UGC Paid Social Videos
A case study highlighting how my creative strategy and scriptwriting transformed a disrupted Meta program and an untapped TikTok channel into a multi-million-dollar growth engine for a fintech company.
As interim creative lead of Remitly's digital acquisition team, I spearheaded a strategic shift away from the brand's traditional hi-fi creative in favor of a UGC-first model. It was a decision I made after months of audience research and performance analysis.
To earn buy-in from growth leadership, I proposed an A/B test to validate the hypothesis before committing resources. When results confirmed my thesis, we scaled the model across all paid channels.
Whiteboard was the first execution of that strategy, and our first opportunity to iterate with a dedicated creative lead now in place. We approached with a hypothesis: if we showed users the exact steps to download the app and complete a transfer, we could close the gap between ad exposure and conversion.
My Approach:
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Whiteboard
Whiteboard became a brand-best, cross-platform performer.
Meta: 12%+ post-click sign-up rate — more than 4x the platform average CVR
TikTok: Ranked as a top-two video by spend for two consecutive months
Results:
The success of Whiteboard didn't just prove a concept — it reshaped Remitly's entire digital acquisition performance. By continuing to iterate on the same strategic framework, the brand achieved:
1.7B impressions delivered on $9.7M in spend
+30% increase in new customer acquisitions (NCAs) on Meta
+86% improvement in CTR on Meta
-7% reduction in CAC on Meta
-51% reduction in CAC on TikTok
+2,500% NCA growth on TikTok, scaling to 162K new customers
Keep scrolling to see how I approached iteration after this success.
Domino Effect:
You Better Be Nice
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English captions are for portfolio use only.
My Approach:
The unlock from Whiteboard was game-changing. Once I’d found a winning strategy, I iterated by using a new trend while repeating the same testimonial-style approach. By letting the trend do the work of grabbing attention and the testimonial do the work of building trust, the ad felt familiar, entertaining, and believable.
Results:
“Better Be Nice” was the brand’s top-performing TikTok video by spend for multiple months. It delivered an above-average watch time (~2.25s vs. ~2s platform average). In its campaign, it increased overall watch time by 2 seconds and decreased CPA from$50 to $39, month over month.
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English captions for portfolio use only.
You’re Doing It Wrong
My Approach: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Once we unlocked the success of snappy, clear explainers, I continued iterating by finding trends and hooks we could use to recreate the successful formula while avoiding messaging fatigue.
Results: On Meta, “Doing It Wrong” was the most efficient of its testing batch at $12 CPS, well below the $25–$60 fintech benchmark. It was also nearly three times more efficient than historic averages. The relocalized versions were also top signup drivers across their several markets.
Final Takeaway: By continuing this process throughout the year, our paid digital team reached monumental results, permanently reshaping our digital acquisition performance and strategy. By the end of the year on Meta, we scaled to 1.7B impressions on $9.7M, increasing NCAs by 30%, improving CTR by 86%, and reducing CAC by 7%. On TikTok, the approach reduced CAC by 51%, and drove a 2500% NCA growth, scaling us to 162K NCAs.
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