How Creative Signals, Cost Caps and Open Targeting Reduced AK Apple Ply’s CPL by 49% in 6 Months
Background
AK Apple Ply is a manufacturer of plywood and allied wood products with over 40 years of experience in the industry. Its portfolio spans plywood, blockboard, doors, veneers, laminates, MDF, particle boards and other wood-based products, catering to a broad range of customer and project requirements.
Meta Ads was one of the digital channels used by the business to acquire prospective customers. This case study focuses on a six-month period in which a series of planned changes were introduced to progressively improve campaign efficiency.
The Challenge
The campaign was producing leads, but acquisition costs were rising. CPL increased from ₹342.24 in September 2023 to ₹403.32 in October, while lead volume remained almost flat despite higher spend. The challenge was to reverse this trend and improve the efficiency of lead acquisition.
The Approach
Historical performance suggested that the way a product range was presented in a creative could influence lead-generation efficiency. A creative promoting the range of doors in an older campaign was one of the account’s strongest-performing creatives. We adapted its creative concept and key visual elements for the Plywood product range and reintroduced the approach into the current campaign.
The new creative delivered an immediate improvement in acquisition efficiency. CPL fell from ₹403.32 in October to ₹288.77 in November, a 28.4% reduction, while lead volume increased from 50 to 73.
The next optimisation focused on controlling acquisition costs through cost caps. With a cap set between ₹250 and ₹300, CPL fell by a further 21.7% from ₹288.77 in November to ₹226.21 in December.
With the creative now established as a consistent performer, we introduced an open-targeting ad set to scale its reach beyond detailed targeting constraints. The same creative was carried over using its existing post ID, preserving the engagement built on the original ad. The scaling ad set generated leads at ₹149.06 CPL, compared with ₹259.26 in the detailed-targeting ad set.
Results & Impact
CPL had reached a high of ₹403.32 in October. By February, it had fallen to ₹204.04, representing a 49.4% reduction in acquisition cost. Over the same period, monthly lead volume increased from 50 to 101, with the highest monthly volume reaching 121 leads in January.
Cost per lead (₹)
Creative Added
28.4% CPL
Cost Caps Introduced
21.7% CPL
Audience Expansion
9.8% CPL
Cost per lead (₹)