How to Build a Stronger Talent Presence in New Markets

When you’re launching into a new market, how you show up matters — especially if you’re launching in a country or region with low brand awareness. 

According to Brendon Lush, founder and employer brand advisor at DamnRight.io, the key is distinguishing between the elements of your employer brand that should stay constant everywhere and those that can flex to fit local markets.

“Expanding your talent markets relies on building a strong employer brand that is able to speak to and attract folks from different backgrounds,” Lush says. “But achieving this is complex. You’re not changing culture to fit each market, but how you communicate it based on changing context and nuance. It’s less about translating your employer brand directly, and more about adapting it into something that’s attractive for folks in your new markets.”

Identifying what’s relevant to each market could mean adjusting candidate messaging to highlight different aspects of your company culture that resonate most strongly in each region.

For example, if you’re expanding into a region or country where work-life balance is a cultural value, spotlighting employee wellness and flexible working opportunities may help drive quicker market relevance.

TA teams should also consider how their employer brand shows up across social media, brand visuals, local sourcing channels, and even in benefits messaging. Because if your candidates don’t feel seen and represented by your organization, they won’t apply to your roles. 

Read more: How to govern your global employer brand: A practical framework for consistency and local impact

As you start hiring in your new market, small inconsistencies in your processes can become magnified — especially if your hiring managers aren’t familiar with local communication styles or cultural norms. 

Allowed to run unchecked, this can do serious harm to your employer brand before you’ve even achieved liftoff. 

Building standardized processes is key to making sure your interview process is fair and equitable off the bat while ensuring operational rigor and a great candidate experience.

“One of the biggest challenges when you’re hiring in a new market is that hiring managers often don’t have experience recruiting there before,” Lush says. “Cultural communication norms can differ significantly — what reads as confidence in one market might seem pushy in another, or what appears as lack of engagement could actually be cultural politeness. A lot of signals can be misread when you don’t understand the local context.”

To mitigate any potential for an inconsistent candidate experience, Lush suggests calibrating hiring processes and branding to be consistent across all markets — leaving wiggle room for cultural tweaks.

This might include:

• – Standardized interviewer training and hiring processes
• – Calibrated scorecards and structured interview questions
• – Clear guidelines on how hiring processes can be adjusted according to local norms
• – Centralized reporting that can track hiring outcomes across regions and hiring managers to monitor equity and consistency

When expanding into new markets, strong local partnerships are critical — not just for hiring success, but for operational rigor.

Lush says finding the right partner can help TA teams navigate the more complex pieces of expansion — from navigating local labor laws to managing other legal and compliance issues specific to each region. But local expertise also plays a strategic role, meaning organizations nail their localized employer branding and value proposition right off the bat. 

When assessing partners for fit, Lush has three core criteria.

“The first thing you need to look for in a partner is their evidence of success — can they showcase that they’re able to deliver in those markets? At the end of the day, delivery is your biggest priority,” he noted.

“The second thing to look at is their network. How much reach do they have? One of the fastest shortcuts is when they already know people in the market — they can tap into existing relationships and find talent much faster. Third, you need to assess their local market knowledge — you need a partner who understands the finer nuances of labor laws, compliance requirements, and cultural expectations.”

But beyond the operational pieces, Lush says that the most effective partnerships are based on alignment. 

“All of this is underpinned by making sure your partner has a strong understanding of your brand and mission,” he notes. “You need people that are aligned to your organization’s goals — you want them to be as excited about building your company as you are.”

Embedded recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) can help TA teams strike that balance between local knowledge, business alignment, and speed to market — providing the cultural and operational context to ensure you build a strong, fast-ramping hiring foundation. Organizations can also invest in local culture consultants and legal experts to help accelerate initial hiring efforts without sacrificing consistency, compliance, or candidate experience.

Global talent markets are in constant motion — and moments of policy change can open new doors for fast-moving teams. The recent increase in H-1B visa costs in the US, for example, has disrupted relocation plans for thousands of highly skilled professionals. For organisations based in Europe and the UK, this presents a timely opportunity to attract global talent and strengthen their presence in these regions.

European startups are already stepping in — ramping up outreach and promoting alternative pathways for tech workers reconsidering a move to the US. Cleo founder Barney Hussey-Yeo described it as an unprecedented opportunity to welcome exceptional talent into the region. And it’s already making an impact: several startups are seeing a surge in applications from candidates previously focused on the US market.

The takeaway for talent teams?

Stay close to the signals. Whether it’s visa policy, economic shifts or evolving candidate expectations, the strongest hiring strategies are those that respond quickly — and intentionally — to change. In uncertain moments, clarity and care win.

In fast-moving environments like this, real-time feedback becomes your most valuable signal. That’s where testing and iteration come in.

As you launch in a new market, continuous measurement and adjustment are critical to maximize your chances of success. Lush looks at this process similarly to a product sprint — quickly testing and measuring which approaches work, and which don’t.

“You need to track the metrics to allow rapid iterations on testing your hypotheses,” he says. “Track core metrics like application rates, candidate drop-off, time-to-hire — the ones you’d usually track. But in the context of that new market, you also need to be refining communication and messaging — building frameworks around how you communicate, and how you plan to test what’s working.

“A/B testing candidate messaging and job ads will help you see what’s resonating in your new market, and give you data to drive stronger content and communication with your ideal candidate profile.”

Lush also suggests building in guardrails across the whole hiring funnel to help your expansion efforts scale, including:

• – Candidate feedback loops to identify where communication and employer branding efforts aren’t landing
• – Localized guidelines to help teams on the ground adjust and expand messaging in response to shifting market data
• – Regular pulse surveys among new hires to assess gaps between their perception of your organization during the hiring process, and the reality of day-to-day work
• – Cross-functional reviews with hiring managers to assess candidate engagement and interview challenges on the ground

The key, says Lush, is establishing these frameworks prior to launch — not when you’re already rolling: “In a new market, the speed of your ability to iterate often matters more than getting everything perfect straight away.”