Case Study · Meta Ads · Fintech

How Coverd went from a $20 CPI goal to $3.51 and then scaled to $110k/month

A bold fintech with a simple ask and big ambitions. We beat the category trust deficit and scaled performance to new heights.

Project Details

Client
Coverd
Industry
Fintech App
Platform
Meta Ads Primary
Period
Jan - Apr 2026
Agency
Street Poller
$3.51

Cost per install

vs. $20.00 target, 83% below goal

$6.86

Cost per purchase

down from $21.10 in month one

14x

Spend scale

$7.5k to $111k/month in 4 months

AT A GLANCE

43,774
Total Installs
19,255
Total Purchases
$189k
Total Spend
4 mo.
Duration

THE BRIEF

A bold fintech with a simple ask and big ambitions

Coverd is a New York-based fintech startup backed by a16z speedrun, Tusk Ventures, and Yolo Investments. The app gamifies personal finance, letting users win back real money on everyday purchases through mini-games.

They came to Street Poller Media with a clear objective: produce street interview video creatives and run them on Meta Ads with a target cost per install of $20. Simple brief. High bar to beat. We got to work.

THE CHALLENGE

A category built on broken trust

01

Zero brand recognition

No reviews, no word of mouth, no trust signals.

02

Fintech trust deficit

Linking bank accounts requires credibility that takes years to build.

03

Gen Z ad fatigue

Traditional polished formats were instantly scrolled past.

ENGAGEMENT OVERVIEW

Two phases, two goals, both beaten

Phase 1
Phase 2
PHASE 1Jan - Feb 2026
GOAL
$20 CPI
RESULT
$5.56 avg
2,774
INSTALLS
$16.7k
SPEND
72%
BELOW GOAL
PHASE 2Mar - Apr 2026
GOAL
Lowest CPP
RESULT
$6.86 CPP
19,255
PURCHASES
$175k
SPEND
67%
CPP DROP

OUR APPROACH

Street polling, rapid iteration, and a relentless focus on the funnel

We built a content-first strategy around authentic street poll videos, real people reacting to Coverd's concept in the wild. High trust, naturally shareable, and perfectly suited to Meta's feed.

01

Creative production from scratch

No actors, no scripts. Seeing real reactions from real strangers built instant credibility.

02

Hook-first testing framework

Winning angles were scaled immediately and losing ones were killed fast. CPI kept dropping.

03

Funnel evolution in month two

Rebuilt optimization around purchase events mid-campaign to attract higher intent users.

04

Scale without degradation

Continuous creative refresh cycles prevented CPA creep as audiences saturated.

MONTH BY MONTH & META ADS

Four months of compounding results

JANUARY · ADS MANAGER

Total Spend: $7,589CPI: $6.67
CampaignsApp InstallsCost per install
Coverd_Scale_1
682$7.23
Coverd_Test_A
456$5.83
Total1,138$6.67

FEBRUARY · ADS MANAGER

Total Spend: $9,097CPI: $5.56
CampaignsApp InstallsCost per install
Coverd_Scale_2
1,153$4.80
Coverd_Test_B
483$7.37
Total1,636$5.56

MARCH · ADS MANAGER

Total Spend: $63,643CPP: $21.10
CampaignsApp InstallsCost per installPurchasesCost per purchase
Coverd_Purch_Conv
4,858$5.832,072$13.67
Coverd_Scale_3
3,521$7.60685$39.06
Total9,271$6.863,016$21.10

APRIL · ADS MANAGER

Total Spend: $111,387CPP: $6.86
CampaignsApp InstallsCost per installPurchasesCost per purchase
Coverd_Purch_Scale
28,157$3.0414,582$5.87
Coverd_Retarget
3,572$7.191,657$15.51
Total31,729$3.5116,239$6.86

BEST PERFORMING CREATIVE · EACH MONTH

JANUARYBest

What was your last big purchase?

276 ins.$5.90
FEBRUARYBest

Are you going to the super bowl?

470 ins.$5.15
MARCHBest

What's a recent purchase you reg...

730 pur.$17.05
APRILBest

It wasn't an OF free trial

8,137 pur.$4.87

Spend vs. efficiency: the inverse relationship that matters

Monthly spend
Cost per install (CPI)
Cost per purchase (CPP)
$120k$90k$60k$30k$0
$6.67
Jan
$7.6k
$5.56
Feb
$9.1k
$21.10
$6.86
Mar
$63.6k
$3.51
$6.86
Apr
$111k

As spend grew 14x, cost per install and cost per purchase both fell. The inverse relationship that makes scaling viable.

THE RESULTS

Efficiency that held as spend scaled

The most common failure in paid social at scale is efficiency degradation. Costs creep up as audiences saturate. Coverd's account tells the opposite story. The spend ramp itself is the clearest evidence: clients do not 14x budgets unless the numbers justify it.

83%

CPI below target.

Goal was $20 and we delivered $3.51 at peak, nearly 6x better.

67%

CPP drop in 1 month.

From $21.10 to $6.86 while spend simultaneously grew 75%.

43k

Total app installs.

Driven across the engagement, consistently below the $20 target.

19k

In-app purchases.

Generated. 16,239 of them in April alone at $6.86 each.

Ready to scale your app without sacrificing efficiency?

Street Poller Media specializes in authentic street interview video creative for Meta Ads. If you are running a mobile app and want results like these, let's talk.

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