I want to walk through something we pulled off recently that I think other LATAM-based brands should hear about. Not because it was perfect, but because it showed us what actually works when you’re going from LATAM into the US market.
So the product: a premium beauty brand, established in Mexico and Brazil, known locally but zero presence in the US. They were nervous about expansion—and rightfully so. Most LATAM brands struggle because they either try to replicate their local market strategy (doesn’t work) or they hire a US agency that doesn’t understand their DNA (also doesn’t work).
What we did instead: we started by identifying creators in the US who already had cultural relevance in LATAM communities. Not mainstream US influencers. We’re talking creators who had built audiences bridging both markets—bilingual, bicultural perspective. There are way more of these people than you’d think, especially in cities with large Spanish-speaking populations.
First phase was positioning. The brand came to us worried their “luxury, heritage” angle wouldn’t land in the US market. We tested it anyway with smaller creators, and found something interesting: US audiences did respond to heritage, but they wanted to understand the story, not just the positioning. So we shifted the brief. Instead of “we’ve been doing this for 20 years,” it became “here’s how our founder learned this craft in Mexico and why it matters.”
Second phase, we went wider with mid-tier creators. By this point, we had performance data showing what resonated, so the briefs were way tighter. creators weren’t guessing—they had clear creative direction.
What actually moved the needle: we treated US expansion as a relationship-building phase, not a conversion phase. We didn’t optimize for immediate sales. We optimized for content that built trust and educated audiences. That freed creators to be more authentic, which paradoxically led to better sales.
Third phase: long-term partnerships. We identified the creators whose content performed best and proposed ongoing relationships instead of one-off campaigns. One creator we work with now is basically a brand ambassador, continuously creating content, testing new angles. Her content looks organic, but it’s strategic.
Numbers: First month, we burned through budget on a lot of content that didn’t perform. But by month four, we had reduced cost-per-acquisition by 40% compared to paid ads, and retention was significantly better.
The biggest learning: US expansion isn’t about finding the biggest creators. It’s about finding creators who understand why your product matters to the specific audience you’re targeting in the US. That’s different for every brand.
If you’re a LATAM brand thinking about the US, what specific concerns are you running into? Are you working with local agencies, or are you thinking about building this in-house?