Fintech app: 1 million registered users in 9 months, with acquisition cost down 43%

A leading Egyptian fintech app (name confidential) · Fintech · Egypt · 2024, 12 months

OneKind ran a 12 month growth program for an Egyptian fintech app in 2024. The app reached 1 million registered users in 9 months, 3 months ahead of plan, while its customer acquisition cost fell about 43% over the year. The creative was built and led by the performance marketing team, using more than 200 A/B and multivariate tests before launch.

At a glance

• 1,000,000 registered users in 9 months (target: 12 months)
• 38% first time activation rate (target: 33%)
• 30% of dormant users came back and made a transaction (target: 40%)
• Customer acquisition cost down 35% in the first 7 months, then a further 13%, about 43% lower over the year
• 200+ A/B and multivariate creative tests before launch
• 25 need based video cutdowns

Scope

• Paid user acquisition
• Performance led creative and design
• Mobile measurement (AppsFlyer to Adjust migration)
• Lifecycle marketing: activation and reactivation (Insider)
• Media across Meta, Google App Campaigns, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Criteo, affiliates and programmatic networks

Situation

The app needed to grow fast without letting acquisition costs rise, which usually happens when spend scales. It also had a large base of dormant users, inactive for more than 6 months, and too few new users were completing their first key action.

Tracking was split across a fragmented media mix, which made it hard to see which channels brought users who actually stayed and used the product.

Task

Reach 1 million registered users within 12 months. Reach a 33% first time activation rate among new users. Bring back 40% of users inactive for more than 6 months to make a transaction. Do all of this while improving unit economics, not only volume.

Action

1. Fixed measurement first — Migrated from AppsFlyer to Adjust to get clearer attribution across social, search, programmatic and affiliate channels, so budget could move to channels that brought active users, not just installs.
2. Performance team led creative — The performance marketing team directed content and design, based on how users in Egypt behave with digital ads, not on style alone.
3. Tested before scaling — Ran more than 200 A/B and multivariate tests before launch to find the messages, formats and layouts that converted.
4. Segmented by need — Produced 25 short video cutdowns, each built for a specific user need, so every audience saw the reason most relevant to them.
5. Designed still images to guide the eye — Layouts placed the visual path toward the call to action, with button colors chosen and tested for attention.
6. Built lifecycle journeys in Insider — Personalised activation flows for new users and win back campaigns for dormant users across channels.

Result

The program beat its user and activation targets while making each new user cheaper to acquire.

• 1 million registered users reached in 9 months, 3 months ahead of target
• 38% first time activation rate, 5 points above target
• 30% of users inactive for 6+ months came back and made a transaction, against a 40% target
• Customer acquisition cost fell 35% in the first 7 months and a further 13% in the following months, about 43% lower than the previous year

Why it worked

Most campaigns get more expensive as they scale. This one got cheaper, because creative, media and tracking were run by the same performance team and judged on the same numbers.

Clear attribution showed which channels brought users who activated. Need based creative meant each user saw a reason that fit them. Lifecycle journeys turned registrations into active users and brought dormant users back.

The reactivation result came in below target at 30%, but it still brought almost a third of a long inactive user base back to transacting.

Related service: Mobile App Growth

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