Solved: Scaling International Meta Ads (The Blueprint Fix)

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

I understand the struggle to scale your business without a solid Meta ads blueprint, especially when dealing with a broad, international audience. It’s a position I see a lot of founders in—you’ve got a product or service that could work anywhere, but without a region-specific strategy, you end up burning cash trying to boil the ocean. It’s a bit of a nightmare, honestly, but it’s solvable.

I’m happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on how to structure this properly. Tbh, most "blueprints" you find online are rubbish because they ignore the nuance of international economics and algorithm behaviour. I’ve put together a pretty detailed rundown below of how we’d usually approach this for a client looking to scale globally.

The "Worldwide" Trap and Why Your Ads Are Failing

The first thing we need to address is this idea of a "broad, international audience." In theory, it sounds great—millions of potential customers. In practice, it’s a quick way to ruin your campaign performance.

Here’s what happens: When you target "Worldwide" or a huge list of countries without segmentation, Meta’s algorithm looks for the path of least resistance. It wants to get you the cheapest results to make you feel good. But clicks from the UK or US cost significantly more than clicks from, say, India or the Philippines. So, the algorithm will spend 90% of your budget in developing nations because it can get you cheap traffic there. If your product is priced for a Western wallet, you’ll get loads of traffic and zero sales.

We see this all the time. I often audit accounts where the client thought their ads were doing great because they had a low Cost Per Click (CPC). But when we looked closer, most of the traffic was coming from countries they couldn't actually service or monetize effectively. They were basically lighting money on fire.

To fix this, you have to split your strategy. You need a Region-Specific Strategy.

Structuring Your International Campaigns

You shouldn't just lump everyone together. I usually recommend breaking your campaigns down by economic profile or language. This allows you to bid appropriately. You can afford to pay £1.50 per click for a US prospect, but you might only want to pay £0.10 for a prospect in a developing market.

Here is how I’d typically structure the geo-targeting to maintain control:

Tier 1: English-Speaking Developed
United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand. These are usually your highest converting but most expensive markets.

Tier 2: Rest of Developed World
Germany, France, Nordics, Singapore, etc. Great purchasing power, but you might run into language barriers if your ads/site are only in English. However, English proficiency is high in places like Sweden and the Netherlands.

Tier 3: Developing Markets
If you have a digital product with low marginal cost, this can be a goldmine if targeted correctly. But you must exclude the lowest income countries where bot traffic is rampant. I’d usually suggest excluding the bottom 30 economies (places like Somalia, Yemen, etc.) unless you have specific logistics there, as the traffic quality is often very poor.

The Proven Blueprint: ToFu, MoFu, BoFu

You asked for a blueprint. This is the exact structure I use when auditing and restructuring client accounts. It’s based on the marketing funnel: Top of Funnel (ToFu), Middle of Funnel (MoFu), and Bottom of Funnel (BoFu).

A lot of people mess this up by testing audiences that don't align with their objectives. They run a cold audience directly to a "Buy Now" ad and wonder why it doesn't convert. Or they ignore retargeting completely.

1. Top of Funnel (ToFu) - Finding New Blood

This is where you reach people who have never heard of you. For a new account or a new market, you need to start here to feed the machine.

Detailed Targeting: Start here. Don't just pick broad interests. You need to get into the head of your customer (more on that in a sec). Group your interests into themes. If you're selling software to e-commerce owners, don't just target "Amazon" (too many regular shoppers). Target "Shopify", "WooCommerce", or "Oberlo"—things only store owners would care about.

Broad Targeting: Only move to this once your pixel has seasoned. If you run broad with no data, Meta has no idea who to look for. You need at least 500-1000 conversion events on your pixel before broad targeting really starts to shine.

Lookalikes: These used to be the holy grail, but they require good source data. A 1% Lookalike of your "Purchasers" is powerful. A Lookalike of "Website Visitors" is weak. Prioritise them based on value: Value-based Lookalikes > Purchaser Lookalikes > Add to Cart Lookalikes.

2. Middle of Funnel (MoFu) - The Warm Up

These people showed interest but didn't bite. They visited your landing page, or watched 50% of your video. They aren't ready to buy, but they know you.

Audiences to target here:
-> All website visitors (last 30-90 days)
-> Video viewers (50% or 95% views)
-> Social engagers (people who liked/commented on your ads)

Your ads here shouldn't just be "Buy this". They should handle objections. Show social proof, testimonials, or case studies. Remind them why they clicked in the first place.

3. Bottom of Funnel (BoFu) - The Close

These are the hottest leads. They added to cart, initiated checkout, or visited the pricing page but ghosted you.

Audiences:
-> Add to cart (last 14-30 days)
-> Initiate checkout
-> Visited pricing page

For these guys, you need to be direct. "Forgot something?" sometimes works, but value works better. "Still looking for a solution to X?" Or maybe a limited-time discount if that fits your brand. You can combine MoFu and BoFu if your budget is small, but ideally, you keep them seperate to control the frequency.

Your "Ideal Customer" is Probably Wrong

One massive reason international scaling fails is that the targeting is too generic. Forget the sterile demographics. "Companies in finance with 50-200 employees" is not a target audience. That's a census category.

To scale, you must define your customer by their pain. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a nightmare, not a demographic.

Think about it. Your potential client isn't just a "Head of Engineering." She’s a leader terrified of her best developers quitting because their workflow is broken. She's losing sleep over technical debt. That is what you target.

When you build your audiences, don't just look for job titles. Look for the niche podcasts they listen to (like 'Acquired' or 'Indie Hackers'). Look for the newsletters they read ('Stratechery'). Look for the tools they already pay for (HubSpot, Salesforce, Jira). This "intelligence" is the blueprint for your targeting strategy. If you don't do this work, you have no business spending a single pound on ads, tbh.

The Math: Can You Even Afford to Scale?

Before you ramp up spend in these new regions, you need to know your numbers. The real question isn't "How low can my Cost Per Lead (CPL) go?" It's "How high of a CPL can I afford?"

You need to look at your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). If you know that a customer is worth £10,000 to you over their lifetime, spending £250 to acquire them is a bargain. But if they're only worth £100, you have a problem.

I’ve built a little calculator below to help you figure this out. It’s crucial for planning your budget across different regions where purchasing power (and LTV) might vary.

Fixing Your Offer (Because it's probably the problem)

If your ads aren't working, 9 times out of 10, it's the offer, not the ad. Especially in a new international market where no one knows who you are.

If you are B2B: Delete the "Request a Demo" button.
Seriously. It's the most arrogant Call to Action ever conceived. You are asking a busy decision-maker to give up 30 minutes of their time to be sold to. That is high friction.

Instead, give them value upfront. Create a "Product Qualified Lead" (PQL). Offer a free trial (no card details). Offer a free tool. For example, we offer a free strategy audit. We solve a small problem for free to earn the right to solve the big problem for money. If you're a SaaS, your offer needs to be "Start Free Trial." If you're a service, it needs to be "Get Free Audit" or "Download Strategy Map."

If you are B2C/E-commerce:
Look at your funnel drop-off. Are people viewing products but not adding to cart? Your photos or pricing are likely the issue. Are they adding to cart but not buying? Your shipping costs (especially international ones!) might be killing the deal.

A Note on "Awareness" Campaigns

One last myth to bust. Do NOT run "Brand Awareness" or "Reach" campaigns to enter a new market. When you choose that objective, you are telling Meta: "Find me the largest number of people for the lowest price."

The algorithm will find you people who scroll fast, click accidentally, or are bots. They are the "least likely to succeed" audience. You are paying to reach non-customers.

Always optimise for Conversions (Sales, Leads, or at the very least, Initiate Checkout). You want the algorithm to find people who actually take action. Awareness is a byproduct of sales, not the other way around.

My Recommended Action Plan for You

Here are my main recommendations for you below. This should give you a clear path forward to scaling without wasting budget.

I remember one app growth campaign we worked on where we achieved 45k+ signups at under £2 cost per signup using Meta Ads alongside other platforms. It wasn't easy, and it required a lot of testing, but getting the structure right was the turning point.

Look, scaling internationally is tough. You have to juggle currencies, time zones, and cultural nuances in your ad copy. It’s not just about setting up an ad and hoping for the best. It’s about understanding your audience deeply and optimising your targeting constantly.

If this all sounds like a lot to take in, honestly, it can be. Getting the nuances right between different regions and setting up the funnel properly takes time. And time is money when you're spending on ads.

That's where it might be worth considering some expert help. We've spent years figuring this stuff out so you don't have to waste your budget testing things that won't work. We can spot the issues quicker and stop the wasted spend before it drains your bank account. Dealing with international markets is tricky, and having someone who's done it before can save you a lot of headaches.

If you'd like a hand, feel free to reach out for a free consultation. We can hop on a call, look through your ad account together, and I can give you some more specific pointers on where you might be leaking money. It's usually super helpful to get a second pair of eyes on things, and it gives you a taste of how we work. No pressure at all, just a chance to get some clarity on your strategy.

Hope that helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh