Case study
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How we reduced Cost Per Lead by over 45% with UGC creatives

How we reduced Cost Per Lead by over 45% with UGC creatives



Cash 4 Gold-Now is a family business with over 50 years of experience as auctioneers and gold buyers in the UK.


The business offers an extremely quick and easy solution for selling unwanted gold online for cash – all from the comfort of your own home.

     

The goal

The customer’s goal is a blended CPA of £30 across Google, Microsoft, and Meta. After the iOS14 update in 2021, the Meta account experienced a significant loss in data. This, combined with an increased cost of advertising, resulted in fewer leads and a higher CPL of £45.

In this case study we will show you how we managed to decrease CPCs and the CPL by over 45% while increasing lead volume.

The challenge

The iOS 14 update in 2021 caused a significant loss of data on Meta, affecting campaign performance and opportunities for optimisation. It also contributed to a rise in CPM levels, which more recently have been further increased by the global recession.

  • This led to fewer conversions at a CPL of £45 on Meta – £15 higher than the target CPL.
  • We had planned to launch on TikTok – a typically cheaper platform and currently the best social media channel for acquiring new customers. However, as Cash 4 Gold-Now falls into the Financial Services sector, we weren’t able to advertise on this platform.
  • We decided to produce creatives based on user-generated content or “UGC creatives” (TikTok’s typical ad format) and apply them to our current Meta account, as well as a new channel, Snapchat.

The results

Ambitious Targets Exceeded

During the first 3 months of testing, UCG creatives on Meta, CPL dropped by 46% to £24. This was lower than our target CPL of £30.

  • The cost of advertising fell by 10% on Meta, resulting in a 41% reduction in spend on the account. This was achieved by decreasing CPCs by 32%.
  • Lead volumes rose by 7% compared to the previous period
  • CTR rose by 33% while CVR rose 66% on Meta

When we used UGC on Snapchat, brand exposure on social media rose by 11%

  • In the first 3 months, Snapchat delivered leads at a CPA of £26
  • Snapchat contributed to an increase in the overall lead volume from social by 7%


Through employing UGC creatives on Meta and Snapchat, the client achieved more leads for 41% less spend, increasing their margin by £6 per lead.

The approach

Push worked with the client to devise a new approach, and to shoot an array of footage. We then storyboarded and created the content.

Testing & Experimentation

We tested different hooks around the main benefits of using Cash 4 Gold-Now. We also tested new video styles such as Storytime, Vlog style, Interview style, transition videos, etc.

Conclusion

Although our client was initially sceptical of replacing our existing expensive, professional and high quality advertising content with what looked like “homemade content”, we found that these creatives worked incredibly well with our audiences.

This, combined with the success of TikTok and the authenticity of UGC creatives, increased lead volume and decreased overall CPL across social channels.

If you would like to experiment with new creatives, or want help with your social strategy, get in touch today!

     

Since we started working with Push, we have scaled our online marketing spend from £13,000 per month to over £80,000 per month while lowering our CPA year on year. 

 

 

Paul Rosen