How a Pet App Reduced Costs & Gained High-Intent Users

English-Only Targeting Was Making Every User Expensive

The client wanted ads running only in English-speaking countries, on the theory that narrower targeting buys better users. It brought in steady installs. It also cost more per user than we would normally expect for a subscription app.

We were still buying installs. Meta could not see who opened the app and registered, because those events were not tracked yet. Creative tests were just starting. As their Meta Ads agency, we ran the client’s English-only plan first and watched the numbers before we changed it.

We Changed What We Asked Meta to Optimize For

Once the early data confirmed what the narrow targeting was costing, we rebuilt the account into a structure that could scale. Our Meta app-growth overview explains how creative testing and event measurement fit together in that work.

1. Switched optimization to in-app registration

We moved the target from installs to in-app registration. That told Meta who actually signed up. Once registrations were coming in at a cost we could keep, we moved the target again, toward trial starts. Black Friday pushed auction prices up. Trial starts stayed strong, and the cost stayed in range.

2. Expanded targeting to worldwide

We broadened reach to global targeting, giving the algorithm the widest possible auction to work in. Narrow geography feels like quality control. In practice it raises what you pay for every result, because there are fewer people in the auction and you are bidding against everyone else who wants the same ones.

3. Introduced new creative concepts

We added new ads: user-made video, research-style ads, short metaphor lines, and simple high-contrast pictures made for a phone. Asking for registrations, and giving Meta those events, is what made the paid ads and the user acquisition more efficient.

838 Registrations at $1.47 Each

After restructuring the campaigns, performance improved dramatically.

• 838 in-app registrations at just $1.47 each
• 134 trial starts
• 1,527 installs for the app-install campaign alone
• Over 2.3M impressions and 970K+ completed events

Once the new strategy went live, Meta’s delivery quickly stabilized and scaled more efficiently. The campaigns started attracting people who engaged: completing registrations, starting trials, and using the product. Cost efficiency improved across every stage of the funnel as Meta received better optimization signals. The expanded creative library played a major role too. New formats and styles pushed click-through rate (CTR) up while cost per thousand impressions (CPM) came down, which is the combination that lets you spend more without paying more per user. What started as a campaign chasing install volume became a system built for long-term, subscription-driven growth.

“The difference was night and day. Once the team shifted us to in-app event optimization and expanded our targeting strategy, our costs dropped dramatically and the quality of users improved immediately. We’re finally seeing the kind of results we hoped for.”

Di M., Pet Health App

Where to Start If Your Costs Won’t Come Down

Two changes did most of the work. We asked Meta to optimize for an in-app registration. We let it look for that registration anywhere in the world. New ads made both of those land.

This is the work Strataigize does as an app growth agency. If installs look healthy and registrations do not, book a free growth consultation.