If you're a global B2B brand growing outside of Europe and North America, it takes more than a sales team to get your technology solution noticed globally. As a leading headless content management system (CMS) provider, Storyblok has been making waves in the global market. However, despite its popularity in Europe, the US and South America, the company has just started making its mark in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
In a recent episode of AZK Meets, Azadeh Williams, AZK Managing Director, speaks with Marcus Paterson, Storyblok APAC Sales Director, about the company's growth in the region against the backdrop of the iconic Sydney Opera House.
From the challenges Storyblok has encountered to the “mind-blowing” stories it plans to tell next, find out why a successful APAC expansion relies on the power of public relations (PR).
Embracing diversity
Diversity can be a significant advantage for tech companies as they expand into a new region. By hiring a diverse workforce, companies can leverage the different perspectives and experiences of their employees to better understand and adapt to the culture and needs of the region they are expanding into. Storyblok values diversity and has teams from all over the world. When it looks at the APAC region, that diversity is mirrored, making Storyblok feel right at home.
One of the most exciting aspects of growing Storyblok in APAC, according to Paterson, is the region's diversity. "The Asia Pacific region is so diverse. I love the people and the culture. It's been my home for the last 20 or 30 years — I’ve lived across Asia, Australia and New Zealand,” he says. “So the diversity is probably the biggest attraction, plus the opportunity to introduce services that every organisation in Asia Pacific needs."
Overcoming obstacles
However, being a ‘newcomer’ in the APAC market isn’t without its challenges. Education must play a big role in getting this new audience to understand why the future of content management is “headless”. Paterson explains, "Storyblok isn’t well-known in the APAC region yet. Our job is to educate our audience here not just about the fact that Storyblok exists but what Storyblok does."
While content management has been around for decades, headless CMS technology is relatively new and not yet well-penetrated in APAC. Paterson acknowledges that the language barriers, geography challenges and different rates of technology adoption in the region create some interesting obstacles for Storyblok.
Driving APAC expansion with PR
Paterson believes that PR plays a significant role in Storyblok’s APAC success. "PR is absolutely critical for us,” he says. “Australia is a priority country for us in the APAC region. While we’re well-known in Europe and across the US and South America, that’s not so much the case here.
“Leveraging PR allows us to tell the Storyblok story and improve our brand awareness. Together with our field marketing capability, PR has been effective in coordinating events to build awareness and drive demand.”
The future of APAC is “headless”
Looking ahead, Storyblok is excited to show the APAC market just how powerful its solution is. And Paterson is confident that customers will be impressed with the agility and return on investment (ROI) that they can get with Storyblok.
"Storyblok has some amazing stories to share with customers and potential customers over the next few months about the power of upgrading and transforming from a traditional CMS to a headless CMS,” he says. “They’re going to blow people’s minds when they see the agility and ROI that they can get from a CMS project."
With its innovative approach to content management, Storyblok is poised to make a big impact in the APAC region and beyond. At AZK Media, we are passionate about helping innovative, global tech companies like Storyblok drive growth in new and emerging markets like the APAC region. Want us to tell your story? Reach out here.
This interview was also featured in Little Black Book Online, one of the world's leading brand, marketing and creative publications.
Authored by Julie Cooper, Senior Content and Communications Specialist at AZK Media.
At AZK Media, we specialise in helping global technology companies get noticed in new and emerging markets. We make driving your growth, our business. Contact us today to see how we can strengthen your expansion efforts.