A unicorn fintech cut CPI 37% and increased click-to-acquisition 30% in one quarter.
What wasn't working.
The client — a late-stage consumer fintech running $1.2M/mo in paid acquisition across Meta, Google, and TikTok — had hit a wall. CPI had climbed 22% over two quarters despite no change in creative or targeting strategy. Platform dashboards were inconsistent: Meta Ads Manager claimed a $6 CPI, GA4 said $11, and their CRM suggested something in between.
Worse, their VP of Growth had just left. Institutional memory of why previous scale-ups failed was walking out the door.
What we did.
We started with a full attribution audit on the 95% of install spend concentrated in Meta and Google.
In week two, Creative IQ identified four fatiguing ad sets that accounted for 38% of spend — their 9-signal health scores had all dropped below 30. We queued refresh variants and began A/B testing immediately.
Weeks 3–5, we ran the first geo-lift study to establish true incremental CPI versus platform-reported CPI. Tri-model consensus (GeoTwin · CausalCore · DiffLens) returned an Attribution Inflation Factor of 2.8× on Meta and 4.1× on branded Google search.
The reallocation plan: cap branded search at 60% of its prior budget, move the surplus into Meta prospecting creative that had tested well in the fatigue-replacement cohort, and add frequency caps at the audience level.
What changed.
By end of Q2, CPI on the recovered-signal basis had dropped from $17 (true incremental) to $10.70 — a 37% improvement. Click-to-acquisition improved 30% as the refreshed creatives and tightened frequency caps lifted relevance.
| Metric | Before | After 90 days | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported CPI (Meta) | $6.10 | $4.90 | −20% |
| Incremental CPI (geo-lift) | $17.10 | $10.70 | −37% |
| Click → acquisition | 1.9% | 2.5% | +30% |
| Branded search spend | $340K/mo | $200K/mo | −41% (waste) |
| Creative refresh cadence | 30 days (calendar) | ~14 days (fatigue-triggered) | Reactive → proactive |
“We analyzed campaigns driving 95% of installs. The frequency capping alone brought immediate efficiency — then the creative refresh queue and the branded search reallocation stacked on top. Every month since, the number has gotten cleaner, not noisier.”
— VP Growth · Consumer fintech app
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90-day pilot · flat fee · pilot credited to contract.