From niche newcomer to beauty bestseller.
How a D2C clean beauty brand increased average order value by 280% and built a loyal community through Instagram campaigns and strategic influencer partnerships.
Breaking through a saturated DTC beauty market with zero brand recognition
The clean beauty space had exploded in recent years, and our client -- a European-founded brand with genuinely exceptional formulations -- was struggling to stand out in a market flooded with competitors making similar claims. Over 4,000 new beauty brands had launched in the DTC space in the previous 18 months alone, each fighting for attention on the same social platforms with nearly identical messaging around "clean," "natural," and "sustainable."
The brand's existing social presence was minimal. Their Instagram account had fewer than 2,000 followers, engagement rates hovered below 0.5%, and their content strategy consisted of flat-lay product photos with generic captions. Paid social campaigns had been tested but abandoned after two months due to a cost per purchase exceeding €45 -- unsustainable for products with an average price point of €32. There was no influencer program, no user-generated content pipeline, and no community to speak of.
The deeper issue was a lack of brand identity in the digital space. The products were excellent, but nothing in their online presence communicated why a customer should choose them over the hundreds of alternatives filling their Instagram feed. The brand needed more than ads -- it needed a complete social commerce ecosystem that could build trust, create desire, and convert browsers into repeat buyers at a sustainable cost.
A UGC-first creative engine powered by micro-influencers and Meta AI
We fundamentally shifted the brand's creative strategy from polished product photography to authentic, user-generated content that felt native to the Instagram experience. Our research showed that UGC-style Reels outperformed studio content by 3.8x in the beauty category, and we built the entire paid and organic strategy around this insight. A content production system was established that generated over 60 unique creative assets per month -- a mix of customer testimonials, "get ready with me" routines, ingredient spotlights, and before-and-after transformations.
The micro-influencer program was designed for scale and authenticity rather than vanity metrics. We partnered with 85 micro-influencers (5K-50K followers) across Greece, Italy, and Germany, each selected based on audience quality scores, engagement authenticity, and alignment with the brand's clean beauty values. Rather than one-off sponsored posts, we structured 3-month ambassador partnerships that built genuine affinity. Influencers received monthly product drops and creative briefs but had full freedom in execution, resulting in content that resonated deeply with their audiences.
On the paid media side, we leveraged Meta's Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns to let the algorithm identify the highest-converting audience and creative combinations at scale. The UGC assets from influencers and customers were fed directly into dynamic creative testing, with the system automatically allocating budget to top performers. Combined with a custom GA4 implementation tracking micro-conversions -- add to cart, wishlist saves, and collection views -- we built a conversion model that optimized for lifetime value rather than single-purchase ROAS.
Three phases to build a beauty brand that sells itself
Build Brand Identity
Before spending a single euro on ads, we invested six weeks in defining the brand's visual identity and voice for social. A new content style guide established the aesthetic -- warm tones, natural textures, real skin -- that would differentiate from the sterile, clinical look dominating the category. We launched a refreshed Instagram grid, introduced Reels as the primary content format, and began seeding products with an initial cohort of 20 micro-influencers to generate the first wave of authentic content. Organic engagement rates climbed from 0.5% to 4.2% within the first month.
Launch UGC Engine
With a growing library of authentic content, we activated the paid media engine. Every piece of UGC -- from influencer Reels to customer selfies -- was catalogued, tagged by theme and performance potential, and fed into Meta's creative testing framework. We ran 15-20 ad variations simultaneously, letting Advantage+ identify winning combinations of creative, copy, and audience. A customer advocacy program incentivized buyers to share their own content in exchange for loyalty points, creating a self-sustaining content flywheel that reduced creative production costs by 60% compared to traditional studio shoots.
Scale with Advantage+
With conversion data matured and creative supply abundant, we scaled aggressively through Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns. Budget was increased 4x over three months while maintaining ROAS above 5x, thanks to the algorithm's ability to find high-value lookalike audiences across Meta's network. We introduced bundling strategies -- curated skincare routines and seasonal gift sets -- that drove average order value from €32 to €122. Cross-border expansion into Germany and Italy was launched using localized influencer content, opening two new revenue streams with minimal incremental effort.
The Results
Return on Ad Spend
Meta Ads campaigns delivered a consistent 5.4x ROAS at scale, with Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns outperforming manual campaigns by 2.1x thanks to superior creative testing velocity and algorithmic audience discovery.
Increase in AOV
Average order value grew from €32 to €122 through strategic product bundling, curated routine sets, and cross-sell sequences triggered by post-purchase email flows -- turning single-product buyers into multi-product customers.
Monthly Revenue
Monthly revenue scaled from €85,000 to €1.2M within twelve months, with 65% of revenue attributed to paid social channels and the remaining 35% driven by organic and influencer-referred traffic.
Follower Growth
Instagram followers grew from 1,800 to over 9,900 with an engagement rate of 5.8% -- more than 4x the beauty industry average -- fueled by the micro-influencer program and a consistent UGC content strategy.
Omnicliq transformed our business. They didn't just run ads — they rebuilt our entire marketing infrastructure from the ground up. The results speak for themselves: we went from struggling to scale to becoming one of the fastest-growing fashion brands in Greece.
