Profitable customer acquisition

ShowSlot has evolved from a start-up into one of the leading producers and organizers of live entertainment in the German-speaking region, creating unforgettable experiences for audiences across more than 50 venues in three countries. Given the challenges in the entertainment and event industry regarding customer retention, a targeted paid social strategy was needed to focus on acquiring new customers.

Live entertainment events are typically one-off or seasonal experiences that rarely lead to repeat purchases. Therefore, the primary focus was on acquiring new customers. However, customer acquisition costs were very high before we began our collaboration, which hindered profitable growth. Our priority was to build a profitable acquisition channel that enables sustainable growth.

Original setup:
At the start of our partnership, we took over a setup that consisted exclusively of geo-targeting campaigns. In an initial A/B test, we challenged this setup with full-broad campaigns. It quickly became clear that the fewer restrictions the algorithm has, the better the delivery and the lower the CPA (Cost per Action). In short: The algorithm decides for itself where purchases are most likely to occur and serves ads to users exactly there.
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New setup:
To optimize the campaign setup for ShowSlot, we implemented a clear division between testing and scaling. This allowed us to maintain an overview and ensure precise control for every individual show.
When using CBO (Campaign Budget Optimization), we consistently combined the best testing ad sets with the most successful ads, using the post ID of the winning creatives to maintain engagement and, consequently, achieve better CPMs. This approach allowed us to scale more profitably.
We applied a similar approach to the Advantage+ Shopping Campaign (ASC+), segmenting it and integrating creatives tailored to individual shows to ensure that only the most relevant ads were delivered and considered by the algorithm.

By simplifying the account setup, we were able to continuously test new marketing angles and follow our established roadmap—an ideal approach for implementing a profitable acquisition channel.
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Regarding ads, we found that they must convey the feeling of a show and evoke emotions like anticipation for the live experience. This works best with videos that avoid excessive text overlays and use a clean layout that keeps the event front and center.