This is an excerpt from our ebook, “How to Win International Markets with Meta Ads.”
By definition, companies that limit their audience to their home country are fishing in a limited pond. Fortunately, tactics like Facebook and Instagram ads are not limited or bound by these borders. Leveraging them can go a long way towards gaining new customers in formerly foreign territories, significantly expanding your revenue and business growth potential in the $5.7 trillion global e-commerce market.
That’s especially true considering the global nature of both of these platforms. Facebook’s nearly 3 billion monthly active users constitute more than one-third of the world’s population, with Instagram’s nearly 2.5 billion users not far behind.
But here’s what matters most: according to internal Meta data, more than 1.2 billion users on its platform are connected to a small business in a foreign country. The interest and desire to do business beyond a user’s home borders clearly exist, and it’s up to these businesses to leverage that interest into reliable sales through ads that people around the world can see and interact with.
Data beyond Facebook and Instagram confirms that trend, as well. While only about 3% of US e-commerce revenue current comes from international customers, it’s expanding by the year. In fact, global cross-border e-commerce revenue is expected to surpass $2 trillion by 2026. That tracks with a PayPal report finding 57% of shoppers already shopping outside their own borders, and recent study estimating that nearly 1 billion users purchased products from e-tailers outside their own country in 2020.
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Taking your business to other countries plays directly into these trends. As more customers become willing to shop internationally, your products enter a broader environment that can multiply your revenue potential. With the right messaging and advertising strategy, you can unlock these latent opportunities.
Finally, digital ad costs tend to be lower internationally than they are for domestic market. Competing in the Facebook ad auction outside the US particularly can create some significant cost advantages when the audience you’re trying to reach is not just local. According to one study focusing on Q3 of 2021:
- The United States had the highest CPM ($35) of all countries considered.
- Korea and Australia followed closely behind, before a significant drop-off to other potential markets.
- Canada is the only other country with a CPM above $25.
- Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore all have average CPMs between $15 and $22.
- All other countries fall under a $10 CPM threshold, with some (like Egypt) being under $1.
The lesson is clear: expanding your ad strategy internationally does not just represent an opportunity, but also can save significant efficiency costs compared to domestic ad campaigns. It’s the final piece of the puzzle in building an international customer base–as long as the right logistical processes and decisions are in place.
To learn more about driving international sales using Meta, check out our ebook here.
