Goal: Increase user sign up trials, and increase conversion rate to paid trials
Overview
Across 120 days I worked on paid media for Arcads AI. The budget was $30K/month ($120K total) on Meta Ads (60%) and Google Ads (40%) for Arcads.ai (a PLG SaaS). We:
Built a weekly creative testing engine using Arcads.ai’s own product
Rebuilt high-intent search clusters which cut wasted spend
Tightened onboarding so new users hit their first win in <24 hours.
Outcome: more trials → more activations → more paid users, with ~4.2-month CAC payback and predictable growth.
The Problem
Paid underused, had mixed messaging, and inconsistent volume.
Trials stalled before the “aha” → users weren’t completing a first successful project (low activation).
No PLG KPI ladder → decisions were made on clicks/leads, not on Signup → Activation → Paid → Payback.
The Solution
1) Meta — Simple, Repeatable Creative System
Weekly Optimization:
Idea → make 6–10 variants → launch → learn → keep winners, cut losers.
Angles we leaned on:
- Speed: “Ship 10 ad concepts before lunch.” - Lower CAC: “Beat creative fatigue without hiring a designer.” -Test velocity: “Test 5 hooks this week, not this quarter.”
Proof, not promises: show real outputs with a light “Generated in Arcads.ai” overlay.
How we structure campaigns:
- Group ad sets by angle (Speed / CAC / Testing).
- Roll the top 3 winners into broad and stacked lookalikes to scale.
2) Google — Capture High-Intent Demand
Targeting: Exact and Phrase only, with tight negatives to filter generic “AI” searches.
Core keyword clusters:
- “ai ad creative” - “ad copy generator” - “facebook ad generator” - “ad creative testing tool” - “generate google ads creatives” - “creative testing platform”
fatigue without hiring a designer.” -Test velocity: “Test 5 hooks this week, not this quarter.”
Landing pages:
Each cluster gets its own matching page (aligned headline, real examples, quick micro-demo) to lift trial conversion.
3) Optimization (every week)
- Meta: pause losers at 1.5–2× CPA target; scale winners; add 2–3 new variants from the best angle. - Google: prune queries with poor signed-up-to-activated rates; move budget to best clusters. - Onboarding A/Bs: “Start from template,” “Import brand kit,” “See a sample ad” pre-filled path.
