The Challenge
Ground News came to us with a user acquisition crisis - they needed to acquire users at the cheapest possible price through Twitter ads, but were struggling to find cost-effective channels in the notoriously difficult politics and news space.
What Everyone Else Was Doing Wrong
Like most media and political content companies, they were running generic awareness campaigns without proper funnel optimization. The 'gurus' told them to focus purely on broad targeting and brand awareness, but that was completely wrong for a subscription-based news platform that needed measurable user acquisition.
The Methodology: Strategic Thinking Over Tactics
Instead of throwing more money at broad campaigns, we focused on the fundamentals:
Product ↔️ Market Fit validation across political ideologies
Ad ↔️ Target Audience Fit optimization through systematic testing
Event optimization strategy that balanced learning phase goals with revenue correlation
OuiGrowth’s Approach
Our process was methodical:
Week 1-2: Implemented SureFire principles and set up proper event tracking for first opens
Week 3-4: Launched app install campaigns optimized for high-funnel events tied to revenue
Month 2: Conducted ideological testing across different political segments
Ongoing: Scaled successful campaigns and expanded to subscription optimization
The Results: $0.25 Cost Per First Open
The results spoke for themselves:
Cost Per First Open: Achieved 25¢ within just one month (in a notoriously expensive political/news vertical)
Total Users Generated: Over 400,000 users across five years of partnership
Channel Performance: Google Ads consistently delivered superior ROAS despite strong Facebook results
Business Impact: Paid advertising became the #2 acquisition channel for Ground News
Timeline: Hit cost targets in 30 days, scaled to 400K+ users over 5 years
The Lesson: Platform Channel Revelations
Despite achieving exceptional 25¢ cost per first open results on Facebook, the channel that most consistently delivered ROAS was Google Ads - proving the importance of testing across platforms rather than assuming early winners will remain optimal for all business objectives.
Ready to Scale Your Online Ads Like Ground News?
Stop wasting ad spend on generic campaigns that don't convert.
If you're struggling with high acquisition costs, poor ROAS, or can't find the right audience for your product, you're not alone. We've helped companies like Ground News achieve 25¢ cost per install and scale to 400,000+ users by focusing on strategic fundamentals over flashy tactics.
Book a free 30-minute consultation where we'll analyze your current campaigns and identify the biggest opportunities for improvement.