Case study
Scaling perfume brand from scratch to 500k in 4 months after major crash.
The Brand Background
The brand is moderately new, having started around September 2024. They scaled pretty fast through BFCM, making around 400K euro at the end of January 2025.
Problem Number 1: Account Crash via Duplication
I was asked about managing their ad account from around January 15-18 when scaling via duplication and a huge budget bump up crashed the ad account. Meanwhile troubleshooting, Facebook also struck the account with an unprecedented ban for unknown reasons (Even Meta representatives indicated to me that's a weird case as nothing used on the ad account was violating any serious principles).
If you are a big brand running its own operation and you are faced with an ad account ban, there are two choices you can make:
- Start all over again
- Access so-called agency ad accounts
If you chose the latter, you might be faced with costly options from agency services such as huge initial lump sum of money or revenue share deal of revenue produced by the ad account.
We chose the first option and proceeded with a new ad account acknowledging issues that might bring.
Problem Number 2: Lack of Creatives & Huge Testing Volume
This brand's marketing strategy relied solely on running DPA Catalog as the number of SKUs was over 200+.
As the catalog option is always good for brands with a huge volume of self-explanatory products, relying on one ad format never is.
There are much more efficient ways to get clients to the door.
Our Solution: Strategic Testing Framework
Therefore we introduced a testing strategy which relied on systematically isolating winning variables and expanding formats.
We quickly identified:
- Static formats that performed well
- UGC-like content which resonated with audiences
We jumped to scaling winning variables using:
- Horizontal expansion with manual bidding
- Additional EU markets which I had validated before with appropriate market research
Market Expansion Strategy
Opening additional markets is mainly a logistic challenge, but if you can manage it, it's a great way of expansion.
Key Insight: Initial "niching down" for a given country isn't required and it's much better to test which market will work well for your brand by running ads there in English.
If the feedback from any particular country is positive, then you can niche down there and create additional domains dedicated towards this country. It's worth mentioning that you don't need a separate Shopify shop for this - you can run everything under one plan.
The most important part of the expansion for any country will be acquiring payment providers and local delivery services, and it has a huge impact on the CVR.
Results: Upward Growth of ~30% Monthly
Testing new formats, marketing angles and expanding on different markets of the EU set us up for upward growth of 30% each month.
Preparing for Q4
With proven strategy using:
- Flash sale campaigns
- Using all of what Meta's arsenal has to offer in terms of ad account structure and strategy
We are looking for continuous growth towards Q4 where we can use the recurring revenue model combined with proper remarketing structure to secure even higher gains and capture an even higher chunk of the worldwide market.
Key Learnings
- Account crashes can be overcome with strategic rebuilding
- Diversification is crucial - never rely on one ad format
- Market expansion should be tested systematically
- Local logistics matter more than language localization initially
- Systematic testing beats random creative attempts