Romania & CEE market entry through paid media

We help international businesses enter Romania

Western standards, Romanian market expertise, EU contracts

If you are scaling into Romania or the broader CEE region, you need more than a translated campaign. You need a partner who knows how Romanian buyers actually behave, what eMAG does to your DTC funnel, and how to set up paid media so it works from week one - not month six. 10+ years of paid media experience across agencies in London and Hong Kong, applied to Romanian and CEE market entries. And once you are scaled, the same team can run your global paid media from one EU-based partner.

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Why us

Why a Romanian agency makes sense for international businesses

International background

The bridge between Western standards and the Romanian market

Adela Mincea, founder of DAFE Digital, has 10+ years of paid media experience in agencies in London and Hong Kong before founding DAFE Digital in Romania. Translating how mature markets brief, structure accounts and report into a Romanian and CEE context is what this work has been about from day one. International businesses get a partner who has run paid media on both sides.

Google PartnerWe are a Google Partner

Google Partner certified

Same accreditation as Western agencies. Active certifications across Search, Shopping, Display, Video and Apps.

Romanian-market-native expertise

We do not learn the market on your account. Local insights about marketplaces, payment methods, regional CPC and language nuance are already baked in.

EU partnership: contracts, EUR invoicing, time-zone overlap

Direct contracting with an EU-registered company. English-language reporting, GDPR-compliant data handling, EUR invoicing. Eastern European Time overlaps with the full working day in Western Europe and the morning on the US East Coast - sync calls are practical.

Not only Romania - global campaign management from one EU team

We are not a Romania-only agency. We manage multi-market accounts, run cross-region campaigns, handle currency conversion in reporting, and coordinate attribution across countries. Once you are scaled in Romania, the same team can run your global paid media.

Who this is for

Five types of international businesses we work best with

01

Western European brands selling into Romania or CEE

Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Romanian search intent does not translate from London. You need on-the-ground market knowledge - local marketplaces, RON pricing patterns, payment preferences like cash-on-delivery.

02

International companies with Romanian subsidiaries

You need an EU-jurisdiction partner who reports in English to head office while running campaigns in Romanian. Local team, Western reporting standards.

03

Cost-conscious EU SMBs (Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Ireland)

The same Google Partner certification and process standards as agencies in Western Europe. EU contracts, EUR invoicing, English communication, and an EU time zone that overlaps the UK and most of the US East Coast.

04

Romanian diaspora founders running businesses abroad

You run a business in the UK, Germany or further afield, but you want a home-country team that understands both your operational context and your market expansion back into Romania.

05

US companies with EU operations

Brexit complicated UK partnerships. A Romanian EU-member-state agency gives you a single jurisdiction across the bloc, GDPR-compliant data handling, and time-zone overlap with most of your EU customer base.

Romanian market expertise

What makes Romania different from Western European markets

Buyer behaviour, payment preferences, marketplace dynamics and language nuance - six structural differences that show up in your campaign performance from week one.

01

eMAG dominance changes the eCommerce playbook

Romanian eCommerce is dominated by one marketplace (eMAG) in a way no Western market is. Direct-to-consumer Google Ads strategy in Romania has to account for marketplace dynamics: buyers compare your standalone store to its eMAG listing in real time.

02

Cash on delivery is still a major payment method

In Romania, 40-60% of eCommerce orders are paid cash-on-delivery depending on category. This affects conversion tracking, attribution, and how you optimise for purchase events vs add-to-cart.

03

RON pricing requires different bidding strategy

Smart Bidding calibrated on EUR or USD does not translate to RON automatically. Manual oversight on RON price points, especially for products under 100 RON where margins compress fast, is essential.

04

Regional CPC variation across Romania

Bucharest CPCs run 30-50% higher than Cluj, Timișoara or Iași for the same intent. Geographic bid adjustments matter more in Romania than in most Western markets.

05

Search behaviour reflects Romanian language nuance

Romanians frequently search without diacritics ("pantofi" not "pantofi"), mix Romanian and English in commercial intent queries, and rely heavily on "cat costa" (how much) framing. Keyword planning has to reflect this.

06

Cross-border into Romania needs Merchant Center adjustment

If you ship into Romania from a Western European warehouse, Google Merchant Center setup, shipping policies and currency display all need explicit configuration. Default settings will not serve Romanian buyers correctly.

Romania at a glance

The numbers that justify a Romania-first paid media strategy

96.6%

Google's search market share in Romania

Even higher than the global 91% - Romanian buyers start nearly every commercial journey on Google.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats 2024

€8B+

Romanian eCommerce market 2025

Growing 6-8% per year, projected to reach €8.7B in 2026 conservatively. Largest CEE eCommerce market after Poland.

Sources: Gomag Pulse 2026, MerchantPro Insights 2026

3rd

Romania's rank in CEE eCommerce

9th in the EU overall, 3rd in CEE after Poland and Czechia. eCommerce represents ~3.5% of GDP.

Source: European E-Commerce Report 2025

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Written by Adela Mincea, founder of DAFE Digital, Google Partner certified, with 10+ years of paid media experience across agencies in London and Hong Kong before she founded DAFE Digital in Romania.

Last updated: May 2026