+40% CPA Drop, +5X Install Rise, and One Rule: Don’t Stop Testing

Subscription apps often hit a wall when trying to scale paid user acquisition.

CPAs rise. Creatives fatigue.
And expanding into new regions feels like lighting a budget on fire.

But here’s what we’ve learned at REPLUG:

Scaling UA sustainably is possible when you rethink how you test, localize, and optimize across the funnel.

Over the last few months, our UA team, led by Tuğçe Karakurum, Paid User Acquisition Manager at REPLUG, partnered with a leading cooking recipe app to solve one core challenge:

Scale paid UA across Europe and beyond, while keeping trial-start CPAs in a sustainable range.

We reached that goal in two months, and here’s how.

We’re REPLUG, a Berlin-based app marketing agency specializing in OEM marketing, paid user acquisition, ASO, tracking and analytics, and more.

Contact us today if you’re looking for expert solutions to promote your app and scale through mobile marketing.

The Challenge

A leading recipe and meal planning app had strong brand awareness in German-speaking markets. But their paid campaigns were underperforming, and their goals were clear:

• Expand into new GEOs while cutting inefficient spend
• Bring CPAs down across Meta, TikTok, and Google
• Hit sustainable trial-start CPA targets
• Refresh creatives and reduce fatigue

Before REPLUG, campaigns were running on autopilot:

• Limited creative testing
• No structured reporting
• Overreliance on DE, AT, and CH markets
• Lack of performance clarity across channels

They had great potential, but no strategic UA engine behind it.

What We Uncovered

“Before we joined, most creatives were reused and rarely updated. They’d just switch them on and off without analysis. There was no testing system. And the best-performing countries turned out to be ones they hadn’t even touched yet.”
— Tuğçe Karakurum, Paid UA Manager at REPLUG

Here’s what changed after our team took over.

The Strategy That Drove Results

We didn’t “optimize.” We rebuilt their entire UA approach, including where to spend, what to test, and how to measure success.

Here’s what actually worked:

1. Geo Reallocation Changed Everything

The turning point? Shifting the geographic focus.

We reallocated spend away from oversaturated regions like Germany and Austria and invested more in:

• France — now the top-performing market
  
• English-speaking GEOs — surprisingly efficient CPAs
  
• New tests in Spain & Belgium

Why it worked: These audiences hadn’t been saturated and showed stronger intent, which resulted in more efficient CPAs.

2. Creative Testing Wasn’t Optional — It Was Weekly

We implemented a weekly creative testing cycle, including new formats like:

• Carousels with recipe steps (great for Meta)
  
• Spark Ads with UGC (perfect for TikTok)
  
• Statics vs. motion testing by platform

“In this category, visuals matter — and the right format matters even more. People want to skim recipe steps, not pause videos.”
— Tuğçe Karakurum

We also introduced weekly creative reports with actionable feedback, so iteration could happen fast — not once a quarter.

3. Full-Funnel Metrics, Not Just CPI

We aligned the campaign structure to real business goals:

• Install-optimized campaigns to feed the top-of-funnel
  
• Trial-optimized campaigns to drive actual conversion
  
• Cross-channel reports in Looker Studio, with full visibility into:
  
  • Creative performance
    
  • GEO-level results
    
  • Gender/age/placement breakdowns

The Looker report has a campaign and OS breakdown, but we will also add a GEO breakdown.

Most teams stop at CPI. We mapped performance from install to trial start to purchase.

What Happened Next

• Trial-start CPA goals reached within 2 months
• Meta CPI decreased by approx. 30% month-over-month
• TikTok CPA decreased by approx. 40% with new strategy and Spark Ads
• Google CPA remained in a sustainable range (especially Android)
• Top creative sustained high volume installs with strong efficiency for 3+ months

Oh, and those “experimental” markets?
France + Canada now outperform Germany in trial conversions!

Strategic Insights

1. Don’t assume your current best market is your real best market.
Germany may feel safe, but France brought better returns. Expand wisely.

2. Weekly creative testing isn’t “extra” —> it’s essential.
If you’re not testing every 7–10 days, you’re already falling behind.

3. Use interest-based targeting for niche apps.
For cooking and recipe apps, interest targeting outperformed broad.

4. Match creatives to platform behavior.
Carousels for Meta. Spark Ads for TikTok. UGC for everything. Why? Because it feels native.

5. Mix install + trial campaigns.
Top-funnel needs volume. Bottom-funnel needs precision. Running both = scalable + sustainable UA.

What Not to Do

• Stick to your “home” market because it’s familiar
• Recycle the same creatives without analyzing performance
• Force a campaign to work just because you want it to
• Ignore trial or purchase metrics — install ≠ success

“Sometimes you need to let go of a campaign that’s just draining money. If it’s not working, don’t fix it — replace it.”
— Tuğçe Karakurum

Final Takeaway

Scaling paid UA for subscription apps isn’t about hacks. It’s about:

• Smart market testing
• Platform-aligned creative strategy
• Full-funnel reporting
• Weekly optimization

REPLUG helped a leading cooking recipe app hit its CPA goals and scale without blindly burning the budget or guessing.

Want results like this?

We should talk if you’re running paid UA for a subscription app and can’t figure out why your CPAs keep climbing. Contact us today for your tailored solution.