As I am on Virgin Atlantic Flight #1833 flying from Heathrow to JFK, I ponder about my last five days in London, two of which I spent at AdTech London. Nothing excites me more than seeing the amount of energy at this show. Bigger than AdTech Chicago, the London show was truly impressive. Companies exhibiting from all over the world filled the Olympia Exhibit hall with different languages and ideas. Catching up with my partners and meeting new ones was truly the highlight. Having spent an evening with Susan Bratton, AdTech Chair, as well Paul Beckley, Head of DMG World Events (which acquired Imedia last Monday), made me realize that we are heading into the right direction: International.
As a speaker at the upcoming AdTech Shanghai in November, I realized how beautiful it is to be able to tout the benefits of expanding online marketing into different global markets. Having a global distribution network made up of web, email, search, and desktop publishers, makes going to events such as AdTech London and Shanghai a unique experience both professionally and personally. Where else can I have a discussion about local market specific web strategies at London’s hot new club- Tantra- while seeing fellow online marketers such as Google, 888.com, and Yahoo! imbibe on rose champagne and apricot hooka pipes?
Shak Khan, Google’s first international adwords advertiser and serial online advertising entrepreneur, as well as being a close friend of mine, is a perfect representation of the huge market opportunity in going global. Shak recently moved to Shanghai from London where he acts as a liaison for companies and venture capitalists wanting to get into the China market. Shak also is the eyes and ears for those wishing to get up to the minute information on current Chinese events ranging in the financial, political, and social sectors. Check out www.chinawhite.net. In moving to this burgeoning market at this present moment, Shak is one step ahead- being commonly referred to as “The Man in China”.
I also had the pleasure of spending some time with my former colleague Scott Rewick at AdTech London, who has just started an interesting global venture called Zimbabwe Online. Zimbabwe Online aims to bridge emerging markets with the internet. We are all so lucky in our industry to be able to capitalize on creative ideas, generate revenue, and launch new businesses in different markets.
As online globalization is rapidly growing, to start thinking about how you can monetize your international and multicultural traffic is a strategic move. Also, keeping in pace which countries have the most internet penetration (Germany and Norway are top two) and educating yourself on specific country demographics and how they respond to certain offers is key. As an example, US based health and beauty products are quite popular in Hong Kong while social networking offers are widely embraced in Malaysia. Additionally, know which distribution channels are most successful. As an example, due to mobile marketing, people that live in Hong Kong only check their email twice a week, while Malaysia is very receptive to email marketing (note: no spam laws)
Should you have any questions about how to monetize your international traffic, please don’t hesitate to contact. I look forward to seeing all of you at AdTech NYC and Shanghai.
Liz Lloyd is Chief Marketing Officer of DMO Global , a leading affiliate network solely dedicated to serving international and multicultural markets. Lloyd’s work on international online marketing has been highlighted in numerous publications as well as in academic curricula for MBA international marketing programs worldwide. DMO Global is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dragon Media Online, Inc.
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