What is the most difficult thing in foreign trade? I believe most foreign traders have an answer in their hearts，My answer isContinuous and stable passive customer acquisition。
Passive customer acquisition，This means our brand has a stable influence around the world，As long as customers keep coming to the door，Business won't be that difficult。
Has a certain influence on the Internet brand，Coupled with continuous customer training，Businesses will see a variety of customers，Various projects，We can also express our brand confidence in our customers，Our business level will naturally rise，Qualification certificates in all aspects，The knowledge that projects around the world need to know is also quickly mastered with the practical process.。
So I think，The biggest difficulty most ordinary foreign trade salesmen are stuck in，Just have too few customers，Can't exercise，Too few projects have been seen，I really don't have the ability to catch a reliable project。
The most important thing in foreign trade isBrand influenceandPassive customer acquisition ability。Different B2B foreign trade customer acquisition channels have their own characteristics，Suitable for different market stages and product types。
As a 10-year veteran of foreign trade marketing，Today I will systematically sort out all the current mainstream foreign trade customer acquisition channels，And explore the traffic of each channel，Value and advantages and disadvantages。
List of the main online B2B customers in the global market：
Domestic and B2B comprehensive platform websites
- Alibaba International Station (Alibaba.com)
- Made-in-China
- Global Sources
- Dunhuang.com (DHgate)
- Amazon Business
etc.…
Search engines and advertising platforms
- Google （SEO/Without）
- Bing Ads
- Yahoo Ads
- Yandex (Russian and Eastern European markets)
- Baidu (for Chinese and Southeast Asian markets)
etc.…
Social media platforms and content platforms
- LinkedIn (Company Home Page and InMail Development)
- Facebook/Instagram (Advertising and Community Operations)
- TikTok (short videos and live streaming)
- X (Twitter) (Industry Topics and Interactions)
- Pinterest (Home、Fashion product promotion)
- YouTube (Video Marketing and Branding Channel)
- Medium (Industry White Paper Release)
- Quora (Q&A Community Traffic Driving)
etc.…
Customs Data and Business Intelligence Tools
- Panjiva
- ImportGenius
- Tradeatlas
etc.…
Independent Station
- Shopify (independent site construction)
- WordPress (enterprise blog and SEO) and more…
Email and chat tools
- Mailchimp (mail marketing)
- Hunter (email search tool)
- WATI (WhatsApp mass sending tool) and so on…
Vertical B2B platform
- Thomasnet (North American Industrial Products Procurement)
- Kompass (Global Enterprise Database)
- EC21 (Korean market orientation)
- TradeKey (Middle East、African market)
- IndustryStock (European Industrial Equipment)
etc.…
The following will explain in detail the characteristics and advantages and disadvantages of each platform and foreign trade customer acquisition channel
I will evaluate the foreign trade customer acquisition channels from three dimensions，
Channel Features，Channel traffic rating，Channel Value Score，
These scores examine the channel traffic scale，Flow accuracy，How helpful it is to foreign trade enterprises，
The full score is 5 stars，How many 6 stars are my personal subjective judgment。
But the whole article is my personal subjective judgment，Please refer to it as the main reference。
Alibaba International Station (Alibaba.com)
Alibaba International Station as an undisputed giant，He is a big shot in the field of foreign trade，Almost every foreign trade enterprise or department of all sizes has paid it。
And his entry fee is not low：The basic entry fee is nearly 30,000，A signature of high-quality sincere enterprises is nearly 100,000 yuan，Not counting the cost of buying keywords and advertising。If a company wants better results in a year，The cost is at least 200,000 yuan，Some companies only invest 50-100 million yuan in Alibaba International Station every year.。
The effect is different from one's own opinion，If you have confidence in your own products，Then Alibaba International Station is a must-have platform，After all, as China's largest b2b platform，Still have strength。
If it is a small company, a small foreign trade department，I didn't think I'd invest a lot of money at once，Competition in the product field is also relatively large，I don't recommend entering rashly，After all, small companies still need to consider cost and customer acquisition performance。
Customers at Alibaba International Station are all purchasing old fry，Their cost-effectiveness requirements for the product are extremely high，Be cautious。
Traffic Index：★★★★
Value Index：★★
Made-in-China
This platform can be said to be the second largest international B2B platform in China，The fee is slightly lower than Alibaba International Station，But he is also a money-burning master。
My suggestion for this type of platform is，If your business is expanding rapidly，And I care very much about the reputation at home and abroad，High brand strength requirements，Then China Manufacturing Network will also be settled。
Small businesses still say the same，Pay attention to customer performance and cost，We are essentially for the best customer acquisition results。
Traffic Index：★★★
Value Index：★
As forGlobal Resources，Dunhuang.com，Amazon Enterprise PurchaseThese three will not be explained anymore，Much the same。
The logic of consideration is actually the same，Starting from the characteristics of the product，None of them are recommended to beginners。Old birds can operate at will。
Search engines and advertising platforms
Google （SEO/Without）
Notice! This is the most important channel for foreign trade customer acquisition! Highly recommended!
Make it well，You will be able to gain a foothold in the foreign trade industry，Become a brilliant new star。
Can't do it well，Exercise force elsewhere，Your brand is like a castle in the air。
Why Google is so important，First of all, everyone knows that it is the world's largest search engine，It covers almost most of the traffic in various countries around the world，
and，It is closely related to another extremely important module，That's an independent station，But we will talk about the knowledge of independent websites later。
Google traffic is divided into two modules，One is SEO, A SEM,
Traffic Index：★★★★★☆
Value Index：★★★★★☆
SEO Google Natural Ranking Optimization
SEOIt is the natural traffic brought by the website's natural ranking，This flow is often highly accurate，Great value，It is the source of dreams of all foreign traders。
But natural flow is very difficult to do，Test SEO expertise，Website expertise，Product expertise，Necessary，And the cycle is very long，All are calculated based on half a year。
Most people don't have the ability to do SEO Google Natural Ranking，But there is no high level of perseverance。
SEO is like a super long marathon，Most people，All lost because of the persistence that cannot be achieved with high quality。
SEM Google Advertising
WhoThat's the traffic obtained by advertising on Google，It is also very accurate to advertise directly on Google，
It wins quickly，Get traffic when you give money，But there are barriers to products and advertising technology.，
The product should be relatively consistent with the characteristics of Google advertising，Otherwise, some products are just advertising。
SEM technology must also be passed，Various professional knowledge involved，For example, keyword filtering analysis，Advertising settings planning，Traffic source settings，Campaign debugging, etc.。
In my opinion，SEM Google Advertising is the first platform for foreign trade companies and teams to get started。
certainly，It requires a corporate website，In fact, corporate websites may be the most important channel for foreign trade companies to do.。
in addition，Its effect is closely related to the SEO effect.，After years of observation，The better the SEO effect，The higher the input-output performance of SEM。
Bing Ads
What about Bing，Some customers still，When everyone is doing it，You can also pay attention to it，Just do Google ads，You can do Bing advertising，
But it's a little troublesome，No Chinese company，Payment can only be paid directly to the United States by public，Very annoying。
The current situation in China and the United States，I can only say it is optional。
Traffic Index：★★★
Value Index：★★
Yahoo Ads
A platform that is more miserable than Bing，Just know that there is this platform。
Traffic Index：★★
Value Index：★
Yandex (Russian and Eastern European markets)
I personally think，This is a very worthy customer acquisition channel。Because it's very accurate。
If the product has a market in Russia and Eastern Europe，Then you must find a way to do Yandex and its advertising。
It is the largest search engine in the Russian-speaking region，Customer acquisition results are also good。
Traffic Index：★★★
Value Index：★★★★
Baidu (for Chinese and Southeast Asian markets)
There's nothing to say，Two words，Two words summary of customer acquisition channels：disappointment，Go through，
Bad things done in China，All spam content，Foreign trade is really useless。
Traffic Index：★
Value Index：★
Social Media Platformsand content platforms
LinkedIn (Business Home + ads)
The most important social platform in the B2B industry，Almost most of the internationally-related companies have settled in，
Now the Linkedin advertising function has been opened，And the effect is pretty good，It is a very worthwhile foreign trade customer acquisition social platform。
In the currently known cases，Some companies are very successful in Linkedin，
For a foreign trade company or team that has just started，I highly recommend doing Linkedin starting，
But be careful，Linkedin's account management is very strict，Prohibit unwarranted and overprone marketing content。
so，While doing it，Please make sure you publish every piece of information and article，All have certain value and quality。
Traffic Index：★★★★
Value Index：★★★★★
Facebook/Instagram (Advertising and Community Operations)
Why put them together，Because it's a company's product，Very high correlation。
but，Facebook has been getting worse in recent years，Whatsapp marketing of its own company is almost surpassing it，
But a lean camel is bigger than a horse，Facebook is still the top social comprehensive platform，Can't be ignored，Most foreign trade companies still have to do it。
Ins' foreign trade customer acquisition in certain fields，It's still very good，For example, beauty makeup，Clothing, etc.，As long as it is a product with visual needs，It's still very worth doing。
Traffic Index：★★★★★
Value Index：★★★
TikTok (short videos and live streaming)
Although it is our own product，But tell the truth，For our B2B customer acquisition results，Tiktok is still very weak at the moment。
It's too entertaining，Most of the traffic is entertainment，But if the company wants to be a brand，Still have to do it。
Foreign trade customer acquisition maybe it won't work，However, the brand power in certain characteristic fields must be very impressive.，
It should be noted that，Very difficult to start a number，Extremely high requirements for account environment。For example, IP needs foreign families，Mobile phone number must be real abroad, etc.，certainly，It is also possible to bypass these rules，I won't talk about it here。
Traffic Index：★★★★★
Value Index：★★★
X (Twitter) (Industry Topics and Interactions)
Focus on news and industry topics，Mainly brand power，
Never expect to acquire customers from X for foreign trade，But I think this is a platform worthy of deep cultivation，
Imagine，You are a well-known figure in the industry on X，How helpful will it be to your business?
Traffic Index：★★★★★
Value Index：★★★★
Pinterest (Home、Fashion product promotion)
Image link platform，Helps the website more，Not a customer acquisition platform。
Traffic Index：★★★
Value Index：★★★
YouTube (Video Marketing and Branding Channel)
Features：Video is at the heart of today，The future will become more and more important。
Be a customer，No matter which field it is，I recommend deep cultivation of the video track。
The world's largest video platform，No doubt。
It's not a customer acquisition platform，But it is definitely an important indirect customer acquisition channel。
Traffic Index：★★★★★
Value Index：★★★★★
Medium (Industry Blog Published)
Features：This is the world's largest blog platform，It brings together news from all walks of life，Industry Knowledge and Blog。
It can bring very high weight and traffic value to the website。
This is a customer acquisition channel worthy of foreign traders' deep cultivation。
Traffic Index：★★★★
Value Index：★★★★
Quora (Q&A Community Traffic Driving)
Features：Similar to the domestic Zhihu，But I think it's better than Zhihu。Gathering various languages，Various professional questions and answers。
Very high traffic，Very suitable for those who have their own website to go deep into，Create your own industry influence。
It is a very good indirect customer acquisition channel。
Traffic Index：★★★
Value Index：★★★★
Customs Data and Business Information
About this module，Some elite foreign trade salesmen can dig out very important information from here，And use this information to conquer the core personnel of the project，Very awesome。
This is a foreign trade customer acquisition channel that is the main attack，High failure rate，Depend on salesperson level very much。What we talked about before is basically passive foreign trade customer acquisition channels。
Most software is similar，The core is the accuracy of the data，For example, the head：
- Panjiva
- ImportGenius
- Tradeatlas
Their data are all good，More suitable for preparatory work，Plan and dig deeper with elite business for some specific markets。
How many months can you buy，Specifically used to deeply mine important data。
Traffic Index：★
Value Index：★★★★
Email Marketing
There are two types of，One is mass email，One is to let customers subscribe to emails。
Mass email is a pattern I don't like，It's just spam，In fact, many important emails are not accessible to customers。
We often encounter。
Independent Station
- Shopify (independent site construction)
- WordPress (Company Blog & SEO)
These two are put together，Independent website is its own foreign trade company website，
Some B2B companies regard independent websites as a simple display platform，Some attach great importance to independent sites，Taking independent websites as the brand's storefront and the main channel for B2B foreign trade customers。
Currently in the field of B2B foreign trade，Independent stations are still the most mainstream foreign trade customer acquisition channel，Utilize advertising and organic traffic to attract customers to the website for inquiries and transactions。
From 10 years ago，Until today，My opinion remains unchanged，Independent stations are still the most important channel for foreign trade customer acquisition。
Because of two reasons：
- Traffic limit = industry limit = brand limit。What does it mean，Website traffic can reach the traffic limit of related industries，No other platform can do it，Including youtube。
- The traffic acquisition cost can be 0。Of course, this is not something we can get customers without spending a penny。Meaning，I can spend a lot of money to get a lot of traffic quickly，You can also steadily produce the most valuable content，Let my website rank up on various search engines，Obtain organic traffic。
Looking at various network platforms，Most for-profit organizations gain customer accumulation and brand value accumulation if they want to do a good job of content.，In addition to websites and youtube，Other paid B2B platforms have almost no long-term accumulation of value。
As for Ali，Made in China.com B2B platform，That's even more two words，Want money，If you don't pay any money one day，Everything you accumulates in the early stages of your life。
So I do not recommend that small and medium-sized enterprises and newcomers touch any B2B charging platform。
The principle that has always been praised is，Be an independent website，Do social media and videos well，Accumulate website private domain traffic and brand value。
Transfer customers and brands，Hold it firmly in your own hands，Not subject to others。
Traffic Index：★★★★★☆
Value Index：★★★★★☆
Main customer acquisition channels are offline channels：
International Exhibition
It is worth noting that，my country will provide subsidies to international exhibitions to varying degrees，It is recommended that competent companies participate regularly，
Today's exhibition focus is not on attracting customers，Show strength，Arrange an appointment with an old customer to maintain a relationship。
Give some examples of more famous exhibitions：
- China Exhibition，For example, Canton Fair
- German Industrial Exhibition
- Hong Kong Exhibition
- American Fair
- Dubai Fair
Traffic Index：★★★★
Value Index：★★★★
Local visit
Proof of，Internationally，There is no more effective marketing than meeting customers。
Traffic Index：★
Value Index：★★★★★
Local advertisers collaborate
Advertising doesn't have to be online，Airports in some key countries，Advertising around city landmarks is also a good choice。
Traffic Index：★★★
Value Index：★★★
But today we won't talk about offline channels，Because in 2025，The main communication methods and customer acquisition methods of global trade，All online。
Of course, this does not mean that offline channels are not important，It's just because of limited space，I will explain in detail the special gameplay of offline customer acquisition channels another day.。
alright，Is today's super popular science helpful to everyone to understand foreign trade going overseas??