How to Research Audiences and Competitors Before Launching a Global Campaign

You've been asked to launch a campaign in several countries. The deadline is close, the brief is still a little vague, and someone has already suggested, "Can't we just translate the ads that worked last time?"

I understand the temptation. I've spent more than 16 years planning and running campaigns, and I know how quickly research can turn into a very large spreadsheet that nobody wants to open.

But translation alone won't tell you whether buyers use the same job titles, search for the same problems, trust the same proof, or pay attention to the same channels. A little focused research can help you make better choices before you put budget behind them.

What Decision Does Your Research Need to Support?

Start with one question. Are you choosing which countries to prioritize? Trying to identify the right audience? Deciding what message to lead with or where to advertise?

Write that down before you start collecting reports. It helps you separate useful evidence from interesting information that won't affect the campaign.

Then check what you already know. Customer interviews, CRM data, sales calls, support conversations, and campaign results can reveal what people need and what prompts them to act. Quantitative data can show you a pattern; conversations can help explain it. Semrush's audience research guide recommends combining sources such as analytics, surveys, interviews, and social listening to build a fuller picture.

Who's Involved in the Buying Decision Locally?

In B2B, the person who uses a product may not approve the budget. The buying group might include a user, evaluator, budget owner, executive sponsor, and someone from finance or security who needs to review the purchase.

Map those roles for each market. Then check how people and teams are actually described there. The title you use at headquarters might not be common locally—or the responsibility might sit in a different department.

LinkedIn Audience Insights can help you explore characteristics such as job titles, companies, and industries within a matched or saved audience. It's a useful view of people you may be able to reach on LinkedIn, not a census of every potential buyer.

What Words Do Buyers Actually Use?

Your company might call something "workflow automation." Buyers might call it "getting approvals without chasing people across three systems." Those differences matter when you're writing ads, choosing keywords, or explaining what the product does.

Look at local search terms, industry publications, customer reviews, forums, and social discussions. Pay attention to the phrases people use to describe the problem, the questions they ask, and the alternatives they consider. Don't assume a translated keyword carries the same meaning—or that people search for it at all.

Search insights can help you spot demand and language patterns, but a popular search term is a clue, not proof of buying intent. Google Ads, for example, provides search trend and search term insights to help advertisers explore market demand and the language people use.

Who Are You Really Competing With?

Don't stop at companies that sell a similar product. Your competitors may include local specialists, substitute solutions, an in-house process, or the familiar option of doing nothing.

Review what those alternatives say in public. What problem do they lead with? Who do they appear to be speaking to? What proof, offer, or promise do they use? Where does the ad send people?

Ad libraries and paid-search research tools can help you find active ads, messages, and keywords. Meta's Ad Library lets people search ads running across Meta technologies, while tools such as Semrush offer views of competitors' paid-search activity.

This research tells you what competitors are saying. It doesn't tell you whether their ads are profitable. We can't see their sales dashboard from the outside, unfortunately.

How Do You Turn Research Into a Campaign Plan?

For each country, summarize what you've found:

Separate what you know from what you suspect. A competitor's ad is evidence that they're using a message; it doesn't prove that customers prefer it. A platform's audience estimate can help you plan a test; it doesn't confirm that those people will become qualified leads.

Can One Campaign Work Everywhere?

Sometimes parts of a campaign can travel well. Sometimes the message, proof, or creative needs to change. The only way to know is to test.

In an Ipsos analysis of more than 1,200 ads tested in at least two countries, only 31% reached the same level of performance across both. That doesn't mean every market needs completely different creative. It does mean that "it worked at home" is a starting hypothesis, not a performance forecast.

Ask local colleagues, partners, or marketers to review your assumptions. If you can, talk to people who fit the audience. Ask how they deal with the problem today, what would prompt them to look for a different solution, and what proof they'd need before considering one.

Then run a focused test. Use the results—and feedback from sales—to decide what to keep, what to adapt, and where to invest next.

A global campaign doesn't start with one universal persona and a translation brief. It starts with the right questions for each market. And if the research spreadsheet has started to develop its own personality, it may be time to simplify the plan.