Fitness App Install Campaign with Weak Creative Hook

The core problem is a format-creative mismatch, not a bidding problem. Seventy percent of impressions run on Shorts, but the team has no vertical assets and is using a television-style trailer with a five-second cityscape intro. On Shorts, the viewer decides almost immediately; a slow establishing shot before the product appears gives no reason to stay. The 6-second bumper is not a true bumper because it is a cropped trailer with no captions and no early branding, so it fails the one job a bumper has: deliver a brand and a single message fast. The 30-second asset puts the logo and install CTA in the last two seconds, which is too late for skippable inventory and for viewers who leave early.

The 18% view rate and 40% CTR decline are consistent with weak hooks and creative fatigue. Frequency at 6.8 per week in a relatively narrow fitness audience means the same weak assets are being repeated. The conversion event being a first run rather than a subscription may also make the campaign look better or worse than the business outcome, but it does not explain the creative failure. The diagnosis should be tested by separating asset-level reporting: if the 6-second and 15-second assets outperform the 30-second trailer on view rate and install rate, the creative is the constraint.

Rebuild the asset set around the first two seconds. Produce three vertical 6-second bumpers, each with the PulseRun logo, one benefit such as personalized pace coaching, and a verbal and on-screen CTA in the opening frame. Produce two vertical 15-second cuts with a runner in motion in the first second, captions throughout, and the install CTA at both the start and end. Keep the 30-second trailer only for in-feed or non-skippable placements where the viewer has opted into a longer view, and re-edit it to move the product benefit before the cityscape.

Run the new assets in the existing Video action campaign but use asset-level reporting to separate Shorts from in-stream and in-feed performance. Test creator-style content against polished brand content because the audience is on Shorts and responds to native formats. Do not launch ten assets at once; use three to five variants with distinct hooks so the test can identify a winner. The decision rule should be cost per first run and install rate, not view rate alone. If the vertical 6-second bumper lowers CPI below $5.50 within two weeks, shift more spend to that format and retire the cropped trailer.

CPI alone can improve because the campaign buys cheaper, lower-quality installs. Measure the full chain: impression-to-view rate, view-to-click rate, click-to-install rate, first-run completion, and seven-day retention. If the revised creative raises installs but first-run completion falls, the hook may be overpromising. Compare the new assets against the old ones in a controlled asset test rather than judging month-over-month totals, because auction mix and seasonality changed at the same time.

Use conversion lag reporting so the most recent days are not judged as final. Segment results by format, especially Shorts versus in-stream, because a blended CPI can hide one format subsidizing another. Add a subscription or trial-start event if the app has one, and treat first run as an early indicator rather than the final business outcome. If possible, run a holdout or geo test to check whether the campaign is creating incremental installs rather than claiming installs that would have happened anyway. The creative decision should be based on cost per retained user, not just cost per first run.