When a leading social app came to GOTAP, they were struggling with rising acquisition costs and declining user quality from traditional paid channels. Here's how creator marketing transformed their...
When a leading social app came to GOTAP, they were struggling with rising acquisition costs and declining user quality from traditional paid channels. Here's how creator marketing transformed their growth trajectory.
The Challenge
Traditional paid acquisition was becoming increasingly expensive, with CPIs rising 40% year-over-year. More concerning, the quality of acquired users was declining, with D30 retention dropping to historic lows.
The Approach
We identified creator verticals most relevant to the app's target demographic and developed a performance-based campaign optimized for quality installs. Creators were incentivized based on user retention, not just installs.
The Results
Within six months, the app achieved 130% user growth while reducing effective CPI by 45%. More importantly, D30 retention for creator-acquired users was 33% higher than users from traditional channels.
Key Learnings
Success came from focusing on quality over quantity, building long-term creator relationships, and continuously optimizing based on downstream metrics. The app continues to scale creator marketing as their primary acquisition channel.
