Choosing a marketing agency for an export or import business
What to ask a marketing agency before hiring them for an export business, and the signs they understand international B2B buyer behaviour.
4 min read
A catalogue emailed to a cold overseas contact is often ignored on the first send, not because of disinterest but because it arrived at a moment the recipient was not actively evaluating suppliers. A structured follow-up sequence recovers a meaningful share of this initial silence.
What the outreach sequence should include
- An initial email with a clear, specific offer (sample availability, current pricing for a specific product), not just an attached catalogue.
- A follow-up about a week later with new, specific information — not a repeat of the same message.
- A final, low-pressure check-in if there has been no response after two or three attempts.
Deliverability matters as much as content
Cold outreach at volume is easily flagged by spam filters, especially from a new sending domain. Proper SPF, DKIM and DMARC setup, and reasonable sending volume, matter as much as the message content — see our guide on email deliverability.
A catalogue email ignored once is not necessarily a lost buyer — a well-timed, specific follow-up often recovers a genuine reply.
Respecting consent laws by destination country
Cold email rules differ by destination — GDPR in the EU, CASL in Canada, CAN-SPAM in the US — and outreach practices should account for the recipient's jurisdiction, not just apply one blanket approach globally.
The takeaway
Follow up a catalogue email within a week with something new and specific — a certification, a sample offer — rather than simply resending the same content.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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