Driving Short-Term Acquisition to Maximize Long-Term Value

Fidme is a digital wallet app specialized in dematerializing loyalty cards, promotional catalogs, and instant discount coupons. Its value is built through usage over time, not just installation, a key challenge for any long term mobile acquisition strategy. Fidme also offers Fidme Courses, an app dedicated to shopping lists and the automatic detection of promotions and deals. 

For Fidme, the goal was not to maximize installation volume, but to acquire users capable of generating sustained usage and long-term value. For a product whose value compounds over time, relying exclusively on short-term indicators would inevitably lead to biased decisions.

The challenge was to reconcile fast optimization cycles, essential for acquisition algorithms to function efficiently, with a business-oriented perspective focused on retention, engagement, and cohort quality. This required identifying reliable intermediate indicators to guide media decisions without losing sight of long-term objectives.

These challenges were further intensified by limited visibility on post-install signals and significant creative pressure within the Smart Shopping ecosystem. Messaging and formats saturate quickly, making continuous concept renewal essential. All of this unfolds in a highly seasonal environment shaped by sales periods, holidays, and major consumption peaks, requiring precise timing and investment management.

Leveraging Short-Term Signals to Drive Long-Term Performance

The strategy was built on a data-driven framework, anchored by a structuring decision: using a short-term metric to anticipate long-term performance.

Cost per Retained User at Day 1 (CPRU D1) was selected as a predictive KPI for Month 4 retention. This indicator became the reference point for early optimization decisions, enabling performance steering from the very first acquisition phases without waiting for long-term data signals.

Media Allocation Focused on Quality

Media decisions were guided by a clear principle: prioritize user quality and long-term usage potential over immediate volume.

• • High-Intent Channels (Google Ads, Apple Ads)

Investment was primarily concentrated on Search channels to capture users actively looking for loyalty cards, promotions, or discount coupons, aligning directly with the app’s functional promise. These channels formed the foundation of the strategy, delivering an average CPI below €1.5 on Google Ads while maintaining strong scalability potential.

• • Social Ads (Meta, TikTok)

Social channels played a complementary role by driving product discovery and reinforcing social proof. UGC formats were particularly effective in showcasing the app in real-life situations, helping users project themselves into concrete use cases.

• • DSP

Moloco was integrated into the media mix to broaden audience reach and identify higher-value user profiles, leveraging behavioral signals observed among the most engaged cohorts.

• • Continuous Budget Reallocation

Budgets were regularly adjusted based on observed performance. Certain sources were deliberately capped when post-install signals indicated insufficient usage or retention potential.

This structured media arbitration led to steady volume growth while tangibly improving retention performance.

MAU Evolution (2024 → 2025)

The ability to scale without compromising quality is reflected in the monthly evolution of active users between 2024 and 2025.

M+1 and M+4 Retention Evolution (2024 → 2025)

In parallel, improvements in cohort quality are visible both in short-term (M+1) and mid-term (M+4) retention metrics.

Creative as a Qualification Lever

Creative strategy was designed not merely as an install driver, but as a qualification tool. A continuous flow of new creatives was maintained to prevent ad fatigue and sustain structured testing cycles.

UGC formats strengthened understanding of the value proposition and enabled users to envision real-life usage scenarios. Motion formats, enhanced by AI-driven production, accelerated the deployment of diverse and high-performing concepts at scale. Creative execution was not treated as a simple acquisition lever, but as a progressive audience selection mechanism.

Ongoing Optimization

Throughout the partnership, the strategy evolved continuously based on performance data. Messaging, formats, and media allocations were iterated on an ongoing basis, progressively refining the quality of acquired cohorts.

• +26% MAU, reflecting steady growth in user engagement between January and December 2025.
• +8 retention points at M+4, confirming significant improvements in cohort quality.
• Average CPI below €1.5 on Google Ads, the primary acquisition source, while effectively diversifying the media mix toward scalable channels such as Moloco.

These results demonstrate the ability to leverage short-term optimization as a driver of long-term retention and sustainable user value.

• Progressive diversification of the media mix and reinforcement of value-oriented channels, including continued DSP scaling and deeper Search optimization.
• Ongoing performance steering through continuous creative iteration and budget adjustments aligned with observed cohort quality.