The INKEY List.
Skincare · eCommerce · Healthcare-Adjacent DTC
The INKEY List is an ingredient-led skincare brand built on transparency and clinical efficacy — positioning adjacent to pharmaceutical and dermatology. The brief was to build always-on Meta acquisition at efficient CPL while maintaining brand integrity across 95 simultaneous campaign tests.
Geo
USA + Global
Source
Meta · FB + IG · 95 campaigns
Period
Ongoing
Tier
Healthcare · Skincare DTC
ROAS by creative variant
Highest-performing ad set highlighted
The Setup
What we were working with.
The Problem
Skincare DTC on Meta is flooded with lifestyle creative. The INKEY List's ingredient-led positioning requires educating the buyer — which takes more creative sophistication than "glow up" UGC. Most agencies treat all skincare the same.
The Audience
Skincare-engaged women 22–45 interested in dermatology, active ingredients (retinol, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid), and evidence-based skincare. Lookalikes from purchaser list. Sequential retargeting for ingredient education.
Our Solution
95 campaign structure allowing rapid iteration across audiences and creative. Sequential ad delivery to educate cold audiences before converting. Lead generation + website purchase split to build the email list in parallel with direct sales.
The Mechanics
What drove the numbers.
What We Learned
The takeaways that repeat.
95-campaign structure enables ingredient-by-ingredient testing
Each hero ingredient (retinol, niacinamide, peptide complex, hyaluronic acid) ran as a separate campaign targeting audience segments most likely to respond to that ingredient's specific benefit. This 1:1 mapping of ingredient → audience dramatically outperformed "all benefits" creative.
Sequential delivery educated buyers before the ask
Cold audiences saw ingredient education first (what is niacinamide and why should you care), then problem-solution (dark spots + niacinamide), then direct purchase offer. Sequential delivery increased purchase conversion rate 2.8× vs direct-to-purchase cold traffic.
Post engagement campaigns at $0.63 built social proof at scale
Running post-engagement optimisation on high-performing organic content at $0.63/engagement built visible social proof (likes, comments, shares) that made paid ads look organically popular. This "social proof halo" reduced CPL on adjacent lead-gen campaigns by 19%.
Always-on beats burst for ingredient-led brands
A skincare buyer rarely purchases on first contact with an unfamiliar ingredient brand. Always-on exposure over 3.13 average frequency meant prospects saw The INKEY List multiple times in different contexts before converting — critical for a science-forward brand asking buyers to trust clinical claims.
