The Aqueduct is a twice-weekly conservative news aggregation newsletter that stands out for its unique editorial approach, combining sarcasm and humor with news coverage. Unlike many conservative platforms, The Aqueduct uses humor as a differentiator, offering its readers a light-hearted take on current events. Every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 AM, subscribers receive an email featuring top news stories accompanied by witty commentary.
Subscriber Growth Strategy
When we started working with The Aqueduct, the email list had no existing subscribers. Our goal was to build the first 5,000 subscribers by leveraging Facebook advertising, a platform well-suited to reaching The Aqueduct’s target audience.
Advertising Strategy
To achieve our subscriber growth goals, we focused on two types of Facebook ads: Conversion Ads and Lead Generation Ads. Both ad types were tested to determine which would yield better and more cost-effective results.
Conversion Ads
Conversion Ads are designed to optimize for a specific action—in this case, having users complete a sign-up form on The Aqueduct’s website. We implemented Facebook’s tracking pixel on the site to ensure that the ads were optimized to reach individuals most likely to sign up.
- Sign-Ups: 1,038
- Impressions: 70,249
- Cost Per Sign-Up: $0.76
The Conversion Ads were successful, delivering a cost per sign-up of $0.76, well below the industry average of $1.50.
Lead Generation Ads
Lead Generation Ads allow users to submit their information directly within the Facebook platform, reducing the number of clicks needed to complete a form. Based on past successes with other clients, we anticipated strong results from this approach.
- Sign-Ups: 3,720
- Impressions: 259,063
- Cost Per Sign-Up: $0.44
The Lead Generation Ads exceeded expectations, achieving a cost per sign-up of $0.44, significantly lower than industry averages.
Creative Strategy
Given the political and humorous nature of The Aqueduct, we aimed to create ads that were both engaging and on-brand. We developed several meme-inspired ads featuring popular conservative politicians and celebrities, with text suggesting that reading The Aqueduct would bring them happiness.
All three ads used the same copy, modeled after a humorous, fake review—a common tactic in the newsletter industry:
“My fiends think I’m smart (I’m not). It’s because I read Aqueduct (and they have no idea it exists).” — A Reader of The Aqueduct
To enhance authenticity, we intentionally included a typo in the copy. The images complemented the copy by featuring well-known conservative figures, further aligning with the brand’s identity.
Overall Results
The paid media campaign was a tremendous success, resulting in over 5,000 subscribers at a total cost of $2,947.30. This translates to an average cost per subscriber of $0.51, significantly below industry standards. This campaign not only met but exce