Valeron went from $0 to $16K a month in under two months

The brief

Valeron is a SaaS company, and when we started, it was making $0 a month. The brief was to build revenue through paid ads.

Paid ads can burn through a budget quickly when nobody yet knows which message and format sell. So the first task was to find out, before putting serious money behind anything.

What we did

We tested formats first, then put money behind the ones that won. In general terms, the work ran in this order.

1. We tested a range of formats. Different ways of presenting the same product, so each test told us something about the format itself.
2. We let the numbers choose. Each format was judged on its results, and the weak ones were dropped.
3. We doubled down on the best ones. The formats that worked got more versions and more of the budget.
4. We ran them as ads. The winners became the ads, so spend went behind work that had already proven itself.

Paid testing and the media plan are part of Line III, Strategy. When the formats need to be made as well, Line II, Film handles concept, script, shoot and edit in the house.

What happened

Valeron went from $0 to $16K a month in under two months.

The method is simple to describe. Test formats, keep the ones that work and put money behind them. The discipline lies in letting the results decide, and in moving budget quickly once they have.

That discipline also protects the budget. Money follows evidence, so less of it goes on ads that were never going to work.

What to take from it

• Test formats before you scale spend. A large budget behind an untested ad is a guess.
• Change one thing at a time. If every ad differs in offer, format and audience at once, the results teach you very little.
• Decide in advance what counts as a win. Pick the number that matters to the business, such as paying customers, before the test starts.
• Double down fast. When a format wins, make more versions of it and move budget towards it.
• Keep the next test running. Even a winning ad tires with time, so new formats should already be in testing while the current winner carries the spend.

Our creative testing framework goes deeper into running tests like these. If you have just raised and want the money to work, read how to approach marketing after a seed round. For a result built on testing at volume, see the CLASS case study. When you are ready to test properly, apply for admission.