London · Case study for skincare and beauty brands
“The ads weren’t the problem. The content and the page behind them were.”
Seacra is a London red algae skincare brand. When SwainUK took over its content, every paid customer cost about £80 and the ads returned 0.8: for every £1 spent, 80p came back. We rebuilt the content strategy and the landing pages around one skin problem and real faces. Return on ad spend rose to 3.8, the cost of a new customer fell to about £30, and monthly revenue grew from around £4,000 to £14,000. Here is what changed, and how another skincare brand can copy it.
Seacra campaign portrait, photographed by SwainUK
01 · The results
Before and after, in three numbers
A 0.8 return means the brand was paying to lose money: the ads brought in less than they cost. At 3.8, each £1 of ad spend brings back about £3.80 in sales. That swing came from the same product at the same price. What changed was what people saw before they bought, and where the ads sent them.
02 · The diagnosis
Why good skincare wasn’t selling
Most small skincare brands run into the same three problems, and Seacra had a version of all of them:
Pretty, not persuasive
Clean packshots on white tell people what the bottle looks like. They don’t show what it does on skin, who it is for, or why to trust it.
Talking to everyone
“Calm, renew, revitalise” covers every skin. A person with red, reactive skin scrolls past it because nothing says “this is for you”.
Ads into a dead end
A good ad that lands on a generic shop page loses the thread. The page has to continue the exact conversation the ad started.
One format, used up
When every post looks the same, the audience stops noticing and the cost of reaching each new person climbs.
03 · The content strategy
One problem, many real faces
The new strategy picked one problem the product genuinely helps with, redness and reactive, rosacea-prone skin, and told that story through many different people and formats. Each format had a job in the funnel.
| Format | Its job | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign portraits | Brand and trust | Studio portraits across ages and skin tones, the gel visible on skin, the bottle in hand |
| Texture and application | Make people feel the product | Macro texture, a dab on the cheek, the cream spread on a hand |
| Street interviews | Reach and honest reactions | Strangers in London trying the product on camera, day and night |
| Creator and influencer videos | Relatability | First-person routines and results from creators the audience already follows |
| Expert-led videos | Credibility | A make-up artist or skin expert explaining why, with a clear next step |
| Stunts | Virality | A “WANTED” poster campaign in Covent Garden that gets filmed and shared |
The product on real skin, on real faces. A wider range of ages and skin tones means more people see someone like themselves.
04 · Street interviews and virality
Reach that doesn’t look like an ad
Street interviews do something polished ads can’t: a stranger’s first reaction is believable. We filmed Seacra on London high streets, in Soho and around Covent Garden, at night as well as in the day, with a simple question and the product handed over on camera. The poster stunt worked the same way, a “WANTED” poster for good skin on a Covent Garden column, filmed as people stopped to read it.
A street interview at night, and the poster stunt in Covent Garden. Both are made to be shared, not skipped.
Content people choose to watch and share lowers the cost of reaching each new person, which is a big part of how the cost per customer came down. For the full method, see how to make street interview videos brands pay for, and remember that everyone recognisable needs a signed release.
05 · Trust and texture
Experts, creators and the product up close
Skincare is bought on trust and on touch. Two formats carried most of that: experts explaining the product in plain words, and close-ups that let people almost feel the texture.
Expert-led content builds credibility; texture content makes the product tangible.
Influencer and creator videos sat alongside them: first-person routines from people the audience already followed, shot to look native to the feed. The Seacra content series post breaks down each format and how it was filmed, and skincare content that converts covers the texture, application and result sequence.
06 · The landing pages
Finish the conversation the ad started
The second half of the turnaround was where the ads sent people. The rebuilt red algae collection page (seacra.com) follows a few rules worth copying:
1. Lead with the problem. The page speaks to redness and reactive, rosacea-prone skin, the same problem the ads open with.
2. Show the routine, not a catalogue. Products are laid out as steps (cleanse, repair, moisturise, nourish) so people see what to buy and in which order.
3. Give a low-risk first step. Samples let a new customer try the product before committing to a full size.
4. Capture the people who aren’t ready. A free guide on the mistakes that keep reactive skin flaring collects emails from visitors who would otherwise leave.
5. Put proof next to the button. Clinically tested, dermatologist-reviewed and thousands of reviews sit right where the decision is made.
An ad that promises calmer skin and a page that opens with calmer skin is one story. That continuity is what turns a click into a customer at a lower cost.
07 · Copy this
A plan for any skincare brand
Pick one problem
The one your product solves best and your best customers already talk about. Build the first month around it.
Shoot a mix in one go
Portraits, texture, creators, an expert and a street day. See how to batch a month of content.
Match page to ad
Every ad angle gets a landing section that continues it, with a sample or small first purchase.
Watch cost per customer
Keep the formats that bring customers in cheaply, and replace the ones that only collect likes.
Keep claims honest: UK advertising rules don’t allow filters or edits that exaggerate what a skincare product does. More on that in real people vs AI in advertising.
A make-up artist demo and a creator-style video: two more formats from the same strategy.
Watch
The Seacra content
Less is more: Seacra influencer campaign
We took skincare to the streets of London
Expert-driven skincare content
Testimonial content that converts: BTSMore
Keep reading
FAQ
Common questions
How do you lower cost per acquisition for a skincare brand?
Give the ads content people actually stop for (real faces, texture, street reactions, experts), focus the message on one skin problem, and send clicks to a landing page that continues that exact story with a low-risk first purchase such as a sample. For Seacra that took the cost of a new customer from about £80 to £30.
What is a good ROAS for a skincare brand?
Anything under 1 means the ads cost more than they bring in. Seacra started at 0.8 and reached 3.8, so each £1 of ad spend returned about £3.80 in sales. The right target depends on your margins and repeat purchase rate.
Do street interviews work for skincare marketing?
Yes, when they are honest and the product is in hand. A stranger’s first reaction is more believable than a scripted ad, and shareable content lowers the cost of reaching new people.
What should a skincare landing page include?
The problem in the headline, the routine laid out as steps, a sample or small first order, an email offer for people not ready to buy, and proof such as clinical testing and reviews next to the button.
Written by Joshua Swain, who builds content strategy, campaigns and landing pages for beauty and skincare brands in London and Dubai. See the portfolio.