A winning international strategy derisks economic instability

As the economic climate in the UK remains uncertain, an increasing number of brands are looking to scale internationally. Two of the most attractive markets are the US and EU.

The most common mistake brands make is to try to enter the US gradually with no strategy. With much higher advertising costs, you will blow your budget in no time.

Strategies that work for entering the US market include: targeting either the East Coast or West Coast; a city-by-city approach starting with bigger cities across the country; carrying out market research to discover areas with similar demographics to your current customers; and an omnichannel strategy where you open stores or pop-ups where you are targeting.

The EU is a very different beast – with a diverse cultural landscape and distinct consumer behaviours. Having the right cross-border and localisation strategies is crucial. For instance, it is possible to enter most EU markets without a localised website or payment methods, but this not the case the single market’s two biggest nations: Germany and France.

Since the onset of the internet, performance marketing has allowed for highly targeted marketing campaigns – and is behind most brand’s online growth. However, iOS 14 greatly impacted targeting, narrowing attribution windows and reducing the quantity of tracked conversions.

In an environment where quick results are few and far between, ROI has to be measured differently, and this has led many marketers to return to brand.

Upper-funnel tactics are a powerful opportunity to drive incremental reach and generate new customer demand. We suggest a growth strategy that leverages full-funnel activation alongside brand solutions.

Managed correctly on Meta, cheaper traffic achieved through investment in brand will feed into your retargeting campaigns, resulting in cheaper CPA . The wider and less competitive audience size, in addition to additional learnings, allow the algorithm to learn faster. Brands that continue to only invest in performance will limit their growth and will see increased CAC.