Zapply – High-Paying Countries Experiment
A Follow-Up Experiment in Targeting High-Paying Markets
Our first Zapply marketing campaign proved that there is strong demand for an automated job application tool. We received hundreds of signups, and a significant percentage of users showed willingness to pay.
However, there was one major issue:
👉 Most signups came from lower-income countries, making monetization challenging.
To address this, we launched a second campaign focused exclusively on high-paying regions (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and Europe). The goal was to test:
✅ Do developers from high-income countries want Zapply?
✅ Is acquisition cost sustainable in these markets?
✅ How does willingness to pay compare to our first campaign?
This experiment would determine whether Zapply could be a viable business in premium markets before committing to further development.
Key Metrics Tracked
| Metric | Definition | Formula | Data Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget Spent | Total amount spent on ads | - | Google Ads Dashboard |
| Clicks (Visitors) | How many people visited Zapply.dev | - | Google Analytics (UTM tracking) |
| Signups | Emails collected via the landing page | - | Mailchimp |
| Conversion Rate | How many visitors converted? | (Signups / Clicks) × 100 | Manual Calculation |
| Cost Per Lead | How much it costs to acquire a lead | Budget Spent / Signups | Manual Calculation |
| Willingness to Pay | How many users showed interest in premium? | (Users selecting "Yes" for PAY) | Mailchimp |
Ad Performance
| Platform | Budget Spent ($) | Clicks | Impressions | CTR (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | $544.17 | 432 | 4,364 | 9.90% |
👉 Engagement was high, but the click-through rate (CTR) dropped slightly compared to our first campaign.
Conversion Rate & Cost Per Lead
| Platform | Signups | Conversion Rate (%) | CPL ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | 51 | 11.8% | $10.67 |
🔥 Key Takeaway:
👉 Cost Per Lead increased significantly ($10.67 vs. $0.93 in the first campaign).
👉 Conversion rate (11.8%) is still decent, but we are paying much more for each signup.
Country Breakdown: Did High-Paying Countries Sign Up?
| Top 5 Countries | Signups |
|---|---|
| 🇨🇦 Canada | 13 |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 10 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 6 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 5 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 4 |
🚨 Only 1 signup from the U.S. despite targeting it aggressively.
🔍 More signups from Canada and the U.K., suggesting a shift in regional demand.
👉 Canada & the UK responded well, while the U.S. was unexpectedly weak.
👉 This raises questions about ad targeting and messaging in the U.S.
Willingness to Pay Breakdown
🔴 Willingness to pay dropped significantly from our first campaign.
📌 In our first campaign, 32.4% of users showed willingness to pay.
📌 This time, only 17.6% said they would pay.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
🔥 Key Learnings:
1️⃣ Google Ads remains effective, but acquiring users in high-paying countries is significantly more expensive.
2️⃣ The U.S. underperformed, despite being a primary target.
3️⃣ Canada & the U.K. responded well, indicating potential alternative focus markets.
4️⃣ Willingness to pay dropped from 32.4% to 17.6%, meaning monetization may be harder in premium markets.
❌ Campaign Decision: STOP for Now
Given the high Cost Per Lead and lower willingness to pay, we have stopped this campaign until we finalize the MVP. Spending more now is inefficient without a working product.
🎯 Next Steps:
📌 Focus on MVP development – no more ad spending for now.
📌 Analyze why the U.S. performed poorly and refine the messaging.
📌 Explore organic channels (Indie Hackers, Reddit, etc.) for user engagement.
🚀 Zapply is evolving! Stay tuned for the next phase! 🔥