Apple Search Google Meta Omnichannel Snapchat TikTok YouTube Dave increased average revenue per user by 53% with paid social & paid search. 184% Increase in Revenue 102% Increase in Spend 41% Increase in ROAS The Overview Dave, the popular banking app on a mission to level the financial playing field, came to MuteSix looking to increase activations of their core in-app revenue-driving event, while improving ROAS across Paid Social and Paid Search. The Strategy Dave had initially invested predominately in upper-funnel efforts to build their now-10-million-strong user base. After increasing app downloads 500% with the help of MuteSix, they shifted their attention to boosting Average Revenue per User (ARPU) and ROAS across Paid Social and Paid Search channels. Paid Social The MuteSix Paid Social team retooled their strategy to meet new business goals, leveraging a number of winning strategies to drive success. Leveraging Advanced Measurement Solutions to Better Align Spend with Performance Due to the signal loss ramifications of iOS 14+, MuteSix set out to better understand Dave’s in-platform performance, turning to advanced measurement solutions prior to scaling. To start, they used a mobile attribution tracking platform to configure SKAD and properly track app install attribution. Based on the data, MuteSix pulled spend from pre-iOS 14 and Android campaigns, reallocating and increasing spend for iOS14+ campaigns so as to convert higher-quality users. Optimizing Toward Bottom-Funnel Cash Advances with DR-Focused UGC Now prioritizing quality of customers over quantity, MuteSix switched gears to optimize toward Dave’s lower-funnel event–an up to $500 cash advance–so as to generate a higher return at a lower cost. To do so, the agency redirected the finance app’s attention away from big budget (and lower-converting) branded videos toward more engaging, cost-efficient UGC celebrating cash advances. Tapping into the agency’s deep TikTok-style content expertise as well as direct response prowess, MuteSix churned out a steady stream of thumb stopping, low-lift short-form video content across Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat. For their storyline, all Paid Social content celebrated Dave as a universally appreciated “money hack” to allow for some much-welcomed spending freedom during challenging economic times. This direction was a departure from that of the past, as MuteSix and Dave wanted to appeal to a wider audience and avoid being branded as an app solely for those facing severe financial hardship. Additionally, MuteSix opted for animated creative and broke the cash advance process into easy-to-follow steps, taking the intimidation out of the entire process. By leveraging TikTok best practices and celebrating the ease of collecting up to $500 before payday, they were able to convert more scrollers into cash advance recipients–all while saving Dave money thanks to lower-production costs and a higher return on investment. Thinking Strategically About Targeting to Reach Quality Users More Efficiently MuteSix had to think strategically about targeting given challenges posed by iOS 14+, as well as Meta constraints in the finance / credit industry. Because Meta falls under the tightly restricted credit ad group, Dave is not able to target by demographic. As such, MuteSix focused on broad audiences, broad LALs, and available interest groups within the special credit ad category, allowing them to target audiences based on similarities in online behavior. Further, because of the cap on campaigns that brands can run for an iOS14+ account, MuteSix consolidated campaigns / audiences, and opted for Automated App Ads, which drive competitive costs for broad audiences. The team also leveraged Meta’s Value Optimization to target the highest-quality customers, ultimately boosting ARPU and ROAS across Meta. Paid Search MuteSix’s Paid Search team stepped in to boost ARPU and ROAS by implementing new strategies to promote the app’s highest revenue-generating event. Having ramped up efforts ahead of the app’s “Summer of Dave,” the team sought out efficiencies to combat overpacing. Cutting back budgets every week despite strong performance proved to be a challenge, but one that was overcome by adjusting target goals, in addition to the below best-in-class ARPU-boosting strategies. Optimizing Toward Cost per Cash Advance at the Keyword Level Previously, the client did not have a keyword-level report in-place, which would allow them to optimize toward cost per cash advance. Because the Apple Search Ads platform only shares install data (not in-app conversions), they were not able to promote cash advances efficiently. As such, Dave created a keyword-level report, which allowed MuteSix to allocate budget according to cost per cash advance, thereby boosting ROAS. Breaking Out Ads Groups to Track Performance at the Creative Asset Level Before working with MuteSix, Dave had combined multiple creative assets into one ad group, making it difficult to gauge creative-specific performance. MuteSix switched their approach, breaking creative out at the group level so as to ensure only the highest-performing creative was meeting users, and scaling accordingly. With Dave’s creative broken out at the group level, MuteSix was also able to track important metrics regarding in-app events not available at the asset level. Given how heavily focused Universal App Campaigns are on creative, this strategy proved especially valuable as it allowed MuteSix to switch out creative once it started to fatigue and assess its efficacy based on overall cost per cash advance. The Success Shifting their focus from an upper-funnel app install push to one for a lower-funnel revenue-generating event – while scaling back ad spend – proved a challenge, but one that could be overcome thanks to MuteSix’s out-of-the-box thinking and agility. The success of MuteSix’s paid media strategy is evident when comparing January 2022 performance to that of June 2022: HOLISTIC 184% Increase in Revenue 102% Increase in Spend 53% Increase in ARPU 41% Increase in ROAS PAID SOCIAL META 60% Increase in CTR 56% Decrease in Android CPI 12% Decrease in iOS CPI TIKTOK 300% Increase in Spend 46% Decrease in iOS CPI 34% Decrease in iOS Cost Per FTCA* 14% Decrease in Android Cost Per FTCA SNAPCHAT 82% Increase in iOS Spend 33% Decrease in iOS CPI 1000% Increase in Android Spend 15% Increase in Android Cost Per FTCA *First Time Cash Advance PAID SEARCH 24% Decrease in CPI MoM 191% Increase in Spend (Apple Search) 9.8M Views within 1 Month (YouTube) 8.6M Impressions via Google UAC Back View Next Case Study