Hey everyone, I’m at that point where our brand is ready to expand beyond Russia and into Western Europe, but I’m honestly overwhelmed by where to even start with partnerships. We’ve had decent success with influencers back home, but the dynamics feel completely different when you’re trying to break into a new market where you don’t have existing connections or know the local creator landscape.
The main challenge is this: we could hire a local agency for each market, but that gets expensive fast and we end up signing contracts with people we’ve never worked with before. On the flip side, trying to vet and contact influencers directly is a time-suck—there are thousands of accounts that look relevant but might not actually align with our brand values or audience.
I’ve been thinking about whether there’s a smarter approach to this. Like, what if there was a way to access a curated marketplace where agencies and influencers in different regions were already vetted and could communicate in multiple languages? That would save us the whole “spray and pray” phase where you’re just cold-emailing random creators.
I know some of you have gone through international expansion successfully. How did you actually find and vet your first partners in a new market? Did you use an agency, build relationships organically, or something else? And more importantly—how did you know they were actually good partners before signing on?
Man, I’m going through this right now with my SaaS company in Germany and the Netherlands. What I’ve learned is that the biggest mistake is assuming your Russian influencer playbook translates directly. The legal landscape is different, the audience expectations are different, everything.
What’s saved me is finding one really good local partner who understood both sides—they had roots in the region but also experience working with brands from the post-Soviet space. That person became like a translator for our strategy. They could tell us, “Hey, that influencer strategy won’t work here because regulations around native advertising are stricter.”
My honest advice: start with talking to people in your network or industry who’ve done this. Cold outreach to agencies rarely works well. Ask them specifically: “Who would you trust to represent your brand in this market?” Then follow those leads. It takes longer, but the partners you get are exponentially better.
Okay, so from a creator’s perspective, I can tell you what doesn’t work: when brands come into a new market and just start DMing random influencers with templated messages in broken English or German. Instant no.
What actually works is when a brand shows they’ve done their homework. Like, when someone reaches out and mentions they specifically picked me because my audience aligns with their product, not because I have 100K followers. That’s when I’m interested.
If you’re looking for partners, try to find people who are already in the community you want to reach. Micro-influencers especially are super connected locally, and if you find the right micro-influencer, they can introduce you to other creators, agencies, even other brands who’ve done this successfully.
Also, don’t underestimate agencies run by creators or people who used to be creators. They get why authenticity matters and usually have way better relationships with influencers than traditional agencies do.
This is a classic go-to-market problem, and I’d approach it the same way I’d approach any new market entry: start with research, then test, then scale.
Froma data standpoint, I’d recommend:
- Mapping Phase: Spend 2-3 weeks just observing the influencer landscape in your target market. Who are the major players? Which agencies have real influence? What’s the pricing range?
- Pilot Partnerships: Run small campaigns with 3-5 different partners simultaneously. Give them the same brief, same budget, and see who delivers. This tells you everything about execution quality.
- Analyze & Double Down: Pick the 1-2 winners and gradually increase investment with them.
The reason I’d avoid going all-in with one agency right away is simple: you reduce risk and get multiple data points. Plus, agencies up their game when they know you’re testing options.
One more thing—make sure whoever you partner with has experience scaling campaigns. Market entry requires growth mentality, not just good connections.