Blueberry Life, a start-up life insurance provider, engaged in a dynamic collaboration with me starting in June 2022. At inception, the primary goal was to prove paid social advertising was a viable source of leads for their business.
With their product not yet launched, but requiring 2,000 interested parties, I began by acquiring Facebook Form Fills to establish an early pool of customer leads, with a £2,000 monthly budget earmarked for testing audience outreach. As the business scaled and eventually launched its product, the advertising strategy underwent a significant transformation, focusing on driving form completions directly on their website over the next 18 months.
This case study examines the evolution of Blueberry Life’s digital advertising efforts, highlighting key results, cost-per-acquisition (CPA), quality improvements, and the strategic pivots that drove campaign performance in alignment with the company’s growth objectives.
Phase 1: Generating Facebook Form Fills (June 2022 – December 2022)
Objective:
- Capture leads efficiently through Meta’s on-platform Lead Forms while testing different audience segments to maximise responses.
Budget:
- Initial allocation of £2,000 across campaigns.
Campaign Strategy:
- Lead Form campaigns and targeting users interested in health and wellbeing-related topics.
- Adverts specifically focussing on Type 2 Diabetes. We wanted to keep the targeting niche to make the most of our budget.
Performance Metrics:
- Lead campaigns observed a Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) range of £6.48-£6.66, which comprehensively met initial benchmarks. We had more than 300 leads in the first month.
Challenges Identified:
- Lead Quality Issues: My experience using Facebook Form Fills over the years has been hit-and-miss in terms of the quality of leads. Blueberry Life was one of the examples where the lead quality was high. The volume of leads was promising, but we wouldn’t remarket to them until the product was officially launched.
Insights Gained:
Early campaigns provided valuable data on audience behaviour, leading to the realisation that a higher-intent process involving website visits and form completions would yield better-quality leads.
Phase 2: Transition to Website Form Completions (April 2024 – December 2024)
Objective:
- With the product officially launched in April 2024, I shifted the focus from basic lead capture to driving high-intent website form completions and retargeting returning users.
Budget:
- Gradual increase to accommodate strategy scale-ups, with daily campaign budgets ranging from £15 to £120 depending on the audience size and strategy complexity.
Key Campaign Insights:
1. Evolution in Campaign Design:
- We leveraged campaigns such as testing additional chronic conditions, retargeting, and different campaign objectives.
2. The Role of Retargeting:
- Retargeting campaigns successfully re-engaged audiences interacting with the ads and website, allowing Blueberry Life to nurture leads further along the purchase funnel.
Cost and Quality Insights:
- Cost Per Acquisition (CPA):
- Transitioning to website completions led to higher, yet justified CPAs (~£15-£20) since these prospects showed higher likelihood of policy purchase now that the product was live, compared to the initial stages of collecting form fills and contact details.
- Lead Quality:
- Website-focused campaigns generated more engaged and qualified users, with retargeting augmenting intent.
Challenges Addressed in Phase 2:
- Tracking Conversions Outside Meta:
- Implementing Meta Pixel with enhanced event setup allowed for precise event-based tracking of website actions (form completions and other KPIs).
- Rising CPAs:
- Despite budget increases, CPAs varied widely due to competitive targeting in broader segments (e.g., health-conscious audiences). Stabilizing costs involved restructuring ad copy and A/B tests for creative optimisation.
Final Outcomes
- Key Success Metrics:
- Leads Captured through Website: Over 1,500 applications
Conclusion: A Blueprint for Digital Marketing Success
The Blueberry Life case study is a testament to the importance of adapting digital strategies as startups evolve. By transitioning from low-barrier leads to higher-intent website form completions, Blueberry Life achieved a more refined lead pipeline, critical for high-consideration purchases like life insurance.
Key Takeaways:
- Iterative Testing Delivers Results: Progressing from Facebook forms to complex website event tracking highlighted the value of continuous audience experimentation.
- Retargeting is Essential: Nurturing warm audiences via retargeting built trust and improved lead-to-sale conversion potential.
- Creative Quality Counts: Investment in dynamic, audience-specific creative enhanced campaign performance significantly.
Future Recommendations:
- Invest in video-based campaigns to strengthen engagement.
- Scale cross-platform remarketing efforts by integrating Google Ads for further audience outreach.
Blueberry Life’s Meta Ads journey shows how startups can maximize return on ad spend (ROAS) with strategic planning, audience insights, and creative experimentation.