When a brand looks to expand its reach through influencer marketing into new markets, choosing the right strategy can significantly impact success. Cristina, brand activation lead at Boost, shares valuable insights during her interview with Andrea on the Giga blog about two common approaches: working with agencies and hiring local General Managers. Each strategy comes with its own set of advantages and challenges.
Working Through an Agency
Advantages:
- Expertise and Connections: Agencies specializing in influencer marketing often bring a wealth of knowledge and established relationships with content creators. This can expedite the process of finding the right influencers and crafting campaigns that resonate with the target audience. As Cristina notes, "we have been using a local agency, influencer agencies that they can support, especially to start in a new market."
- Resource Efficiency: Utilizing an agency can save time and internal resources, allowing a company to focus on its core operations while the agency handles the complexities of influencer partnerships.
- Scalability: Agencies are typically equipped to scale efforts quickly, which is crucial when a brand wants to expand rapidly across multiple markets or regions.
Challenges:
- Higher Costs: Agencies will add to the campaign's overall cost due to their service fees.
- Less Control: Depending on the agency, brands might find themselves with less control over the selection process and campaign execution, leading to potential misalignments with brand values.
Hiring Local General Managers
Advantages:
- Market Specific Insights: Local managers possess intimate knowledge of their markets. They understand cultural nuances and consumer behavior better, which is essential for tailoring campaigns that engage effectively. Cristina highlights this advantage, explaining that they have "country managers in the Baltics, for example, and in other Scandinavian markets like Finland, Norway... they are also the expert on their own market."
- Direct Control and Communication: Having an in-house team allows for more direct interaction and quicker adjustments in strategy, ensuring that campaigns remain aligned with the brand's goals.
- Building Long-term Relationships: Local managers can cultivate deeper relationships with influencers, leading to more authentic and sustained engagements.
Challenges:
- Resource Intensive: Setting up teams in new countries requires significant investment in recruitment, training, and management.
- Slower Scale-Up: Unlike agencies that can leverage existing relationships and infrastructure, building a team from scratch can slow down market entry and scaling efforts.
Cristina's experience at Boost showcases a blended approach, using both local expertise and agency support to maximize the effectiveness of their influencer marketing campaigns in new markets. This strategy leverages the strengths of both options while mitigating their respective weaknesses.
When considering an expansion strategy, brands must evaluate their specific needs, budget, and long-term goals. The choice between using an agency or hiring local managers should align with the brand’s operational model and growth strategy. As seen with Boost, sometimes a hybrid approach that adapts to each market's unique demands and opportunities might be the most effective way to expand globally.
In the words of Cristina, leveraging both local insight and professional agency support can provide "a good setup... that allow[s] us to really build strong relationships and create campaigns and content that truly works." This dual approach not only optimizes market penetration efforts but also ensures that these efforts resonate deeply with new audiences, maintaining brand integrity and effectiveness across borders.
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