Empower the Influencer Economy with PhotonPay
Product Update | 2024-04-26 02:04:00
As Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands continue to evolve, more global companies are exploring strategies to effectively engage with target markets and win over local consumers. One key approach is influencer marketing, involving strategic partnerships with global opinion leaders.
In this edition, PhotonPay engages in a deep-dive discussion with Terry, the head of international expansion at a leading DTC brand. We examine the models and insights driving global influencer marketing, analyze the challenges related to managing cross-border bank accounts and payment processes in international operations.
Influencer Marketing Drives Global Business
Terry has extensive experience in the 3C digital accessories industry. Since 2018, he has transitioned from traditional foreign trade to focusing on international direct-to-consumer (DTC) websites. Today, Terry’s products are widely recognized and purchased in regions such as North America and Southeast Asia, with monthly sales growing from an initial $300,000 to a remarkable $3 million.
At the company’s inception, Terry studied the policies and regulations of various countries and researched local market conditions. He concluded, “Building a global brand requires more than just high-quality products and competitive pricing; it’s equally important to capture traffic through diversified marketing strategies and high-quality promotion channels.”
Through years of operational experience, Terry discovered that beyond traditional advertising methods, influencer marketing—known for its high cost-effectiveness, quick results, and relatively low costs—aligns best with the brand’s business development strategy. In fact, influencer marketing has become an inseparable part of their growth path.
"Overseas influencers active on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, and Facebook have unparalleled advantages in terms of online influence, localized reach, and personalized marketing capabilities. They can rapidly expand the brand’s exposure and connect with the desired target audience. Additionally, these influencers are more familiar with local market trends, consumer habits, and fan preferences, making it easier to create marketing content that resonates with local users. Therefore, when selecting key opinion leaders (KOLs), we prioritize those with high niche focus, strong fan loyalty, and frequent interactions. These factors help us automatically identify and collaborate with high-quality influencers." Terry shared based on his own experience.
The Global Influence of Influencer Marketing
With the rise of short video content, especially the increasing influence of TikTok globally, influencer marketing has become a crucial part of the global marketing landscape. A set of data helps us clearly see the real impact of global influencer marketing:
A study by the UK-based social media integration agency We Are Social shows that for Gen Z, a demographic highly valued by brands, the appeal of celebrities is limited. Instead, Gen Z prefers to follow micro-influencers and brand "superfans"—whose endorsements feel more authentic and credible, igniting genuine enthusiasm for the brands.
According to impact.com, "Today, a large number of consumers tend to refer to the advice and content of KOLs before making purchasing decisions."
The 2023-2024 Overseas Influencer Marketing Ecosystem Report by NoxInfluencer reveals that in 2023, 33% of brands spent between $50,000 to $100,000 on influencer marketing, and 27% spent between $100,000 to $500,000, indicating that overseas influencer marketing has become mainstream in brand strategies.
Influencer Marketing Hub forecasts that by 2028, the global market size of overseas influencer marketing platforms will grow to $84.89 billion, a significant increase from the $16.4 billion valuation in 2022. By 2024, this figure is expected to reach $22.3 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.4% over this period.
Efficiency and Cost
In high-frequency, multi-scenario daily marketing promotions, complex payment issues inevitably arise:
Complicated Payments and Inefficient Payment Management
Brand merchants often need to make payments to multiple influencers at the same time, who are spread across different regions around the world, each with different preferred currencies and payment methods. Managing numerous multi-currency payment transactions of varying amounts and tracking payment statuses is a challenge faced by many global companies.
High Currency Exchange Costs and Uncontrolled Losses
When paying global influencers, it's common to encounter situations where the default payment currency differs from the influencer's preferred currency, leading to currency exchange issues. Due to exchange rate fluctuations and intermediary bank fees, the amount received by the influencer may not match their expectations. To avoid impacting the effectiveness of transactions, brands often have to bear additional costs, which can invisibly reduce the return on investment (ROI).
“Before using PhotonPay, we collaborated with local banks in different countries and other payment institutions. However, due to inconvenient cross-border communication, low efficiency, high manual service fees, opaque exchange rates, and slow payment processing and settlement times, these problems were never effectively resolved,” Terry said.
How Does PhotonPay Boost Global Influencer Marketing?
In early 2021, Terry was introduced to PhotonPay by a friend. To address common issues like international payments and fee management, PhotonPay provided Terry's team with a more convenient, efficient, and secure one-stop global payment solution. This solution resolved the inefficiencies of cross-border independent site payments, facilitating the advancement of marketing and promotion for cross-border businesses and the expansion into overseas markets.
One-Stop Global Payment Solutions
• Online Processing, Low Cost
No need for lengthy in-person transactions; PhotonPay allows for quick online setup of multi-currency local accounts in various countries. It supports payments in the original currency or via SWIFT transfers, meeting businesses' needs for low-cost, fast payments. A dedicated customer success team is available to assist sellers in quickly launching their global operations.
• Global Coverage, Efficient Fund Flow
PhotonPay connects directly to global local clearing systems, covering over 180 countries and regions, supporting more than 60 major currencies, with settlement times as fast as T+0. The platform also supports a “bulk payment” function to streamline international business expansion. If the balance in the payment currency is insufficient, PhotonPay will use competitive interbank exchange rates to convert currencies, ensuring payments are completed efficiently and cost-effectively.
More Advantages of PhotonPay
• Professional and Convenient
PhotonPay is fully tailored to user needs, with a simple and user-friendly interface for one-stop global fund management. The team provides professional, efficient, and timely support to help cross-border businesses minimize labor costs.
• Transaction Security
PhotonPay is fully certified and licensed in multiple countries and regions, collaborating with licensed financial institutions domestically. It is PCI-DSS certified, ensuring bank-level risk control and anti-money laundering systems, which create a secure cross-border payment environment, safeguarding the funds of merchants and customers.
• Prompt Response
PhotonPay offers professional team support with 24/7 availability, ensuring timely responses. Advisors and technical experts follow up throughout the process to resolve customer inquiries, ensuring the safe flow of global funds for every client.
“Currently, 95% of our payments are processed through PhotonPay, which has provided us with a seamless payment experience and doubled our sales, enabling rapid global business expansion in a short time.” After solving payment challenges across different platforms and countries effortlessly, Terry highly praised PhotonPay’s innovative payment solutions.
As a leading global payment platform and provider of digital financial infrastructure, PhotonPay will continue to prioritize “innovation” as the core of its products and services, constantly optimizing and enhancing fintech products and services to empower businesses in expanding into new global markets.
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