Communicating in the United States was a crucial step for the success of Gelateria Gentile in New York.
When we started managing communications for Gelateria Gentile in New York, as Agenzia Straordinaria, we faced a competitive, dynamic, and, above all, culturally different environment. Gelateria Gentile, with its five gelato shops across the Big Apple, represents Italian excellence in the world of artisanal gelato. However, communicating with the American audience requires a completely different strategy compared to Italy—not just in terms of language, but especially in terms of culture and marketing.
Communicating in the United States: Marketing Strategies
1. Adapting the brand to local expectations
One of the key elements of our strategy was adapting Gelateria Gentile’s social media strategy to the American market without losing the brand’s Italian essence. The United States, and especially New York, is famous for an audience that values quality but also seeks quick and immediate experiences. For this reason, we reduced the use of long, nostalgic narratives typical of Italian communication in favor of clear, concise, and product-focused messages.
Additionally, we optimized social channels for the American audience, ensuring that the content was SEO-friendly and included the most relevant keywords for the local market, such as “authentic Italian gelato in New York” and “best artisanal gelato.” This significantly improved the brand’s organic visibility, allowing us to gain over 1,000 new organic followers without the use of paid advertising.
2. Influencer marketing, UGC, and local partnerships
In the United States, influencer marketing plays a crucial role. We worked with local food and lifestyle influencers who have a strong presence on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. These influencers, with thousands of followers, reviewed Gelateria Gentile’s gelato, greatly increasing engagement and bringing new customers into the stores.
User Generated Content (UGC) also played a key role in communicating with our target audience in the United States. Every day, we receive dozens of user-created content that we select and repost, both in stories and as posts, to add more value and a sense of community.
Moreover, we leveraged partnerships with complementary brands like Ponti USA and Espressoh, integrating the Italian artisanal gelato into shared experiences with the American audience. These collaborations allowed us to expand our customer base, leveraging Italian authenticity with brands already established in the United States.
Optimizing online advertising campaigns
One of the biggest challenges in the U.S. market is online competition. For Gelateria Gentile, we implemented a series of paid advertising campaigns on social media, targeting specific neighborhoods in New York. These campaigns were segmented by age, interests, and purchasing behaviors, and focused on concepts like “authenticity” and “premium experience,” values particularly appreciated by high-end American audiences.
In this case, the differences with the Italian market became vast. Specifically, the average CPC in the Food Sector is around $2.69, compared to €0.42 in Italy, and the average CPM in the Food Sector is as high as $18.69, compared to €2.80 in Italy. This, of course, in terms of bid optimization, means working extremely precisely on targeting to avoid budget waste.
Communicating in the United States vs. Communicating in Italy
From our experience with Gelateria Gentile, clear differences between communication in the two countries emerged:
Product orientation vs. relationship building: In Italy, communication often revolves around building a long-term relationship with the customer. In the United States, the message is more focused on the immediate value of the product. We reduced romantic texts telling the story of gelato to focus on more impactful content centered on quality and reviews.
Visual communication: The American audience responds very well to captivating visual content, especially on Instagram. We invested in high-resolution photos and videos that showcased the products in an inviting way, creating immediate aspiration. Americans tend to make choices based on strong visual stimuli, while in Italy, a more narrative tone is preferred.
A path of continuous growth
Thanks to a mix of social media adaptation strategies, SEO optimization, influencer marketing, and UGC, Gelateria Gentile has carved out a solid space in the competitive New York market. Communicating in the United States is an ongoing challenge, teaching us every day how essential it is to adapt the message and deeply understand the cultural dynamics of a new market to succeed. As Agenzia Straordinaria, we are proud to bring an Italian excellence into one of the most demanding markets in the world.
