A Flawless Launch: How a Portuguese Cosmetics Brand Used a Data-Driven PPC Strategy to Conquer the Spanish Market

As a market leader in Portugal, our client was ready for international expansion into Spain, France, and Germany. However, they faced the classic dilemma of high ambition coupled with high uncertainty. A premature, full-scale launch across all three markets would have been a massive financial gamble, especially in the hyper-competitive beauty industry.

Studio.351 proposed using PPC not merely as a sales channel, but as a lean, powerful market research tool. We developed a phased "Test-Learn-Scale" framework to systematically de-risk their expansion. This data-driven approach allowed us to use a modest initial budget to gather critical market intelligence, identify Spain as the highest-potential market, and then focus resources to achieve a 6x ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) and establish a sustainable European foothold within just nine months.

We treated PPC as a strategic tool to buy data and validate hypotheses quickly and cost-effectively.

1. Phase 1: Market Validation (Months 1-3): launch lean, tightly-controlled, and visually-led campaigns on Google Shopping and Meta Ads (Instagram & Facebook) across all three countries. The primary goal was not immediate profit, but to gather comparative B2C metrics: CTR, CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), and most importantly, initial ROAS.
2. Phase 2: Focus & Dominate (Months 4-9): analyze the data from Phase 1 to identify the clear "winner" market. We would then dedicate 80% of the expansion budget to that country, implementing full-funnel remarketing, amplifying top-performing ad creatives, and broadening our keyword reach.
3. Phase 3: Scale & Replicate (Months 10+): with a profitable and scalable model established in the first market, use the learnings, data, and proven ad creatives to launch a far more effective and de-risked campaign in the second-highest potential market.

Phase 1: The Validation Sprint

• Creative Localization: this was more than translation. We collaborated with native-speaking marketers to adapt not just the ad copy, but the core message. We tested different angles: was the key selling point the "clean ingredients," the "Portuguese heritage," or a specific "glowing skin" result?
• Parallel Campaign Setup:
• Meta Ads (Instagram/Facebook): we launched identical campaigns targeting interest-based audiences ("vegan beauty," "clean skincare," "luxury cosmetics") in each country. We A/B tested 3-4 different visual creatives: a studio product shot, a lifestyle video, and a user-generated content style review.
• Google Shopping: we built and optimized product feeds for each country, launching standard Shopping campaigns to test price competitiveness and product image appeal directly in the search results.

Phase 2: The Data-Driven Pivot
At the end of month 3, the data told a clear and compelling story:

• Spain: showed a 2x higher ROAS on Meta Ads and the highest CTR in Google Shopping. The CPA was 40% lower than in France.
• Germany: had a high average order value but very low CTR and ROAS, indicating strong competition from established local brands and low brand awareness.
• France: showed moderate results across the board but lacked a clear signal of rapid growth potential.

The decision was unanimous and data-backed: focus all efforts on Spain.

Phase 3: The Full-Funnel Attack in Spain

• Scaling Meta Ads: we increased budgets on the winning audiences and creatives. Crucially, we launched a dynamic product ad remarketing campaign targeting users who had viewed a product or abandoned their cart.
• Optimizing Google Shopping: we expanded the standard Shopping campaign into a Performance Max campaign to leverage YouTube, Display, and Discovery placements. We used sales data to inform bidding on our best-selling products.
• Launching Search Campaigns: we added a Brand Defence campaign to protect our brand name from competitors and launched non-brand campaigns targeting problem-aware searches like "serum for pigmentation" and "vitamin c moisturizer."

How can a smaller brand compete with giants like L'Oréal or Sephora?
We don't compete with them head-on. Instead, we find and dominate profitable niches. We target specific audiences (e.g., "fans of vegan beauty," or "women 35+ seeking retinol alternatives") where the message of a specialized, clean brand is more powerful than a mass-market one. Our strength is in precision and relevance, not massive budgets.

Is just translating our website and ads good enough?
Absolutely not. Effective international PPC requires deep localization. This means adapting to local beauty trends, using relevant models and influencers, understanding cultural nuances in ad copy, and even offering preferred local payment methods at checkout.

Which platforms work best for beauty: Google or Instagram?
They serve different roles and are most powerful when used together. Instagram/Facebook are essential for creating demand, showcasing the product visually, and building an emotional connection with the brand. Google Shopping and Search are critical for capturing high-intent demand when a user is actively looking for a specific product or a solution to a skin problem. A winning strategy uses both.

How do you decide which products to advertise first in a new market?
We start with the brand's "hero products"—the best-sellers in your home market, as they have proven appeal. In the initial test phase, we run ads for 3-5 of these key products. The data (CTR, ROAS) quickly shows us which ones resonate most with the new audience, and we then scale the budget on those winners.

What happens if all markets perform poorly in the test phase?
That is also a valuable outcome. It’s a low-cost way to learn that there might be a fundamental issue with the product-market fit, pricing, or the offer itself in those regions. This data is critical, as it tells us we need to adjust the core strategy before scaling the budget. It prevents a much more expensive failure and provides invaluable market research.