15 + 2 German Marketing Quick Tips For Small UK Businesses
Want to get more German eyes on your UK small brand to broaden your client base? Short on time? Need a quick overview to see what’s possible? My friends, you’re in the right place: Here are 15 (+ 2 bonus) tips that are quick to read and quick to implement for any UK small business expanding to Germany or planning to do so.
FYI: These tips are in no particular order, so you don’t have to start with the first and end with the last, in fact you can pick and choose, mix and match as you like. It’s a buffet of tips. (Maybe don’t overload your plate…).
1: Order your German competition’s products
I am a fan of regularly checking out your competition in Germany. And while travelling there every once in a while is fun (who doesn’t like business trips abroad), we sometimes want quick results that don’t require us to hop on a plane.
So, one quick tip to spy on your German competition that is super easy to follow: Order their products. Step into the shoes of a customer and take part in the whole shopping experience.
Make sure to focus on products that have great German reviews – and take notes for your own (German) customer journey.
2: “Export” your digital products
Do you have digital products instead of physical ones? Great. Because “exporting” those to Germany can also be profitable for your small brand. And with their super easy delivery through a simple download link, your expansion hurdles are even lower than for physical products.
So, if you have an ebook or other types of pdfs on offer, why not get them translated into German to make your German customers happy and those revenues go up?
By the way: Small Business Britain is suggesting exactly that in their How To Grow report.
Get in touch if you want to dig deeper.
3: Take a look at your data
Your social media, website, blog, newsletter. All those channels are collecting user data for you. Take a look at them – and pay special attention to the regions your audience comes from. Already noticing traction from Germany? Fabulous! Could be more? Then it might be worth considering tweaking your marketing measures, like running an ad specifically for Germany.
And make sure to have your ad signed-off by a native German who knows one thing or two about marketing to Germans to make the most of your investment. (Hi!)
4: Review your German website every now and then
If you are regularly adding new text to your website such as customer reviews, blog posts, new product descriptions, landing pages etc. chances are the occasional typo or broken link will find its way onto your site. So, schedule a proper review of the German version of your website, say once or twice a year. Hire a German professional to do this to save time and ensure good quality.
Germans are rather attentive to other people’s mistakes (see my 7 German Values pdf you receive upon subscription to my newsletter Pretzel Perspectives). A regularly checked and proofread website eliminates mistakes, improves the browsing experience and consequently will raise your brand image and lower your drop-off rate.
Email me if you need help with that.
5: Segment your email list
When you start having German subscribers along with domestic subscribers, make sure to segment your email list accordingly. That way you can later create email campaigns that are specifically targeted at each group (and thus more effective). Because: Events or holidays that you want to use to promote your products in the UK for example, might not be as important in Germany, and vice versa.
6: Have a human review your German ads before hitting publish (and don’t meddle with it afterwards)
Lately, I’ve been presented with an ad by a renowned US email marketing tool on my Insta feed. And something in this ad keeps grabbing my attention: a variation of mistakes in their German copy. In one version the sentence is cut off, making the main keyword disappear and the message incomprehensible. In another one the keyword is there, but its grammar is all wrong. (Side note: Germans love to correct other people’s grammar). Those are typical shortfalls of AI usage without human involvement, by the way.
If you want to make the most of your ad spend, simply let a German pair of eyes quickly review your ad. Easy and very effective.
7: Follow your favorite international brands on their German social media accounts
This is great to get a feeling for how the big players handle cultural differences of their global audiences and how they tailor their marketing to each nation.
Now, remember that you don’t have to copy everything that the big brands do – in fact, I often advise against it because personal brands have different levers they can use. This is more to remind yourself that cultural differences exist, and to train your brain to not forget about them when selling to Germans. And maybe you can even gain some marketing inspiration from following those accounts.
So why not head to your Instagram now and pick 3 brands to follow – in German!
8: Set aside time for German customer research
If you know anything about marketing then you know that having a clear idea of your audience is key. 🔑
This obviously also applies to your German audience (dang it!). So, if you haven’t got collected and organized any info on your German customer yet, here’s what you will do within the next 5 minutes:
✅ Open a new doc and title it German Customer Profile.
✅ Select 3 time slots of 30 minutes each in your calendar which you will block for customer research.
✅ Stick to those dates and get it done.
I promise: You will feel so much more confident and be so much more effective next time you market to Germans. Or book my German Customer Avatar service and we do it together
9: For your German customers, consider offering your products in Euros
Germans roughly know how much a Pound or Dollar is. But to make the shopping experience better, and if the technical environment of your webshop allows it, sell to Germans in the currency they use on a daily basis. The same goes for sizes and the metric system by the way.
I have changed the currency on my own website from Euros to Pounds now, too! Felt kind of a big step but I know that my core target group in the UK will appreciate it.
10: Highlight the quality of your products
Germans are all about great quality, good craftsmanship, exclusive materials and things like that. So, a great way to get their attention is to highlight exactly that. This can be as simple as popping a badge on your web visuals or social media images, for example: 100% xyz, handmade, genuine xyz etc. Or, if you want to go a little deeper, you can explain your meticulous production process on your about page and socials.
11: Don’t hide where your business is from
If you are reading this article chances are your biz is not German. And with all this cultural adaptation you are supposed to do you might think that by mentioning that your business is non-German you will scare German customers away.
I think the opposite is the case: by talking about your business roots loudly and proudly you will make your brand look extra special to your German audience, because you give them this beautiful feeling of purchasing something exclusive they can’t get everywhere.
So, if you are selling vintage clothing from the UK for example, talk about where your brand is based! Include it on the about page of your website, for starters (which I will happily translate into German for you 🦸♀️).
12: Reduce costs and use machine-readable translation files
When working with translators, always send them the text you would like to have translated in a machine readable format, i.e. a Word or Google doc. They can then easily import it into their fancy translation software (not to be confused with AI translation tools) which saves them a ton of time and nerves.
If you make them manually copy and paste lots of text boxes from websites or Excel spreadsheets into their tool, they might add that extra time to their invoice.
13: Brief your translator as you would brief a copywriter
If you are looking to work with marketing translators on your German copy, simply sending them the text in question via email seems the logical thing to do. And it is.
Just keep in mind that they are trying to convey your brand voice and messages too. That’s why it is important to also brief them properly about who you are and what you want your German copy to sound like.
So, make sure to provide your marketing translator with all your branding material, ToV, style guides, customer avatar, messaging, campaign goals etc. (Seems over the top? It’s not, trust me).
And if you happen to work with a copywriter for your original English copy, forward the briefing you filled in with them to your translator, too. That way you make sure your brand voice is consistent across your English and German copy.
14: Start your German business journey within yourself
Apart from collecting data, facts and figures, try to get to know your German target group in a way that excites you. So, take 5 minutes today to look up a nice German recipe to cook, order a German bestseller translated into English, or research a German city to visit this summer, whatever fires up your curiosity. That way you keep your motivation up and train your brain in being open-minded towards that unknown German culture.
15: Be cautious with the use of language abbreviations
For bilingual or multilingual websites, don’t use abbreviations like EN, DE etc. for your client-facing language selection. Instead, always spell out the word in the language of its corresponding native speakers (English, Deutsch).
Why? You simply don’t know if every website visitor really understands those abbreviations.
Use those valuable first seconds when a new visitor enters your website to give them exactly the information they need (in this case language options) in the easiest way possible. It contributes to a great customer experience and will make your visitor stick around for longer (less frustrated visitors, less drop-off rates).
Holiday Bonus Tip 1: give German Christmas shoppers essential information
With Christmas coming closer, you want to make sure your German shoppers have all the information they need to confidently fill their basket and press that order button in your online shop.🛒
So let’s make a list (and check twice)
- German website version running smoothly – especially the order and payment process
- Delivery times clearly stated – including shipment to Germany
- Delivery cost to Germany clearly stated
- Paypal payment enabled (Germany’s preferred payment method)
- Euro prices and metric system used in product details
Remember that Germany is one hour behind the UK. In case you’re planning to run a promo until midnight.
Holiday Bonus Tip 2: adapt your festive marketing visuals to German taste
With Halloween and Christmas coming up, you are probably planning some festive campaigns with special offers for your target audience. Remember that such events are usually deeply rooted in a country’s culture, and that every nation has its own traditions.
That means, visuals you have created with your domestic market in mind might not resonate much with your German audience. For example, many families in Germany live in apartment buildings in the cities, and visuals of kids roaming the suburbs for trick or treat probably don’t work well with half the German population. Also, visuals of unwrapping presents in the morning with your PJs on always strike us as very odd, because in Germany we exchange presents in the evening of the 24th.
What to do? You could either create Germany-specific visuals (your marketing translator can help you select them) or use visuals that apply to both your domestic and the German market.
Outro
Phew! If you made it to the end of this article, you’re definitely serious about selling to Germans (or are already doing so). You’re enthusiastic about this, and that’s great! Keep going, one step at a time, you’re going to be fine. In any case, I am always here to help you overcome any cultural and language hurdles.
By the way: These Quick Tips were published across 2024 in my newsletter Pretzel Perspectives. Subscribe here for more tips like these – and snag my free pdf “7 German Values And How To Use Them To Market To Germans”.
