Reducing cost per acquisition (CPA) through paid media is one of the toughest challenges for subscription-based platforms. For Shadowz, a French SVOD service specialized in horror movies, the goal was clear: acquire more subscribers while significantly lowering acquisition costs.

In just six months, the brand managed to cut its Paid Media CPA by 50%. Here’s how.

Starting Point

Before optimization, Shadowz faced rising acquisition costs as competition for digital advertising space increased. The company wanted to continue growing its subscriber base but needed a more efficient approach to paid campaigns.

Strategy Implemented

To tackle this challenge, several actions were taken:

• Campaign restructuring: reorganizing Google Ads and Meta Ads campaigns to focus on the most relevant audiences.
• Creative testing: continuously testing ad formats and messages to find the ones that resonated best with viewers.
• Budget reallocation: concentrating spend on the most profitable channels and campaigns.
• Close performance monitoring: analyzing acquisition metrics daily to quickly adapt to changes.

Results After Six Months

Thanks to these optimizations, Shadowz was able to:

• Cut Paid Media CPA by 50% compared to the initial level.
• Maintain subscriber growth, even with less spend per acquisition.
• Increase efficiency of campaigns across platforms (Google Ads, Meta Ads, and others).

This case demonstrates how a structured approach and constant testing can drive major improvements in acquisition costs.

Lowering CPA while scaling is possible

You need the right mix of campaign structure, creative testing, and budget management. This Paid Media case study shows that performance marketing, when managed closely, can generate substantial savings while still delivering growth.

👉 If you want to reduce your own CPA and improve acquisition efficiency, explore my Paid Media services.

✍️ This article is adapted from my original publication on VOD Factory.