Coaching Academy: 76% Lower CPC
Cost per click cut 76% in four weeks, with opt-ins and applications stepping up.
The before and after
£2.86
£0.70 (best creative £0.46)
Stock-feeling assets, sporadic applications
Vertical video, pruned weekly
Nobody could say which ad worked
1,600+ tracked landing page clicks in month one
The fuller story
A coaching academy paying close to £3 a click for broad audiences that rarely applied. The ads looked like stock content and nobody could say which one was working.
We cut the audience back hard and rebuilt the creative around two things: the founder's own story, and what life looks like for clients after they've been through the programme.
The situation
A coaching academy selling a high-ticket programme. Their own creative was running on broad audiences, clicks were costing close to £3, and applications were sporadic. Nobody could say which ad or audience was actually doing the work.
What we did
We cut the audience back hard, replaced stock-feeling assets with vertical video and our own creative, and killed anything that was not earning its place week by week. Then launched Sponsored Messaging into the tightest segment.
The result
Cost per click fell from £2.86 to £0.70 across four weeks, a 76% reduction, while landing page clicks climbed past 1,600 in the month. Opt-ins and applications both stepped up sharply the week messaging launched, and the best-performing creative settled at £0.46 a click.
Why it worked
James's read on what actually moved the numbers.
Show the after, not the course
Nobody wants a coaching programme. They want a full diary. The POV ads showed the full diary.
Stories beat claims
A tabloid-style founder story gets read where a list of claims gets skipped. Advertorials and POVs together covered both trust and desire.
Tighter was cheaper
Cutting the audience back meant the same budget bought a 76% cheaper click.
Who we targeted
Broad audiences with clicks close to £3.
Audience cut back hard.
Sponsored Messaging into the tightest segment.
Creative angles
The founder's story, tabloid style
Advertorials written like a tabloid or LadBible story about the founder's journey.
Why it worked: People buy coaching from a person. A story makes them feel they know that person before they ever click.
Turn your founder story into a tabloid-style advertorial.
Build your exposé adPOV of clients after the programme
Images showing the types of clients after they've worked with the academy, like a coach at her desk with clients booked in and waiting.
Why it worked: The prospect sees the life they want. It sells the outcome, not the course. This ad had the highest click-through rate of the month.
The POV, exposé and advertorial formats behind this campaign, broken down so you can copy the structure for your own buyers.
Steal the 4 ad formatsWeekly pruning
Anything not earning its place was switched off every week.
Why it worked: That's how the best creative settled at £0.46 a click.
How the funnel worked
- Step 1
LinkedIn Ads
- Step 2
Landing page
- Step 3
Opt-in
- Step 4
Application
What you can take from this
Tighter can be cheaper
CPC fell from £2.86 to £0.70 in four weeks, a 76% drop, on the same budget.
Prune every week
The best creative settled at £0.46 a click once weak ads were removed.
Messaging adds a step change
Opt-ins and applications stepped up the week messaging launched.
Run this play yourself
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