Ever seen the movie Her? In it, mild-mannered Theodore Twombly falls in love with an AI operating system named Samantha.
Although we’re not quite at the point of real-life romances with our devices like in Her, we may be closer to the sci-fi future portrayed in the 2013 movie than we think.
AI companions, also known as chatbots, have surged in popularity, with some of the top apps reaching as many as 22 million users by August 2024.
Thanks to rapid advances in LLM technology, today’s AI chatbots have evolved into lively, entertaining conversationalists that nearly mimic human interaction.
In this case study, we’re diving into one of these AI apps to see how it’s capturing attention and sparking real engagement.
Case details: AI companion app blows social networks up
With AI companions capturing millions of users, one app developer saw a chance to go further—reaching new audiences through targeted social media campaigns. Using Social Traffic Type, they connected with highly engaged users across top platforms like Facebook, Twitter (X), and Reddit.
Case study summary
Product: A customizable AI companion app with options for creating unique, interactive characters.
Campaign period: August 1 – August 30, 2024
Number of campaigns: 23
Traffic source: PropellerAds (Before this, our partner used Facebook, but found that PropellerAds drove better results)
Conversions: Subscriptions counted as conversions, following a free trial offer.
Results:
Facebook: $192 spent – 35 registrations
Twitter: $300 spent – 66 registrations
Reddit: $88 spent – 25 registrations
Product overview: An AI companion with endless possibilities
This app goes beyond the typical chatbot, offering users a deeply personalized AI friend. Here’s what makes it stand out:
Customizable characters: Users can tweak their companion’s appearance, personality, style, tone, and backstory to create a one-of-a-kind experience.
Pre-made choices: For quick setup, users can choose from a variety of ready-made characters like an elf, goth girl, knight, or even a godlike entity with wish-granting powers.
Realistic interaction: The app’s AI-driven characters chat, send voice messages, and share images, delivering an immersive experience.
In the developer’s words:
Once set up, your AI companion can chat about daily life, offer support, make you laugh, or even lend a hand with homework—whatever kind of interaction you’re looking for.
In addition to promoting the AI app, our partner also ran parallel campaigns for a VPN offer, which you’ll see reflected in the stats.
Campaign Flow: Turning engagement into conversions
The user journey was designed to maximize engagement:
Free trial: New users are invited to try the app after registration.
Subscription offer: Following a free trial, users are prompted to subscribe to the premium version, counting each subscription as a conversion.
Stats and performance breakdown
Switching to PropellerAds unlocked better results for our partner, expanding reach across various social networks. Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the AI app campaigns:
Network-specific campaigns
Each social network campaign was tailored for different objectives, particularly on Twitter, where multiple strategies were tested:
Twitter 1: A CPM campaign in a high-performing white-listed zone resulted in 25 conversions from 32,395 impressions.
Twitter 2: A SmartCPA campaign in another white-listed zone achieved 44 conversions from 26,563 impressions.
Twitter 3: An exploratory campaign aimed at finding new profitable zones led to 69 conversions from 30,985 impressions.
Additional Campaign Details
Ad format: Onclick format was used, recommended by our partner’s account manager, Evgen Sabatin, for its proven effectiveness with similar offers.
Target audience and GEOs: The primary audience included fans of anime, science fiction, and video games, a demographic known to be highly active on social media. Initially, traffic was segmented globally, with an experiment targeting only US users, but broader targeting ultimately performed better.
Targeted devices: Mobile devices only, covering iOS and the latest versions of Android.
Total spend: $7,503 across all campaigns.
Creatives: The advertiser’s main landing page was used as the creative. They are currently working on a dedicated pre-lander to enhance the campaign flow
Bonus Campaign: VPN product
In addition to the AI companion app, the partner promoted his VPN with Social Traffic Targeting with similarly impressive results:
Optimization efforts and key takeaways
Launching this AI companion app on social media was only the start; the real impact came from our partner’s impactful optimization strategy.
Key takeaways
Zone and subzone optimization: Working closely with their account manager, our partner focused on zone and subzone performance, regularly updating blacklists and whitelists to keep campaigns on track. This precise targeting helped maximize the ad spend, to reach only the most engaged users.
Testing ad formats: Guided by experience with similar campaigns, our partner’s account manager recommended the Onclick ad format, which proved to be an excellent fit for driving conversions. Testing various ad formats can reveal what works best for each specific offer, making this kind of experimentation essential.
Audience segmentation: Initially targeting a broad global audience, the team tested narrower geographies before finding that a broader reach on social media worked best for their target audience. This flexibility allowed them to expand their reach while staying responsive to what resonated with their users.
Final thoughts
As we’ve seen, AI companions aren’t exactly sci-fi anymore. While we may not be at the level of Her’s Samantha, we’re closer than ever to having AI companions that feel as lifelike and engaging.
For marketers, thoughtful targeting, tailored ad formats, and smart optimization are key to reaching a relevant audience and maximizing campaign impact. For the best results possible, consider using Social Traffic Type under the guidance of your account manager like our partner did.
So, whether you’re building the next big AI companion app or launching a new product, an experimental, targeted approach could be exactly what brings your vision to life—and gets you one step closer to that sci-fi future we all want to see!
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