Agility as Strategy: Why Small Businesses Win in an Era of Change
Why You Need a Partner — Not Just Another Vendor
We Spent €350 on YouTube Ads. The Results Blew Meta Out of the Water
The Brand You’ve Probably Never Heard Of — But Should
Our client is Navee — a high-end Chinese e-scooter manufacturer entering the Bulgarian market. Their flagship model, the ST3 Pro, is sleek, powerful, and packed with smart features. Think of it as the Tesla of scooters.
Our Mission: Go Viral on a Budget
The goal? Create vertical video ads and launch campaigns across multiple social platforms — all with a limited budget. In a market where users are overwhelmed with content and offers, we had to be sharp, fast, and creative.
Why Organic Reach Failed Us (And Why That’s Okay)
We started with organic content — the typical "test the waters" approach. As expected, it didn’t make much of an impact. New accounts rarely get algorithmic support, even with good content. It was time to shift gears.
Launching Paid Ads With a Catch: A Website That Pushes Users Away
We transitioned to paid campaigns with modest daily budgets. But one issue immediately surfaced: the client’s website wasn’t translated into Bulgarian. Despite being visually impressive and technically optimized, it caused a high bounce rate due to language friction and unclear distributor information.
The Low-Tech Fix That Boosted Conversions Instantly
To address this, we redirected users through a simple Linktree page that listed all official local distributors, linking directly to their Navee product pages. This one change eliminated unnecessary friction in the user journey. Ad click → Linktree → local store. Fast, effective, and user-friendly.
Surprise Winner: YouTube Crushes Meta and TikTok
We conducted A/B testing across Meta (Facebook and Instagram), YouTube, and eventually TikTok. The most surprising result came from YouTube. With just €350 in spend, it delivered over 1.1 million impressions and 8,252 clicks. That’s 45% of all clicks from the entire campaign — from less than 30% of the total budget.
The TikTok Ads Nightmare You Should Know About
We expected TikTok to perform well, especially with vertical creative. But launching ads on TikTok in Bulgaria turned out to be a real challenge. It took nearly two weeks just to get partial access, and even then, we couldn’t use full targeting or tracking features. In the end, we had to settle for limited boost-style ads, which didn’t align with our strategy.
Money-Saving Hack Apple Doesn’t Want You to Know
A practical insight we discovered during the campaign: avoid paying for ads via Apple Pay. Apple applies a 30% commission on these transactions. Instead, we used Google Pay via an Android device, which only charged a few cents. This minor switch significantly preserved our ad budget.
The Results: What €1.2K Really Got Us
Here’s the breakdown:
Total Campaign Performance (All Platforms)
Impressions: 1,792,366
Clicks: 29,648
Amount Spent: 1233,47 €
YouTube Only
Impressions: 718,380
Clicks: 21,557
Amount Spent: 350,18 €
Meta & TikTok Combined
Impressions: 1,121,318
Clicks: 8252
Amount Spent: 869,86 €
Key Takeaways: What Actually Moved the Needle
- YouTube is significantly undervalued — especially in mid-sized European markets like Bulgaria.
- Streamlined, localized user flows outperform even great websites when localization is missing.
- Operational details like payment method can directly impact ROI.
Platform limitations (like TikTok's in Bulgaria) can derail campaign plans — test access early.
Curious what we can do for you with a similar budget? Just click the button below to find out!
