Hungry Bear
Benjamin Boman · Sign-up campaigns
Meta ads that turn sign-ups into paying users
I run sign-up campaigns for software and app businesses that need free trials, freemium accounts and demo requests that actually activate. One process: ad → sign-up → activation → paying user.
Mostly Meta (Facebook and Instagram). LinkedIn, Google or TikTok when they suit the offer better.
★★★★★ 5.0 on Google 5.0 on Clutch
Sound familiar?
The three things I hear from founders and growth leads on almost every first call.
“Sign-ups are cheap. Nobody activates.”
A $6 trial that never logs in twice is a $6 waste. Optimising for sign-up alone fills the funnel with people who forget they signed up.
“Meta sends us the wrong kind of user.”
Broad targeting and a "start free" button attract hobbyists, not buyers. The pixel needs to see who activates and pays, so Meta can find more of them.
“We can't tie ad spend to MRR.”
Sign-ups land in Meta, activation in your product analytics, revenue in Stripe. Nobody can say what a paying user actually cost.
How I run it
The same loop every time: launch, get data, keep what works, cut what doesn't, then scale.
1. Onboarding & research
Your offer, your customers, your numbers, and what's been tried before.
2. Build the ad structure + sign-up flow
Campaigns set up for clean testing, plus tracking for sign-up, activation and purchase events. Landing page builds are quoted separately if you need one.
3. First ad batch
Test different personas and messaging combos to find who signs up and actually activates.
4. Keep what works, cut what doesn't
- Turn off losing ads. No sentiment, just the numbers.
- Make new ads. Bring the cost down with better ads, focused on the winning persona.
- Improve the sign-up flow. Page copy, fields and onboarding emails, based on where people drop off.
5. Scale
More spend on what's proven, and the optimisation event moves to activation or purchase once there's enough data.
The numbers I run it against
Each step gets its own number. When one slips, I know which lever to pull.
What's included
- Setup, targeting, budgets and weekly optimisation
- Up to 10 finished static ads a month
- Ad copy and creative direction
- Video direction, scripts, hooks and shot lists (no editing)
- Weekly report in plain English
- Monthly 30-minute strategy call, including sales and lead follow-up coaching
- Month to month, no lock-in
Need more? Add only what you need
We start with the basics and add things when the account actually needs them.
- Extra platforms
- Extra campaigns
- Extra batches of static ads
- Fortnightly or weekly calls
- Landing page build
- Funnel management
Why one media buyer instead of an agency
I've been running paid campaigns for 12+ years, across pretty much every industry you can think of. Different offers, same underlying process.
The businesses that do well aren't the ones with the cleverest ads. They're the ones where someone is watching the numbers every day and adjusting. That's the job.
I'm one person, not an agency. You talk to me, I run the account, and I only take on a handful of clients at a time so that stays true.
Benjamin Boman
Freelance media buyer, Hungry Bear
Questions I get asked
What does it cost?
From $750 a month for one platform and one campaign. Extras only if you need them. Ad spend is paid directly to the platform from your own account.
Do you optimise for sign-ups or paying users?
We start on sign-ups to get volume, then move the optimisation event to activation or purchase as soon as there's enough data. That's where user quality jumps.
Is there a minimum ad budget?
I recommend $1,500+ per month in ad spend. Below that, Meta doesn't get enough sign-ups to optimise properly and we'd be guessing.
Can you improve our activation rate?
Usually the biggest win. The right expectations in the ad, less sign-up friction and a proper onboarding sequence lift activation, and Meta gets better users to learn from.
Do I have to sign a long contract?
No. Month to month after an initial three-month setup period. You keep the ad account, the pixel, the creative and the data.
What happens on the call?
15 minutes. I'll look at your current ads and funnel beforehand, tell you what I'd change and why, and you decide if you want help doing it. If we're not a fit, you'll still leave with a plan.
Let's look at your sign-up funnel together
Free 15-minute call. I take a limited number each week so I can actually prepare. If you're already running ads, I'll look at them beforehand.
★★★★★ 5.0 on Google 5.0 on Clutch