DIGITAL STRATEGY INSIGHT
Subscription based business
Scaling Subscription Growth Whilst Reducing Cost of Acquisition
Client Overview:
This client’s primary objective was to increase new subscriptions year-on-year, with a focus on improving acquisition efficiency and lifetime value.
When we began working with the client, we implemented server-side tracking and performance improved due to improved data accuracy and campaign structure. However, a key limitation remained in how success was being measured.
The Challenge
Value Over Volume
Success was being measured by a blended purchase event which included both:
- Subscription sign-ups (higher LTV)
- Lower-value transactions, like one-time purchases
This created three core issues:
- Inflated performance signals driven by low-value conversions
- High top of funnel costs, with peaks of $112 Cost Per Result.
- Inefficient scaling due to misaligned optimization.
The account was optimised for volume, not for value. Identifying this key conversion misalignment allowed for the strategy to adjust to more effectively target the clients goals of acquiring new subscriptions.
The Strategy
1. Align optimisation with business value
We set-up a dedicated subscription purchase event, allowing for campaigns to optimise purely towards high-value conversions, and in turn focusing on new subscription acquisition.
This removed lower-quality signals and aligned performance with the client’s core objective.
2. Rebuild the Funnel using Broad Targeting
We launched a broad, full-funnel campaign structure using this new event.
Initially we observed performance decline. We saw higher costs due to the loss of easily attainable one-time purchase conversions, and reduced short-term efficiency.
However, as the campaign gathered data, it began to:
- Outperform legacy campaigns
- Deliver cleaner, more valuable acquisition at scale
3. Scale with Stable Foundations
Following this shift, performance stabilised and we saw:
- The number of monthly subscriptions consistently exceeded internal targets
- Growth was sustained through increased spend and improved signal quality.
Unlocking the Next Phase of Scale
Seasonality helped performance accelerate during the promotional period, which was further supported by pricing incentives and increased market demand. This led to subscription volume scaling significantly during peak months, and elevated performance carried over to the following period. While this uplift was expected, the strength of results indicated that improved optimisation was amplifying seasonal demand, instead of benefiting from it.
Following this peak period, performance declined rapidly and fell below historical seasonal benchmarks. Rather than simply attributing this to reduced demand, we identified a possible constraint. We identified that the account had become overly reliant on a narrow set of recent ‘winning’ creatives. This led us to question – was scale being limited by creative consolidation?
Challenging creative consolidation
We re-evaluated the content strategy with the client; instead of relying on only the current top performing creatives, we expanded the strategy to include previous historically high performing assets. We identified this by looking at proven conversion efficiency and strong engagement signals (high CTR, interaction rates).
What was critically at the centre of the content re-evaluation was subscription-focused optimisation, to ensure alignment with the clients goals.
the result
This content shift unlocked another phase of improved performance:
- Record daily results outside of peak season
- Full recovery in subscription volume
- Performance exceeding previous high-demand periods
Alongside this the cost per subscription improved and performance became more consistent and scalable.
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