PAID MEDIA CASE STUDY: PERFORMANCE PROVEN UNDER PRESSURE

 

As a long-standing performance marketing partner for multi-location and franchise brands, Imaginuity continually looks for ways to maximize the impact of our clients’ media investments.

To validate our performance across different market conditions, we participated in a competitive benchmark test covering multiple Texas DMAs for one of our multi-location clients.

THE GOAL: WIN IN THE TOUGHEST MARKETS WITH PERFORMANCE MARKETING

Imaginuity managed campaigns ran is Dallas and Houston, the largest, most competitive, and most expensive in the state of Texas.

Benchmark campaigns ran in Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso, smaller, less competitive, and lower-cost markets.

The goal of this benchmark test was to prove our advanced optimization model could drive measurable ROI even where competition and costs were highest.

THE APPROACH: SMARTER, NOT JUST CHEAPER

While benchmark campaigns relied on traditional media-buying approaches — broad targeting, static creative, and efficiency tied to market cost — Imaginuity applied a performance-first strategy built to optimize every dollar.

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    ADVANCED OPTIMIZATION: CONTINUOUS BID ADJUSTMENTS TO MANAGE CPV IN HIGH-COST MARKETS.
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    DATA INTELLIGENCE: FIRST-PARTY AOV VALIDATION THROUGH ADSCIENCE TO ENSURE ACCURATE REVENUE MEASUREMENT.
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    CREATIVE TESTING: MULTIPLE AD VARIATION OPTIMIZED DAILY FOR ENGAGEMENT AND CONVERSIONS.
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    AUDIENCE PRECISION: AI-DRIVEN TARGETING THROUGH ADSCIENCE TO PRIORITIZE HIGH-VALUE HOUSEHOLDS.

THE RESULTS: PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE

From March – July 2025, results confirmed that advanced optimization delivers measurable value even in the most competitive markets.

 

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    MORE CONVERSIONS

    Benchmark campaigns generated visits, but fewer translated into paying customers. Imaginuity’s smarter targeting produced 464% more conversions.

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    MORE REVENUE

    While benchmark campaigns struggled to generate ROI, Imaginuity’s optimization drove more than $1.1M in attributed revenue.

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    BETTER COST CONTROL

    Matching CPV in higher-cost DMAs proved that performance is achievable even in the toughest markets.

 

CONCLUSION

This benchmark proved that performance marketing isn’t about where you spend. It’s about how you optimize your spend.

Imaginuity validated the power of intelligence-driven media by achieving superior ROI in the toughest markets. Its smarter strategy outperformed traditional buying, drove measurable growth, and delivered a more effective approach to scaling success system-wide.

Despite higher media costs, costs per visit remained nearly identical ($0.56 vs. $0.54), proving that efficiency is driven by strategy, not geography. When normalized for market conditions, Imaginuity’s campaigns delivered a 4.1X ROAS, more than four times stronger than the benchmark.

EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF BETTER THINKING, BETTER TECHNOLOGY AND BETTER INSIGHTS

 

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