Capital Hosting

You are the head of marketing for a successful web hosting enterprise in America, providing a full range of services to your clients, from straightforward internet access to website design and layouts. Your boss has called you in to discuss a new challenge, he wants to take the company and its services to Europe, to take advantage of the growing European internet community and the opportunities it offers.

Your task is straightforward, draw up a marketing plan and budget for your company's entry into the European market. You stand up and salute, promising to be back with the plans within forty-eight hours.

You head back to your cubicle, boot up your computer and start working, and within the first hour, you are tempted to call for an extension of your self-imposed deadline.

Understanding Europe

The first thing that comes to your attention is the sheer size and potential of the European market. Europe is composed of fifty-two countries (including Russia and various newly-formed republics from the former USSR) with a total population of nearly 700 million people. It has the second largest number of internet users in the world.

If you want to refine your plans a bit further, you may try thinking in terms of the European Union, which virtually reduces your market to twenty-seven countries, which comprise 60 percent of Europe's total population but which account for 80 percent of Europe's internet users, still a fair margin higher than total internet users of North America.

Even reducing your market parameters, however, would not prepare you for the sheer diversity of the European market. The European Union's 27 countries, for example, speak a total of 23 languages (including Greek, Bulgarian, Maltese and Swedish), have different cultures and attitudes, have differing levels of economic prosperity, and have varying frequency and patterns of internet usage.

The European Challenge for the Web Hosting Industry

It is the sheer diversity of that creates the biggest challenge for a web hosting company planning to enter the field. No matter that web hosting in Europe and America share certain commonalities (e.g. same demands, channels and services), the sheer diversity of Europe (in terms of culture, economy, infrastructure, lifestyle, etc.) provides a major marketing challenge.

First off, it would be difficult to establish a single umbrella hosting enterprise; as said, different markets require different approaches. Having established that point, the question becomes which market do you target first, go after the advanced economies first (such as Britain, France and Germany) since they have the highest levels of internet penetration and use, or establish a presence in the mid- or small-sized economies (such as Belgium, Sweden and Poland), knowing that these countries will eventually have a formidable market presence themselves, and you were there first.

What kind of services will you offer? One suggestion is to go beyond providing basic hosting services such as internet access or web hosting. Consider offering other value-added services to your target consumers: web site and layout designing, web marketing and advertising, site optimization for search engines, and so on.

In the end, no matter how diverse the European market is, it will always boil down to the basics of marketing: identify your market, draw up a listing of service offerings (including value-added services the competition may not currently offer), and move in. Bear in mind, however, that the culture and approaches may be different from your past experience, having a local guide or partner may be a crucial first step.

Brontobytes' European web hosting is ideal for personal and small business websites. No matter which European web hosting plan you choose, your website receives 24 hour maintenance and protection.