Installs Were Costing Over $3.00 Each
A new pet app had built something pet owners loved, and not enough of them knew
Earlier paid campaigns stayed above $3.00 per install. The ads were not stopping the scroll. There was no test that could say which ad earned which install, so there was no safe way to
The job was a Meta Ads system that could bring in pet owners at a cost the business could
One Creative Per Ad Set, No Exceptions
We rebuilt the campaign from scratch with a focus on two things: creative that converts and a campaign structure built
1. Creative testing framework
The ads were the leak. We tested several formats to see which ones pet owners actually tapped, including user-generated content (UGC), the kind of clip a real customer would film on their
| Creative format | Performance | Role | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video (UGC-style) | Highest click-through rate (CTR); drove majority of installs | Primary | High |
| Static carousel | Strong for feature showcasing | Secondary | Medium |
| Story / Reel format | Low CPI; used for retargeting | Supporting | Low |
Each ad ran in its own ad set, so we could see which one earned the install. Winners got more spend. The rest were cut within 48 to 72 hours. That is what brought the cost per
2. Campaign structure and bidding strategy
The campaigns used Meta’s App Install objective and Advantage+ placements, so the ads could run on Facebook, Instagram, Stories, and Reels. A cost cap held the cost per install steady as the
Three campaigns ran at once. One tested new ads on a broad audience. One scaled the winners to people similar to the app’s best users, at a 1 to 3% lookalike. One went back to people who had engaged and had not
3. App Store listing optimization
Paid ads get users to the door; the App Store listing has to close the deal. We audited the listing and found friction right at the point of install. Updates to screenshot sequencing, preview video, and keyword-optimized descriptions made the messaging match what users had just seen in the ad, which cut drop-off at the
This one is worth doing yourself this afternoon. Open your best-performing ad and your store listing side by side and read them back to back. If they do not tell the same story, you are paying to send people somewhere that argues with the ad they
Thirty Days Later, Installs Cost $1.10
Thirty days on one channel produced over 4,000 installs at a cost per install that beat industry benchmarks by
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Total app installs | 4,000+ |
| Cost per install | $1.10 |
| Campaign duration | 30 days |
| CPI vs. industry benchmark ($2.00 to $4.00) | 45 to 72% below average |
| Primary channel | Meta (Facebook and Instagram) |
Two numbers the table cannot show: UGC-style video creative drove over 60% of total installs, and retargeting converted warm audiences at a cost 22% lower than cold prospecting. The store listing changes closed the loop, cutting drop-off at the final step so the paid
“The results exceeded everything we expected. We had been struggling to get installs at a reasonable cost for months, and within 30 days we had over 4,000 new users on the app at $1.10 each. The team understood our audience and built creative that actually resonated with
pet owners.” Di M., Founder, Pet
Health App
If Your Spend Is Not Turning Into Installs
The 4,000+ installs in 30 days at $1.10 each did not take a bigger budget. The ads had to stop the scroll. Each ad had to sit in its own test. The store page had to match
Look at your account in that order. Creative first, then the campaign structure, then the page people land on. The industry page for that work is consumer app marketing.