To remember
- Paid budgets need regular pressure-testing. Campaigns that once worked can become money pits quietly. An outside eye catches that faster.
- Cutting a channel entirely can be the right call. Stopping Facebook freed up resources for what was actually converting.
- Organic acquisition takes longer to show results but reduces dependence on paid budgets in a way that compounds over time.
Challenge
Reducing paid spend while building sustainable organic growth
Alma needed to cut ad spend without watching their lead volume drop. At the same time, they wanted to build organic acquisition channels so future growth would not depend entirely on paid budgets. Concretely:
- Reduce waste on Google and Facebook while keeping ROI intact.
- Build sustainable organic acquisition that compounds over time.
Strategy
Dual strategy: cut inefficient paid spend and build long-term organic acquisition
Two tracks ran in parallel: tighten paid and build organic.
On the paid side, Facebook campaigns were audited, creative tests were run, retargeting was set up, and then the campaigns were shut down once the data showed they were not worth keeping. Google shifted to Performance Max to consolidate spend and improve results.
On the SEO side, a full audit was completed and a content and channel strategy was built around what had the best chance of driving qualified organic traffic over time.
Throughout, performance reporting stayed transparent: clear explanations of what was working and what wasn't, with no spin.
Results
Higher lead volume, lower CPL
- +43% lead volume across European markets (Italy and Spain)
- 36% CPL across European markets (Italy and Spain)
- +21% LTV/CAC in Italy
