EdTech Client Surpasses Sales Goal by 270% with Meta Ads Strategies

The Story

Our client in the EdTech industry approached us with the intention of increasing sales during their peak season. Despite higher costs-per-click in their vertical this year and the challenges posed by diminishing returns, they tasked us with efficiently and significantly scaling the budget to achieve their sales objectives.

The Challenge

Our client tasked Workshop Digital with scaling the Meta Ads budget by more than 2,200% compared to the previous year's peak season, reaching $730K in a single month. This significant budget increase aimed to meet ambitious sales targets, with a large portion reallocated from non-branded Google and Microsoft Search campaigns, which experienced substantial year-over-year cost-per-click (CPC) increases. While Meta Ads also faced CPC hikes, they were less severe. Early testing throughout the year demonstrated an improving cost per acquisition (CPA) for Meta campaigns, indicating their strong potential for scalable growth.

The challenge arose from the campaign structure, which wasn't optimized to manage such a significantly larger budget than originally planned. Furthermore, these unprecedented spending levels for the account introduced uncertainty regarding when and how diminishing returns would take effect.

The Approach

Workshop Digital launched and optimized multiple new Meta Ads campaigns to maximize the effectiveness of the increased budget. This strategic approach enabled us to tackle prospecting and retargeting from various perspectives while implementing innovative techniques to scale targeted audiences and ultimately, drive sales. The budget was gradually increased in the months leading up to peak periods to ensure a smooth adjustment for the platform's bidding systems, minimizing disruptions and maximizing performance.

A key component of the strategy was an accelerated testing plan, designed to quickly gather insights on the most effective creatives, audiences, campaign types, and campaign settings. These findings helped strengthen the account and guided future campaign iterations. The testing model we developed proved valuable even during the offseason, as we continued to refine strategies and optimize performance in preparation for the next peak.

The Results

Our paid social strategies resulted in Meta Ads campaigns exceeding the targeted sales volume by 270%, achieving 4,003 sales against a goal of 1,083. Additionally, we reduced the cost per acquisition (CPA) by 73%, delivering a CPA of $178 compared to the target of $665.