General

With the continuous development of the economy, domestic trade is becoming increasingly competitive, and many enterprises are gradually shifting to the international market. Whether in foreign trade or domestic market. The most crucial issue is to find key potential customers. Below are 10 methods for foreign trade to find customers on the market.

01 Finding Customers through Search Engines

This method of finding customers for foreign trade is believed to be used by many experienced foreign trade professionals, such as Google, Yahoo, and other foreign trade search websites. Similar to domestic Baidu, searching for keywords on them will find customers with similar needs. From this, you can find the contact methods of these customers, and then make phone calls to communicate and chat with them.

But when we use it for a period of time, we will find that logging into the external network requires crossing the wall, and the efficiency of searching one by one is very low, nor can we guarantee that the above customers have not been developed.

02 Build a self built station

Many foreign trade merchants will have their own self built websites, which are not limited by platform rules and do not charge commissions. They are very flexible with few competitors and can be customized according to their own needs, which can meet the development needs of a company. A well done website often requires a professional operation team to optimize and promote it. The promotion method is relatively passive, and there is no platform supported traffic, so one can only find their own channels for promotion.

03 Customs data

This is a commonly used method for finding customers in foreign trade, as each country leaves data when passing customs. At this time, company information, email, and contact information can be found through customs data. Customers are relatively accurate and the conversion rate is also high. But the only drawback is that customs data cannot be updated in real-time, which has a serious lag.

04 Find customers through domestic purchasing websites

For example, China Manufacturing Network, Foreign Trade Forum, Fubu Forum, Foreign Trade Circle, and so on, there are many foreign trade companies and purchasers who will post in it. At this time, they can directly contact the purchasers to send development letters. The cost of such development is very low, and customers come with relatively accurate information.

05 Foreign social media platforms

It can be said that it is an essential channel for foreign trade to find customers, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedln, and so on. These are foreign traffic points, with daily activity of up to 3 billion on Facebook. Using these social platforms to promote one's own products will not have geographical restrictions, high exposure, low customer acquisition costs, and strong customer interaction, making them the primary choice for foreign trade professionals.

06 Offline customer search

For offline customers, it is easy to establish a sense of trust and make communication tangible. The disadvantage is that it wastes time and energy, and those who engage in foreign trade are subject to geographical restrictions. For those who are just starting out in foreign trade, it is difficult to have such resources and connections.

07 B2B Platform Seeking Customers

When it comes to B2B, many people will definitely talk about Alibaba. Alibaba has the highest reputation and low threshold, and can be done by small and medium-sized enterprises. The core point of being Alibaba is equal competition opportunities, which depends on how one attracts customers.

08 Exhibition Seeking Customers

The benefit of attending an exhibition is that it allows customers to see your products up close. For example, the domestic Canton Fair and the China International Fair all communicate with customers face-to-face for marketing, which is much more efficient than visiting and telemarketing.

However, exhibitions also have drawbacks. Many large enterprises, such as foreign distributors, agents, individuals, etc., rarely come to China, and most of them cooperate with domestic intermediaries.

09 Customer referral

For this type of customer, the probability of a transaction is very high because the referrer has generally been understood by paying users, and the recommendation indicates that they have this need. As long as the product introduction and packaging of the product are done well, there is basically no problem. However, in order to have such high-quality resources, the prerequisite is to have a certain network of people. Often, one wants to infiltrate that circle, and the maintenance cost is high.

But there is too much competition for Alibaba, and at this time, the competition is about operations, and the cost of a professional operation team is also very high. Therefore, this is not friendly enough for small and medium-sized enterprises, and once they settle in, the subsequent maintenance costs are quite high, and the competition is very fierce. Although there are many inquiries, there are very few who can truly make a deal.

10. Use customer acquisition software to find customers for foreign trade

Many people who have worked in Alibaba International Station know that the cost of customer acquisition is very high, so many people will find customer acquisition software to develop customers. The software can conduct accurate user search by Big data through different keywords in each industry. Real time customer data collection, including email and personal contact information, can be collected.