The world is flattening out. As technology improves, becomes cheaper, and accessible to all, developing nations are developing faster, and the needs of the collective world are expanding. The rapid spread of information technology has done for the whole world what the introduction of electricity to the home did for North America in the 1920's. Across the globe, there is now infrastructure for thousands of products and services that consumers in many countries, until recently, were not even aware of.

How can companies become a part of emerging markets in foreign countries? It isn't easy – in fact, breaking into an international market, especially when there is a language barrier, can be as difficult as starting a business all over again. But despite the difficulty, the goal is attainable for any size business, and expanding into a foreign market could be the ticket to growth a small business needs.

The key to selling your product or service internationally is localized marketing. You didn't build a successful domestic business by simply making your product or service available – you had to do a lot of legwork, and develop a winning marketing strategy. Unfortunately, the same strategy that was so successful in your own country is not likely to work as well in other places. Although the world is becoming technologically homogenous, people in different countries still have very different ideals. You need to develop a marketing plan that is localized to the international market you are targeting.

One marketing strategy cannot be effective on all demographics – the best minds in advertising (and your own common sense) will tell you that. Marketing outside your culture follows the same principle, but on an expanded scale. It's a good idea to take some time to view ads from other cultures, to learn how the marketing philosophy differs from culture to culture, and to get a full appreciation of the global variety employed in advertising and marketing.

There are many things to consider when developing a localized marketing strategy for a foreign market. The one thing that is probably easiest to miss, and potentially the most fatal to neglect, is that your product or service may fill a different set of needs in your targeted foreign market than it does in your domestic market. The cardinal rule of marketing and advertising is identifying the benefit your product or service has to your target market. If your existing plan identifies your product or service with a benefit that isn't perceived as a need in your target foreign market, no amount of good marketing will create the kind of sales figures you need.

Another important element that will factor into your localized marketing plans is the potential that your target market is motivated by a different set of ideals. For example, a major North American ideal that features prominently in advertising and marketing is the concept of individualism – individual achievement, individual right to happiness, health, and prosperity. In many East Asian cultures, by point of contrast, the focus is less on the individual, and more on the communal good – community success, and self-sacrifice for the greater good. As marketers and advertisers, it's not our job to have opinions about such ideals, but rather to work with them in order to better understand our markets.

Language is most obvious and largest barrier in international business. It's such a large obstacle, in fact, that many feel that if the language barrier is overcome, that is the only thing that matters. Many businesses fail in their attempts at localized marketing because they focus solely on language, and neglect the other factors.

That being said, language is certainly a major function of localized marketing plans. Translation is an integral part of marketing in other cultures. Not only is translation vital when it comes to reaching a market that speaks a foreign language, translation is also sometimes necessary even when the target market speaks the same language. Take English, for instance. An ad for a car in North America would mention trunk space – the same ad in Britain would be met with confusion. In Britain, a car's storage compartment is called a boot.

And not just any translator or translation tool will do for your localized marketing initiative. It's wise to stay away from machine translation altogether, and the higher the quality of the translator, the better your copy will be in tune with the idioms and nuances of your target market. If possible work with a translator, or a translation agency with translators, with a strong familiarity with the culture you are trying to reach.

Some full service translation agencies specify localized marketing as one of their services. Make sure the agency you use can provide a translator who has direct experience with your target market, their language, customs, and ideals. Your translation agency just might be your one-stop shop for most of what you need to make your localized marketing strategy a success.