Influencers to expand your brand

Social networks don't only dominate many aspects of our daily lives - their presence is growing in the business world too. In recent times, influencer marketing has become a particularly powerful tool to help businesses in a number of ways. Today we'll look at the figures and see how influencers can help brands expand internationally.

Influencers are people who've gained thousands of followers on social networks like YouTube or Instagram, who people perceive as having a certain level of authority on certain subjects. And this is why they have the power to influence the public - hence the name.

The advantages of influencer marketing activities

It hasn't taken businesses long to realise the huge potential that can be tapped from using these people's social networks when it comes to publicising their products and services. It's no wonder that the average return on investment for these types of strategies is 6.5 dollars for every dollar invested. Some of the benefits brands can reap from these marketing activities are:

• Increase in traffic: if a brand appears across more channels it'll be visible to a wider audience, and a website will get a considerable increase in visits.
• Creative content: influencers are always trying to differentiate themselves, and are always looking for new and creative ways of getting their message across to make it more attractive. It means you no longer need an advertising agency.
• Gain notoriety: appearing in unconventional media sources leads to better brand recognition, especially among digital native generations who represent a large percentage of the global market.
• Use of alternative channels: agents can use the social networks that the brand doesn't usually have a presence on. For example, if the influencers we're going to work with are particularly active on Facebook, there's no need for you to permanently maintain a Facebook account.
• It's more cost effective: using your advertising budget for this type of marketing activity is more profitable, and more directly measurable than traditional methods.

How this strategy can help expand your brand

If you're looking at a marketing strategy you want to implement at an international level nowadays, you should consider using influencers. It's likely the tactic won't work in isolation, but it's very useful as a component of your overall plan.

Often when we plan on penetrating new markets we find ourselves with barriers to entry. We're not familiar with the culture, we spend more time and money identifying our target audience, and sometimes all this effort only leads to poor results.

Using local influencers is a good option for introducing yourself to a new market, or for testing how your brand will be received with less risk and investment than attempting to establish a branch in the country.

Influencers tend to already be well-known locally, and they have an available and wide base of followers - in excess of a million in some cases. This gives your brand - indirectly - more than a million potential customers: without having to invest what you'd need to invest in conventional advertising to reach the same number of consumers, and without spending too much time on market research.

What's more, trying to introduce a new brand to a foreign audience can raise suspicions from the local market, which could mistrust an 'outsider' brand. But if the brand is introduced by people who generate trust, and whose opinions are considered valid, the doors to internationalisation will open up to you.

And if you've also got materials, translated and localised for this specific market, success is sure to follow.

When we take all this into account, it's no surprise there's been a boom in these types of campaigns, with many large companies already taking a chance on influencer marketing.

If you need content translating and localising for your international expansion strategy, get in touch with us. Our team of native professional translators can help you establish your brand in international markets.