Spread over a vast expanse of territory, most of which is unsettled, Canada is the second largest nation by physical size in the world. It also has a very well educated and well paid consumer base. Long ignored by the far larger market to the south, Canada is now being noted as an important market to concentrate on.
A few months ago, Metamend Vice President of Marketing, Murray Owen, asked a number of the Metamend staff to share our best tips for marketing to Canadian consumers. Murray had been contacted by Natalie Myers, a writer with the well-known Internet marketers’ guide MarketingSherpa, about a two-part series on marketing to Canadians. The first part of her article is running as a special report at the MarketingSherpa website.
SUMMARY: It’s time to start thinking about marketing to Canadians. The Canadian dollar is strong; most Canadians shop on the Internet, and online ad and keyword-search rates are favorable.
Here’s part one of our Special Report on how to market north of the American border. Includes major challenges, survival tips, promotion examples and plenty of practical tips for making websites appeal to Canadian consumers and be in accordance with Canadian regulations.
The report covers a number of subtle but critical differences between consumers in Canada and the United States, many of which are difficult for non-Canadians to fully understand.
Some take-aways from the report:
- Just four years ago, the Canadian dollar was worth 62 to 64 cents of the U.S. dollar. That means “there’s a lot of pent-up demand for U.S. goods and services,†says Murray Owen, VP Marketing, Metamend Software and Design Ltd.
- Vacations, electronics, cars and real estate, for example, are hot items for Canadian consumers.
- Challenge #1. Physical distance between buyer and seller
The three biggest turnoffs for Canadian online shoppers are shipping, duty and custom costs….- Challenge #2. Language and cultural differences
Anticipate language differences… Consider behavioral differences…- Challenge #3. Creating a Canadian presence
Show Canadians that you take their market seriously and you want to do all you can to appeal to them.- Know the Rules and Regulations
Canada’s PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) laws are similar to CAN-SPAM in the U.S. Here are some differences…
If you are interested in addressing the affluent Canadian online market, Natalie Myers’ MarketingSherpa report, “Marketing to Canadians…” (part1) is a good place to start. We’re looking forward to reading part2
Have a question and need quick answers? 
PIPEDA and CAN-SPAM are about as similar as apples and oranges… CAN-SPAM is a marketing law dealing with the rules, regulations and structures to have a “legal” online marketing program.
PIPEDA is a “PRIVACY” law, and has nothing to do with email marketing or spam… It has everything to do with how you can collect, use, store and maintain Personal information on a Canadian buyer. There are 10 fundamental principles that you need to follow – find them here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ecic-ceac.nsf/en/gv00466e.html
For a Canadian comparison to CAN-SPAM you need to look at Senate Bill – s235 (The Spam Act).
Also for businesses I’d recommend reading the PIPEDA Checklist prepared by 4 leading Canadian Privacy Practitioners: http://tinyurl.com/PIPEDA
I’ll let Sherpa know about this too…
Cheers, a Proud Canadian Privacy Professional
Comment by Matt – CIPP/C — Saturday, July 12, 2008 @ 6:51 am