Pedro Moya, Manager of Online Sales at Google, addressed online tactics for targeting customers around the world as keynote speaker at the Global Business Club of Mid-Michigan.  The half-day program, which focused on methods for taking information technology (IT) and technology business abroad, was held May 12, 2011, at the Henry Center in East Lansing, Michigan.

The program began with a presentation by Chris Knapp, Jean Schtokal and Stacey Hansen of the Capital Area IT Council (CAIC), who provided an introduction and explanation of the CAIC’s services for area businesses.

This was followed by Dale Wright of the U.S. Commercial Service, who discussed China’s technology landscape for companies looking to do business abroad in Asia, as it is often perceived as a daunting enterprise with language, IT infrastructure and cultural barriers.

Andrea Cromwell of the U.S. Commercial Service and Sam Fredrick of Foster, Swift, Collins and Smith, PC, presented facts and case studies illustrating the challenging landscape of intellectual property protection abroad.

A panel discussion led by moderator Stacey Hansen and panelists Daniela Maurer, Wendy Edleman and Jack Brown of TechSmith addressed the challenges of developing, successfully marketing and delivering an IT product abroad.

As keynote speaker, Moya led the audience through a nuts and bolts online primer of tools and resources that Google makes available to businesses developing a web presence.  Pointing out that there are 1.9 billion people online worldwide, billions of web searches every day and over one million advertisers, Moya made the case for Google’sglobal presence and significant influence on the World Wide Web.

Moya’s presentation outlined four concrete steps to internationalize your business: find demand, internationalize your website, capture demand, measure and refine.  Google’s online tools contain powerful website analytics to hone in on targeted global markets, allowing businesses to truly focus only on their target demographic.

Moya observed that “E-commerce is not yet fully realized worldwide,” adding, “Compliance and social customs knowledge is critical for successfully internationalizing your website.”  Moya pointed out that by leveraging Google’s Translator Toolkit, the 56 languages that cover 99 percent of all users online can be applied to nearly any website.  Additionally, Moya noted that quality site content is now a significant factor in determining a website’s search listing based on a proprietary Google algorithm.

Moya’s key take away points for businesses were: export is a driver of growth, there is a tremendous opportunity online, and businesses need to leverage online technology effectively.  Moya also encouraged incorporating social media into the website experience.  “Think about exporting with Google via Twitter using Google Global Ads and watch your global business grow,” Moya advised.

 

Written By: Madison Hall, Writer, MSU-CIBER
Photograph: Pedro Moya, Manager of Online Sales, Google
Photographic Credit: Madison Hall, MSU-CIBER