• July 26, 2016
• Content, Demand Generation

How Technology Marketers Can Navigate the Opportunity in Brazil

Brazil has certainly been making headlines lately. Political turmoil and even a potential Zika virus epidemic have posed major hurdles for the country and its economy. But an economic crisis doesn’t happen overnight, and the overall effects, as well as the permanency of those effects, are yet to be seen. In fact, despite the current economic climate, Brazil is still the 9th largest economy in the world (by GDP). And with the Summer Olympics in Rio just around the corner, the future health of Brazil’s economy looks promising.

Opportunities exist despite economic crisis

When it comes to Brazil online, things are equally hopeful. Brazil is currently the fifth largest internet and mobile economy in the world, with another 100 million people starting to come online (via TechCrunch). Wondering how that translates to the B2B tech world? In a recent survey of our Latin American audience, 74% of respondents said their IT budgets would remain the same or increase in 2016, with the largest majority (28%) saying their budgets would increase by more than 10% from 2015.

So what does this mean for the modern tech marketer? It means that although the country may be in crisis, not every company in Brazil is on a fast track to a closeout. In fact, there are still hundreds of thousands of businesses surviving and thriving in Brazil right now. Take Banco Bradesco for example. Banco Bradesco is one of the biggest banking and financial services companies in Brazil – and they are the sole Brazilian sponsor of the Olympic Torch Relay. The Torch Relay is considered to be the single most sought-after marketing opportunity of the games, and Bradesco – alongside brands like Coca-Cola and Nissan – paid a very pretty penny to be there: according to Bloomberg, Bradesco paid more than $300 million for exclusive rights to the banking category. Companies like Banco Bradesco and thousands of others in Brazil are doing quite well, and continue to show uphill momentum. And all those companies who are persevering still have technology needs.

So we’ve established there is opportunity in Brazil, but what can marketers do to mobilize – and monetize – on it? For starters, you need to establish your company’s presence in the Brazilian market (if you haven’t already). It’s important to ensure that your brand is top of mind with researchers in Brazil who have identified that they have IT budgets to spend this year. But while inserting your brand into the conversation is a good place to start, you must also consider how you are positioning your brand and your product as you go to market.

3 Important things your content marketing must accomplish in the Brazilian market

Developing your content marketing strategy here becomes critical, and success lies in how well your content speaks to the needs of the buyers in market. Following are three important things you must consider when marketing content to Brazil.

#1 – Position your solutions as necessary to cost-efficient functioning in order to gain the attention of Brazilian researchers

As with any strong content marketing strategy, your content needs to provide a solution to the problems and pain-points of potential buyers. In the case of an economic crisis, the focus is always going to be – at least in large part –on reducing costs and increasing efficiencies. Remember, we’re talking about a market of researchers who hear the words, “economic crisis” more often than their own names. Your content should address this in an effective way.

#2 – Position your products as one-of-a-kind

Highlight the ways in which your products are different from any others in the competitive market. It will make the decision to buy your product an easy one for the researcher if they feel that there are no appropriate substitutes available.

#3 – Prioritize Portuguese language content

All of the strategy in the world won’t matter if you’re pushing content to an audience in a language they can’t (or won’t) read. Understanding your target market means understanding what language they conduct business in. Doing this will not only significantly increase the likelihood that researchers read your content, but the value for you is two-fold, since over 80% of Brazilian researchers said there was not enough IT-related content available in their native language (TechTarget 2015 Media Consumption Study). When you put a piece of English-language content into the English-speaking market, you’re competing with hundreds of thousands of other brands. When you put in-language content into a foreign market, you’re already two steps ahead of your competition – and that’s before we consider brand perception, content quality or your solution itself. The opportunity for increased mindshare and even market dominance is huge – simply put: not enough brands are doing this, and that alone presents a unique opportunity that would be silly to pass up.

When it comes to International marketing, opportunity lies in doing what others won’t – like capitalizing on a market with unrecognized potential, and producing and promoting quality, in-language content. Take the road less traveled – it makes all the difference.

Learn more

TechTarget reaches over 120,000 active technology buyers in Brazil across over 100 technology segments and we are here to help you drive more success in this market. If you would like to continue the conversation or learn more about opportunities in Brazil, please feel free to connect with me.

 

Image source: TCS

Brazil, Brazil technology marketing, content marketing, international marketing