Meta Ads for a restaurant-tech startup in Europe: 89 leads for HeroContent.AI
Czech startup HeroContent.AI.
A service that automates digital marketing for restaurants and small businesses. The platform helps manage social media, create content and run advertising through WhatsApp.
Project challenge
The startup’s product serves the specialised HORECA sector and was new to the market.
Alongside the main objective of generating Meta leads, we also needed to explain the product’s value to a cold audience through advertising.
Launching the first campaigns
At the start, we tested static images and video creatives, as well as several offers and visual approaches. The campaigns targeted a broad audience without strict restrictions. After 2 weeks of optimisation, we generated the first results: 7 leads at $32 each.
Testing landing pages and audiences
We then tested different funnel scenarios: sending users to a relevant article and starting conversations through WhatsApp. In parallel, we tested lookalike audiences and interest targeting. These tests helped us find more stable combinations and expand reach.
Launching the new website and optimising
- relaunched campaigns using effective combinations and kept CPL at the KPI (≤ $30);
- the ad account was later blocked, so we launched a new account;
- costs gradually increased in the new account and leads stopped coming in;
- we tested old and new creatives, a mascot, AI-generated assets and other audiences, but results did not improve.
Scaling and technical challenges
When we relaunched the best-performing combinations, cost per lead remained within the KPI. However, the advertising account was blocked.
Looking for new solutions
We tested new creatives using AI-generated assets and the project’s mascot, as well as different audiences and formats, but none improved performance. Our analysis showed that the main constraints were website conversion and positioning. We shared recommendations for further improvements with the client.
Ad creatives
Results of the Meta Ads campaigns
Results in numbers
3314,5$
Total ad spend
89
Number of leads
23
Qualified leads
37,2$
Average cost per lead
Conclusion
During the project, we tested different lead-generation approaches: static and video creatives, landing-page options and targeting strategies. The first ad account delivered stable results while keeping cost per lead within the KPI.
After that account was blocked and we moved to a new one, performance gradually declined. Despite testing new creatives, audiences and hypotheses, we could not restore a steady flow of leads. Our analysis showed that the limitations were linked not only to advertising but also to the website’s positioning and conversion. We shared recommendations for improving the product and landing pages.
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