Case study 2 · Full Meta campaign · NYC weddingsLive
Cutting cost per qualified lead in half for a premium wedding brand
How I tested my way from cheap lead-form ads to a video ad and landing page that bring in leads who actually book, on $30 a day.
Updated weekly · Last update Oct 29, 2026
- −51%
- cost per qualified lead, from about $174 to about $86.
- $172
- cost per booked sales call (1 Zoom call so far)
- ~3%
- click-through rate on video, vs 1.5% static
- ~$13k
- top package these ads sell
- Brand
- Hevesi Journal (my company)
- Channel
- Meta: Instagram + Facebook
- My role
- Strategy, creative, ads, tracking
- Budget
- $20–30 per day
- Goal
- Qualified leads who book a sales call. Closing is the sales team's job.
- Tools
- Meta Ads Manager, Meta Pixel, Windsor.ai, Claude, Premiere
The challenge
Sell an expensive, trust-based service to strangers in a new city, on a small-business budget.
- New market. Known in Atlanta. Starting from zero in New York City.
- High ticket. Packages up to ~$13k. Lead quality matters more than lead count.
- Small budget. $20–30 a day. Every test has to earn its spend.
How I got there
Six small tests. I logged every change and its result, so each decision built on the last.
- Tried lead-form ads. Cheap leads, but most never replied. Paused them.
- Built a NYC landing page. Fewer leads, better ones. One wanted the ~$13k package.
- Tested video vs. static. The static ad wore out. Video won on cost and lead quality.
- Added retargeting. Reached Instagram engagers, 180-day site visitors, and people who watched 50% of the video.
- Pre-tested hooks for free. Ran Instagram trial reels before paying to promote new creative.
- Set a scaling rule. +20% budget per booking, a week apart. Now $30/day.
The cheapest lead isn't the best lead
Lead forms cost the least per lead, but those people didn't reply. Video sits in the middle and brought a lead who booked a call.
| Approach | Cost per lead | Leads | Lead quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead-form ads | ~$22 | 7 | Mostly no reply |
| Retargeting | $64 | 1 | Not rated yet |
| Video → landing page (current winner) | ~$86 | 2 | Booked a sales call |
| Static → landing page | $174 | 1 | Strong, ~$13k package |
Cost per lead by ad approach. Source: Meta Ads Manager via Windsor.ai, Sep 21 – Oct 25, 2026. Small sample, judged weekly.
What I learned
Lessons I now apply to any paid social account.
- Optimize for quality. For a high-ticket offer, cost per lead alone is the wrong goal.
- Landing pages filter. A dedicated page lets serious buyers qualify themselves.
- Video builds trust. It works best with cold audiences. Statics are next for warm ones.
- Watch frequency. Past ~3.5, the static ad's click rate fell to 0.5%. Refresh before then.
- Don't toggle ads. Switching a reel on and off stopped it producing inquiries.
- Judge weekly. Small budgets bring results in clumps. Scale only on bookings.
Live updates
Newest first. A new entry lands here after each weekly review.
- Oct 25, 2026Video hit $172 spent and 2 leads (~$86 each). Declared the winner and raised budget from $25 to $30 a day.
- Oct 22, 2026A new video lead booked a Zoom sales call. A trial reel tested a new hook: strong start, weak finish, so I'm fixing it first.
- Oct 21, 2026Meta moved budget to video on its own as the static ad wore out. Added a high-save carousel to retargeting.
- Oct 20, 2026Started a decision log. 30-day snapshot: $567 spent, 2 website leads.
- Early Oct 2026Paused lead-form ads. Moved traffic to a new NYC landing page. Launched the video test and retargeting.
What's next
- Weekly review around Nov 1: fresh creative if clicks stay low
- Test couple-specific static ads in retargeting
- Confirm Pixel + Conversions API lead tracking
- Scale ahead of engagement season, Dec–Feb