Cost per lead down 85%.
How we took a Canadian health spending account provider from $44.47 per lead on image ads to $6.47 per lead on short video ads, and brought in 169 small business leads in about six weeks.
A great offer that was hard to explain.
This company helps small businesses give their team health and dental coverage through a health spending account, without the high monthly premiums of a traditional group benefits plan. Owners love the idea once they get it. The problem was getting them to stop scrolling long enough to get it.
The first round of image ads brought in leads, but at $44.47 each, it was too expensive to grow.
An unfamiliar idea
Most owners only know traditional group plans. A new way to cover benefits takes a little explaining.
Leads cost too much
Text heavy image ads worked, but each lead cost over $44. That made it hard to scale.
Busy, skeptical buyers
Business owners get pitched all day. The message had to feel simple and trustworthy in seconds.
Find the message. Then change the format.
We did not guess. We tested the message first with low cost image ads, then took the winning idea and turned it into short videos.
Test six messages with image ads
We launched six image and carousel ads, each with a different angle: a broken benefits model, paying for middlemen, not buying insurance, and asking owners if their current plan was the real problem.
Let the numbers pick the winner
One question clearly beat the rest: “What if your benefits plan was the problem?” It brought in 27 of the 36 image ad leads. Now we knew what owners responded to.
Turn the idea into short videos
We launched a new campaign with four short videos that explain the offer in plain language. Video does in 20 seconds what a busy graphic struggles to do: make a new idea feel simple.
Instant lead forms
Interested owners could ask for info in a few taps without leaving Facebook or Instagram. No website visit, no extra steps.
Budget follows the winner
Meta quickly moved spend to the strongest video. The other three versions cost less than $4 combined, so almost nothing was wasted while the test played out.
Less spend, 4.7x the leads.
The video campaign spent $1,094.11 and brought in 169 leads at $6.47 each. The image campaign spent $1,600.83 over a longer stretch and brought in 36 leads at $44.47 each. Same offer, same audience, very different results.
| Campaign | Leads | Cost per lead | Spend | Impressions | Reach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video campaign Sept 21 launch | 169 | $6.47 | $1,094.11 | 40,320 | 20,536 |
| Image campaign May 26 launch | 36 | $44.47 | $1,600.83 | 31,794 | 9,519 |
| Both campaigns | 205 | $13.15 | $2,694.94 | 72,114 | n/a |
One video brought in 169 leads on its own, at $6.45 each. That is more than four times the leads of all six image ads combined, for about a third less money.
| Ad | Leads | Cost per lead | Spend | Impressions | Reach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video, Version C Top ad | 169 | $6.45 | $1,090.22 | 40,268 | 20,512 |
| Image: What If Your Benefits Plan Was the Problem? | 27 | $36.95 | $997.53 | 19,987 | 6,797 |
| Image: The Entire Benefits Model Is Broken | 3 | $71.07 | $213.21 | 4,118 | 2,026 |
| Carousel Ad 1 | 2 | $105.12 | $210.24 | 4,017 | 1,728 |
| Image: You’re Not Buying Insurance | 1 | $63.14 | $63.14 | 1,508 | 977 |
| Image: Stop Paying for Middlemen | 1 | $61.01 | $61.01 | 1,178 | 792 |
| Image: The Entire Benefits Model Is Fundamentally Broken | 2 | $27.85 | $55.70 | 986 | 675 |
| Video 2, Version 1 | 0 | n/a | $2.13 | 28 | 24 |
| Video 4 | 0 | n/a | $1.28 | 13 | 12 |
| Video, September A, Version 2 | 0 | n/a | $0.48 | 11 | 10 |
| All 10 ads | 205 | $13.15 | $2,694.94 | 72,114 | n/a |
The three videos that did not get picked cost $3.89 combined. Testing several versions cost almost nothing, and it found the ad that changed the whole account.
Straight from Ads Manager.
No rounded numbers, no cherry picked days. These are the live campaign and ad results for the full period. Client name blurred for privacy.
What this means for your business.
Cheap image ads showed which idea owners cared about. That made the video a safe bet, not a gamble.
When your offer is new or a little complex, a short video can make it click in seconds. Here it cut cost per lead by 85%.
Instant lead forms let busy owners ask for info in a few taps, right inside Facebook or Instagram.
The videos that did not win cost less than $4 combined. A smart setup keeps waste low while you test.
Want results like this
for your business?
Free 30-minute strategy call. We’ll look at your current ads, show you where the money is going, and tell you exactly what we’d test first.