accelerate deals.
For example, Le Ring is a sales-focused podcast aimed at France, using French subject matter experts and influencers.
The DG team invited the Head of Partnerships from a target account onto their podcast and organized a content collaboration project.
In addition, they partnered with other well-known companies in the region to host a joint live event and invited the Head of Sales from this target account to join.
Involving and engaging with these key stakeholders in this way helped close a new six-figure deal.
How do you know if you’re on the right track with your international business expansion strategy and achieving your business goals?
Senior leadership and other stakeholders will undoubtedly be keen to see this venture succeed… So how can you measure performance and report back?
Liam said:
“The hardest part is setting yourself benchmarks to begin with - but you just have to estimate what success for you might look like at each stage of your business expansion.”
“Look at the market’s maturity, how many competitors are there, whether or not people are solution-aware and problem-aware.”
“From that - if you have one to compare to - compare it to a market you’re already in. And work out your best guesses on your cost per SQO and cost per lead. Then what your targets should be.”
Essentially, what pipeline and revenue targets are realistic based on all the related factors?
Liam added:
“Then it’s pretty similar to your measurements back home. Looking through the funnel and at your key performance indicators. How many inbound demo requests are you getting? How many meetings are booked and attended? And then also looking at your engagement metrics.”
Another vital thing to measure when trying to establish a brand internationally is brand awareness, recognition and what that brand is associated with.
Drew Leahy, Head of Product Marketing at HockeyStack, said:
“If you have, say, five associations you want people to hold with your brand, and you want to find out how you measure up to them right now. Go out and find a baseline.”
Ask your customer base and your prospective buyers questions about:
Here are some of the results we've seen here at Cognism when expanding into Europe:
When expanding your business internationally, understanding the fundamentals of your outbound engine is vital.
For Cognism, when landing and prospecting into EMEA, this meant an in-depth look at:
As a hypothesis, let’s say you’ve got an SDR team of 20 that is going to prospect into EMEA. Your target list consists of 50,000 accounts.
With the right outbound infrastructure, where you focus those 20 SDRs, there will be a difference in revenue between $100k and $10 million.
It’s fair to say there’s going to be a lot of testing and experimenting along the way.
That’s why it’s vital to document everything—make a note of what works and what doesn’t at each step of the process.
Let’s take a look at the key areas to start with:
What does your ICP look like in your new region? Who are your target customers and who is going to be the ideal users of your product?
The answer to these questions isn’t particularly groundbreaking - you just need to ensure your sales team are having as many conversations as possible.
It was a fundamental part of our journey. Back in 2018:
Now, we have an ABM model because we know exactly who our ICP is. Because of this, we can use hard data such as ACV, retention rates, and sales cycle data to determine the accounts to target.
Effective product messaging for a go-to-market sales strategy boils down to this:
Communicating the value of your product or service to your ICP in a way that resonates with their pain points.
Start by listening to Gong recordings of sales demos with prospects or shadowing sales reps live.
Pay attention to the language they use about their pain points and ambitions.
In Gong, you can also search for specific competitor names and review how prospects perceive them.
You can support this by taking words and phrases from case studies/G2 reviews and building your messaging around them.
Next, you must understand your competitors’ messaging on their sites and review how they position their product offerings.
With this info, you can define your USP and how it compares to the competition.
Once you have this, you need to develop a brief for executives, including the key takeaways about your competitors’ positioning compared to yours.
Here, you must lay out which personas you’ll speak to and how to address them.
Finally, to set your messaging in stone, you need to organize a call with key company executives and come to an agreement.
As we’ve already outlined, every country is going to have slightly different compliance laws.
This was one of the main things Cognism had to consider when prospecting in EMEA.
For example, the United Kingdom has Do Not Call Lists: a registry that gives individuals a choice on whether they’d like to receive telemarketing calls/cold calls.
As well as this, the General Data Protection Regulation came into effect across the whole of the EU and the EEA in May 2018.
This is a privacy law that aims to give citizens more control over their personal data, and does so by providing some robust data protection measures.
The GDPR sets out ways companies must process and protect the data they hold about their clients and potential customers.
Let’s take cold calling as an example - GDPR does govern how personal data, such as phone numbers, can be used to make cold calls.
Under Article 6 of the GDPR, there are six laws that allow sales and marketing teams to use personal data:
Remaining GDPR-compliant data is a must for sales teams.
When expanding into Europe, Cognism created a prospecting cadence that reflects the behaviors of modern day B2B buying - prospects use more than one form of communication.
This cadence was as follows:
Day 1: LinkedIn Connection Message; Call; Personalized Email
Day 3: Phone
Day 6: LinkedIn Voice note
Day 8: Phone
Day 10: LinkedIn Research (e.g. like/comment on an article)
Day 12: Personalized Email with Vidyard
Day 16: Phone; WhatsApp/Text
Day 30: Breakup Email
Your cadence might emphasize one channel more than the other, but just remember to meet your buyers where they are in each specific region.
You’ll also notice that the phone is a common outbound channel in this cadence. We’re huge believers in cold calling - it’s an effective way to have a direct conversation with prospects.
Using this cadence saw a 20% increase in meetings booked, and reached 103% of meetings booked target.
When it comes to international business expansion, there are many things you need to consider from an operational perspective.
Many businesses often encounter challenges when managing customer data, processes or communication when expanding. Operating with multiple systems can create data silos and lead to inconsistencies and inaccuracies.
That’s why setting up your CRM correctly is key.
At Cognism, we made a considerable effort to sketch out our ideal customer journey flow in our CRM. The key was understanding the buyer’s journey from the start, when a prospect first learned about Cognism through marketing, to the sales process, and then to customer success.
Cognism created an authoritative source of truth for all our GTM teams, including dashboards for all ICs, managers, regional heads, and global leaders, based on the region/role matrix we have in our Salesforce.
When getting started, the first thing you want to do is define your different roles and job titles in Salesforce.
As Antoine Cornet, Head of Revenue Operations at Cognism, explained:
“If you’re a UK SMB AE, that will be different to a mid-market AE in France, so setting those role definitions up to compare your team's performance is important.”
You also want to set the right quotas for your teams and ensure your capacity planning is in place.
This means understanding how much revenue your territory is currently generating and your growth expectations. This information can then guide which resources you will pour into those regions and help map out your hiring plan.
Next, you need to set up your routing rules and establish which MQLs get routed to which representatives and craft books of business for your AEs and SDRs.
As Antoine also explained:
“You want to perform a territory-sizing exercise in your CRM. This means defining your ICP and the number of accounts that fall within it so people can focus on the best-fit accounts.”
Expanding your business into any new region isn’t easy - but success really just comes down to being prepared.
Doing deep research into the marketplace and ICP.
Creating dedicated content and campaigns that speak directly to those target segments.
And bringing in the expertise you need to learn fast and stay compliant.
That way, you can execute your international business expansion strategy as smoothly and effectively as possible.