International business development has been reliant on a couple of trusty old work horses for some time now. Google, development letters and site visits have lead the charge and they are very effective when used correctly. They can however, be costly and time consuming and with the ever-changing world that we live in. New ways of development are constantly making an appearance and if you want your business to prosper, adaptation is key.

So what are the alternative options in this age of information? As a leading global pharmaceutical & medical device B2B online platform, Ddu now shares with you what our experience has been, with the hope that it is helpful to you.

1. Choosing the right social media

With a multitude of socialmedia platforms available, it often feels overwhelming when having to choose those that match your business goals best. When not done right, social media can end up being quite time consuming so, do the research and select the option best suited for you. Trying to use as many platforms as possible won’t work either as this may result in your business goals being missed since you only know each platform in part. Get to know the best platforms for your business inside and out and utilize these to their full potential.

Facebook

Facebook usually serves as the heart of your social media body and since it now has an estimated 2 billion active users, it remains to be the biggest social media platform in the world. Businesses and clients have the opportunity to connect on an interactive level by commenting on posts, answering questions and sharing what they find interesting. Posting content on a regular basis is essential and an optimal Facebook page has between 1 and 3 posts on a daily basis.

Twitter

Twitter is known to be the top platform for breaking news and clearly showed that 140 characters are all you need make a statement. It’s often used by clients to comment on services or products and by businesses to respond directly and publicly, displaying the quality of their customer service.

Hashtags are of course a great tweet feature as they are amazingly useful for keeping up with the latest trends and news, making it a valuable marketing tool. When sharing content and using hashtags, put good thought into what it is you are sharing. Ask yourself whether it is relevant to your business and interesting enough for people to what to share.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is undeniably the best way to network within an online business. More serious than its Facebook and Twitter counterparts, LinkedIn is an outstanding social media platform for B2B operations, connecting with professionals and is great for jobseekers.

One of the most outstanding features of LinkedIn are the LinkedIn groups where people in similar industries or with similar interests, can connect on a professional level. Never forget though that this platform provides a close link between employers and personnel so maintaining a professional appearance is crucial.

2. Be smart about your social media usage

There are loads of advice on how to optimally use social media but this, like everything else on the Internet, is ever evolving and it is up to you to see the possibilities. Even though the medical industry can be a tough market, people keep proving that there are always new ways to use old thing.

A high priority Ddu member recently spoke to one of our marketing staff, telling about how his startup business was struggling to break into the international market. The product, home medical monitoring equipment, was great quality but competition was fierce and hampered his progress. 

This dilemma lead our ambitious client to create a Facebook page for his company. The product’s main selling characteristic was that it was water-proof. He realized that simply stating this or posting a photo would not bring the message across so, he made a simple video illustrating this water-proof feature. Next, he looked for the official accounts of similar products and invited the people who commented to his page. Before long he had a string of new and potential clients and a booming business.

The story above illustrates creativity and innovative thinking on how to make better use of an already existing product. So how do we do this?

①Take advantage of your resources

When starting up a new business, consider all the available channels and look at them with new perspective and see how they might be utilized in a better way.

②Efficient brand promotion

The Facebook video worked because it illustrated the products best qualities in a very visual way and by doing this, the product was set apart from those of competitors, causing the brand to automatically become more recognizable in a short amount of time.

The fact that the video was short, clear and simple made it ideal for social media. Long, tedious explanations aren’t engaging and they don’t provoke interest. Keep it short and sweet for a greater impact. 

Other tactics

 There are of course other ways in which the information age helps us.

① Official exhibition websites

A simple way to get more contacts is to download the exhibitors’ directory from the official website of an exhibition and contact the people most relevant to you.

② FDA official website searching

The FDA is a trusted and reliable source for product information. Log in to the official website of your target country and search for similar products which have already been registered and listed in the country, to find the local traders.

③ Ddu’s intelligent matching system

Ddu has also taken full advantage of technological advances and our intelligent matching system is the ideal tool to assist you. Post your RFQ on our state of the art online platform (www.drugdu.com) and receive automatically-matched result of suppliers.