As US tariffs rise, increasing costs on imports, the European market presents an attractive opportunity to US based eComm brands. Sure there’s a large consumer base, but lower media costs than North America also allow brands to run ads more efficiently and achieve a better return on investment.
In our previous article, we explored some of the logistical aspects of European expansion. Here, we focus on how eComm brands can leverage performance marketing, programmatic advertising, and SEO to successfully establish themselves in Europe and the UK.
Expanding internationally isn’t just about having a great product. It’s about ensuring that the right customers can discover and engage with your brand. By understanding how Europeans shop online and tailoring marketing strategies accordingly, brands can maximize their impact and profitability.
Even for brands that have seen widespread success in the US, entering a new market requires investment in top-of-funnel brand awareness. The assumption that an existing reputation will automatically translate into new customer acquisition can be misleading.
Without a dedicated awareness-building strategy, brands risk struggling to gain traction in highly competitive markets, as seen in Liquid Death’s recent exit from the UK. Despite its disruptive branding and viral marketing success in the US, Liquid Death failed to capture enough consumer demand in the UK, where it faced entrenched competition from well-established water brands, local sustainability-focused alternatives combined with challenging price points, margins and distribution channels.
Liquid Death’s departure from the UK underscores a key lesson for US brands expanding into Europe: name recognition alone is not enough. Consumer habits, competitor landscapes, and cultural attitudes towards certain product categories vary significantly across regions. Without a strong top-of-funnel investment in localized brand building, even brands with a proven track record may struggle to scale. To avoid this pitfall, prioritize market-specific awareness campaigns to introduce your brand in a way that resonates with local consumer expectations and buying behaviors.
For US brands, entering Europe means adjusting to different shopping behaviors, ad platforms, and bidding structures. What works in the US may not translate effectively to European audiences, making a localized approach essential.
When launching Google Ads, Meta Ads, or Amazon Ads, brands need to tailor their messaging, targeting, and creatives for different European regions. Even in the UK, where English is the primary language, cultural nuances influence how consumers engage with brands. European consumers often prefer storytelling-driven advertising over direct, sales-focused messaging. Additionally, country-specific campaigns tend to perform better than broad “European-wide” campaigns since consumer behavior varies greatly from Germany to Spain to France.
Ad costs can differ significantly. The UK and Germany tend to have higher CPCs but also higher purchase intent and average order values, while markets in Southern Europe may have lower CPCs but require greater brand awareness efforts before driving conversions. Automated bid strategies can help optimize campaigns, but ongoing testing and adjustments are necessary to reflect local trends.
For brands seeking efficient, scalable growth, programmatic advertising via DSPs plays a key role in European expansion. Rather than manually selecting placements, DSPs use real-time bidding to find the most valuable impressions for the lowest cost.
One of the leading platforms in this space is The Trade Desk (TTD) where Finch is a premier partner. It enables us to target across different devices as well as via connected TV and digital out of home with dynamic ad placements. When launching in Europe we use programmatic to integrate retail media networks, allowing you to run ads directly on major marketplaces like Zalando, Carrefour, and other retail sites. We’ve also seen great success with the likes of Festive Lights, a UK retailer, in pushing top of funnel awareness via programmatic that enhances conversions further down the funnel with more traditional paid search and social campaigns.
A key advantage of programmatic advertising is its ability to adjust real-time bidding strategies based on regional demand. For example, brands selling seasonal products can use weather data to automatically adjust ad spend, bidding higher in rainy regions for umbrellas or promoting outdoor furniture in warmer climates. Rather than running static campaigns, programmatic ensures that ad budgets are allocated efficiently across markets, optimizing spend based on data insights.
Understanding country-by-country performance is also essential. While broad European campaigns provide scale, programmatic platforms allow brands to fine-tune performance at a country-specific level, ensuring ad spend is directed toward the most lucrative markets.
While paid advertising drives short-term results, SEO provides the foundation for sustainable, cost-effective brand growth in Europe. However, search behavior varies significantly across European countries, requiring brands to adapt their keyword strategy, site structure, and content approach.
One of the first steps in international SEO is ensuring that search engines recognize a brand’s geographic relevance. Google favors localized domains (brand.co.uk, brand.de) or country-specific subdirectories (brand.com/fr) over generic international sites. Implementing hreflang tags ensures that Google serves the correct language version of a site to users in different regions, preventing duplicate content issues, improving search rankings and providing a slicker user experience.
Beyond technical SEO, localizing content is critical. European consumers' search behavior is different to Americans. In the US, "sneakers" might be the preferred term, but in the UK, they’re "trainers," and in Germany, "sportschuhe." Without region-specific keyword research, brands risk missing out on valuable organic traffic.
Additionally, search intent varies by country. UK shoppers rely on reviews and brand reputation, whereas French consumers spend more time researching before making a purchase.
Localized content also improves trust. European shoppers expect native-language product descriptions, FAQs, and customer reviews, not automated translations (although tempting if you’re testing a new market initially!). Customizing return policies, shipping expectations, and payment methods also plays a role in conversion rates. For example, Klarna and PayPal are far more popular in Germany and Scandinavia than traditional credit card payments, meaning brands that integrate local payment solutions can improve checkout completion rates.
Beyond on-site optimizations, local SEO and reviews contribute to organic success too. Google prioritizes businesses with strong localized engagement, so brands should claim Google My Business profiles in each European market, encourage customer reviews on local platforms like Trustpilot (UK) and Trusted Shops (Germany), and seek backlinks from regional influencers or media outlets. These efforts increase organic visibility and build credibility among your new European audiences.
Expanding into Europe requires a multi-channel marketing approach. Performance marketing, programmatic advertising, and SEO work together to create a comprehensive digital strategy that balances short-term revenue generation with long-term business health.
Paid ads ensure that a brand gets in front of the right consumers immediately, while programmatic scales efficiently across multiple countries. Meanwhile, SEO efforts
build brand presence organically, reducing acquisition costs over time. This combination allows brands to establish a dominant presence in the European market while maximizing efficiency.
For US eCommerce brands looking to navigate rising tariffs and expand internationally, the opportunity in Europe has never been more compelling. With lower media costs, a growing demand for US brands, and the ability to fine-tune marketing strategies by region, brands that enter the European market now can gain a first-mover advantage over competitors who wait.
Expanding into new international markets can feel like a huge step, but you don’t have to go it alone. Working with trusted local agency partners can eliminate many of the initial challenges and lead to a smoother execution.
At Finch, we have a strong EMEA presence with team members based in Ireland, UK and Germany. But as a US founded business we totally get the eCommerce industry here too. We therefore know how to help US brands expand into the UK and Europe with tailored marketing strategies.
Whether you need to launch performance marketing campaigns, optimize SEO, or scale through programmatic advertising, we’re here to help. We even offer free audits and 90 day free trials so you can see what it’s like to work with us before you fully commit. Book a call today to find out more.