Driving Down CPA with Influencer Marketing: Parfumado's 20% Decrease
Submitted by The Cirqle

Parfumado Instagram and TikTok Paid Partnership Ads

Influencer Marketing

The Cirqle ran creator content on Instagram and TikTok as Paid Partnership ads for fragrance subscription Parfumado, and the agency reports a -20% decrease in CPA.

-20%CPA Decrease
560KImpressions
2,000Clicks
25%Spend Increase

About the campaign

Parfumado ran creator content as Paid Partnership ads with The Cirqle and recorded a 20% decrease in CPA. Parfumado is a fragrance subscription that sends subscribers across Europe a new scent each month. The brand wanted more visibility and engagement, and it also wanted to push new subscriptions.

The agency worked with a range of influencers on Instagram and TikTok. They made reels and TikToks on the advantages of the subscription model. Each post carried an exclusive influencer discount code for a first-month discount. Every piece then ran as a Paid Partnership ad, with the ads introduced in March.

The agency reports a 20% decrease in CPA in March compared with February. The campaign delivered 560K impressions and 2,000 clicks. Parfumado then increased its spend with the agency by 25% in the first month.

Case in 60 seconds

Parfumado sells a monthly fragrance subscription across Europe and wanted new subscriptions alongside visibility, while its regular ads carried a higher Cost Per Acquisition in February, before any Paid Partnership ads ran.

Fragrance cannot be smelled through a screen, so a creator the audience already follows has to stand in for the scent, because that voice makes a blind subscription trial feel like a safe first step.

Creators would explain the subscription model alongside an exclusive influencer discount code, and every piece would then run as a Paid Partnership ad, so paid reach sat behind creator voices instead of brand creative.

A range of influencers on Instagram and TikTok made reels and TikToks on the advantages of the subscription with their unique discount code, and The Cirqle's software ran each piece as a Paid Partnership ad from March.

The Cirqle reports a 20% decrease in CPA in March against February, alongside 560K impressions and 2,000 clicks, and Parfumado went on to increase its spend with the agency by 25% in the first month.

Strategy Breakdown

Audiences of the influencers on Instagram and TikTok who were new to fragrance discovery, approached as potential new Parfumado subscribers through a first-month offer.
A fragrance subscription asks buyers to commit to scents they have not smelled, so the offer needs a trusted person to explain it and a cheaper first month to lower the barrier to trying it.
Parfumado gives creators creative freedom and asks for authentic, original content, so the brand supplies the offer and the code while the creators carry the explanation in their own voice.
A personal discount code attached to a creator turns a recommendation into a ready reason to subscribe now, because the saving is tied to the person the follower already trusts.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Instagram
  • TikTok

Partners

  • The Cirqle

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
CPA Decrease20% decrease in CPA
Impressions560K impressions
Clicks2,000 clicks
Spend Increase25%

Why The Cirqle's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Running creator content as Paid Partnership ads lets a subscription brand buy reach behind posts that already carry a creator's credibility, so acquisition cost can fall in the same month that spend is scaled up.

  2. 2

    A unique influencer code tied to a first-month discount gives every creator post a direct path to sign-up, which turns awareness content into an acquisition channel that a brand can measure post by post.

  3. 3

    Comparing a month with Paid Partnership ads against the month before gives a brand a quick read on the ad format, because its own regular ads become the baseline the creator content is judged against.

Related Case studies