In our first article, we briefly stated the details and information about the meaning of the Target Market.
So how do we get this information? Of course, we have an opportunity to access countless data and information. People who will conduct such research for the first time without any experience are lost in this information and cannot get any results despite a lot of data existing.
Based on my experience, I could say that apart from these links that I will mention here, you will experience that you have developed your methods over time and that you can get more pinpoint results than your industry.
Let's start with the most used links.
https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/DIESS/: Firstly, you need to know the HS Code, which is valid referring to the international commercial classification system of the product you will sell.
http://www.intracen.org/: International Trade Center. This site has very well-prepared market research and commercial analysis.
www.trademap.org: You can access all import and export data about your product from this link. You can examine which countries are mainly importing your product by country and year. You can also set a price policy by accessing the wholesale prices of the products.
www.macmap.org: You can access the data of import customs tax rates of the countries according to the GTIP codes. So you can calculate how much import customs your customer will pay for your product before determining a target country as the target market.
https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-tomarkets/: There are detailed explanations of import procedures.
https://www.kolayihracat.gov.tr/: With Smart Export Robot on this platform, it provides objective and data-based results to exporting companies about which markets they are interested in for the products.
https://musaviredanisin.ticaret.gov.tr/: You can get detailed information about the countries you have determined as the target market through the Trade attachés at our consulates.
Apart from these, the most used platforms by our company to identify target markets and potential buyers are LinkedIn, Instagram (via hashtags), and the exhibitor lists of fairs held abroad.
Foreign trade and potential customer (buyer) search process and contacting these companies is a process that requires patience and follow-up. Before getting in contact with a company, it is necessary to examine its website, the products it sells, and the company's commercial data. It would be a waste of time to contact a company that is not active at the moment in the local or international market just because its website is eye-catching.
So how do we contact potential customers? Considering today's economic and pandemic conditions, the most effective ways currently seem to be sending a promotional e-mail about your company and your products, and sending messages via Instagram and WhatsApp accounts. These e-mails and messages must be written in a business format and explain your goal and what you expect from them. I advise you to add your product promotions, catalogues, and price lists to these messages so that your potential customer will know all the details about your company and product at once. There are so many advertising messages sent these days, so your e-mail should look like it's being sent to a single company. In addition, if possible, it may be possible to promote your products by participating in online meetings that bring together buyers and sellers.
After completing these processes, good dialogs you will establish with potential buyers who contact you, and quick and detailed answers to their questions will return you as a SALE.