Case Study – ECR advice helps Oxensis to create a modern, relevant International Website

Oxsensis develops highly-sensitive instruments for precise monitoring of factors such as pressure, temperature and acceleration, within harsh environments. An example would be measuring pressures within the aero engines. Established in 2003, Oxsensis is based in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

Oxsensis wanted a professional-looking website that clearly conveyed the strengths of the business and appealed to the international investor audience

The core business proposition is to sell development projects to gas turbine producers. “We are clearly not targeting a mass market and do not need a website as a direct sales tool”, explained David Hemsley, Oxsensis Business Development Manager. “However, from the outset Oxsensis has attracted investor funding and Blue Chip international companies, so a website was established to convey a professional corporate identity”.

 

Oxsensis had always enjoyed international sales and, increasingly, the business wanted to capitalise on this interest. “A public presence can make such a difference to customer and investor perception and we knew we needed a more aspirational, international-facing website”, said David.

 

Their chosen web-development agency had been briefed to ‘freshen-up’ the website on a modest budget. David explained, “Their proposal looked great but we didn’t want to undertake all of their suggestions and were not sure which to prioritise. Then our UKTI International Trade Advisor, Terry Enga, came to us with a suggestion”. Terry recommended UKTI’s Export Communications Review (ECR). The ECR provides practical, impartial and straightforward advice to help companies improve their communications with overseas markets. Each review is conducted by a communications expert and is tailored to the company’s individual requirements.

 

Terry arranged for Notburga Preining, Export Communications Consultant, to meet with David and the web-development team. “The meeting was a useful review – Notburga asked us lots of questions which really helped us to prioritise what we wanted to achieve with our website”, said David. Following the review meeting, Notburga sent a detailed report of recommendations, including advice to help:

 

  • Ensure the English version of the Oxsensis website is more effective for international customers: for example, Notburga recommended an International tab on the home page and also demonstrated how to change the language and phraseology so the business conveyed a more international image. “We hadn’t appreciated that the North Americans do not typically use the word ‘bespoke’!”

 

  • Increase the ranking in search engines for export markets: including the development of a social media strategy and creating a ‘responsive design’ ensuring the website is mobile- and tablet-friendly. “Our web-development agency had also suggested this and the coincidence of advice helped us to realise the importance of this recommendation”.

 

  • Encourage international customers to make contact: “We’d never given much thought as to how some international customers, who can read English but infrequently write English, would be able to respond to us and register their interest. Notburga’s ‘to do’ list was very useful”.

 

The step-by-step report enabled Oxsensis to identify the website changes required, resulting in a modern, relevant website which enhances the perception of the business. “Notburga’s independent advice, coupled with the recommendations of our web-development agency, gave us the confidence to invest in the most appropriate changes”, explained David.

 

As a consequence of the enhancements made to the website, our peak hit rate has doubled and our social media releases attract over 1,000 views.  More generally,  the business has received high levels of positive feedback both from internal stakeholders and from our international customer base.

 

“The whole ECR process was very practical and professional”, explained David. “It was the catalyst for us to enhance our international image and showcase the maturing technology and market progress that the business is making”.

 

 If you are thinking about developing your website for an international audience then maybe an ECR could help you too?

The Export Communications Review

The Export Communications Review (ECR) is delivered nationwide by a network of specially-trained accredited export communications consultants. Together with the client, the consultant puts together a programme of reviews to suit the needs and complexity of the exporter and their goals. Each review costs £500 + VAT, however, established companies with fewer than 250 employees may be eligible for a UKTI subsidy of £250 towards the cost of each of their first three reviews.  

For more information, please visit www.ukti.gov.uk/ecr or contact the ECR team at the address below.

UK Trade & Investment is the United Kingdom Government’s lead organisation for supporting UK companies in overseas business, and attracting inward investment.

For more information please contact your ECR team on 0330 300 0021 or [email protected].

Please follow this link to see how other Companies have benefitted from the ECR

For more information, please visit www.ukti.gov.uk/ecr or contact the ECR team

[email protected]

UK Trade & Investment is the United Kingdom Government’s lead organisation for supporting UK companies in overseas business, and attracting inward investment.

 

Sectors: Aerospace, Aerospace Component Manufacturing, and Maintenance
Topics: E-commerce and Getting Started
Export Action Plan