Case studies · EdTech, online school

Trial lessons
that convert to paying students.

A language online school had seen lead cost rise for four straight quarters. A trial lesson cost $28, and only 11% converted to a paid course. We rebuilt the audience layer and shifted half the budget to mobile in-app with rewarded videos tailored to each language.

EdTech · Online school · 10 weeks

Look-alikes on payers + mobile in-app + per-language creative.

The school treated "lead = trial lesson," too broad a segment — it mixed serious learners with casual curiosity. We built look-alikes on paying students (not leads), split buying by language studied (English, Mandarin, Spanish) with dynamic creatives, and added rewarded video in mobile apps. The trial lesson became higher-quality and cheaper at the same time.

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Trial-lesson CPL
−43%
in 10 weeks
Paid conversion
+22%
trial → course
New students
3.2K
in 10 weeks
What we did

How we retuned performance.

01

Payment model

We took paying students, not leads, as the seed — exported 6,800 students from prior cohorts. Enriched via DMP and built look-alikes. Random curious users fell out of buying.

02

Setup

Split campaigns by language: English, Mandarin, Spanish. Each has its own funnel, creatives, and trial-lesson offer. Inside each language — a cut by motivation: work, relocation, self-study.

03

Mobile in-app

Moved 45% of the budget into rewarded video in games and utility apps. The "bonus for full view" format delivered 87% VTR and was 2.1× cheaper per click than display.

04

LTV loop

By week 10 we synced renewal data: the algorithm started optimizing for student LTV, not just leads. The share of paying students at month 6 rose by 14 pp.

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