ROMI 490%: how the “Awakening” online course earned back its ads 6x

Context: the starting point

In 2024, the author of an online course on self-development and psychology came to us. Until then, the course had sold mainly through the author's personal brand on Instagram, organically. The main goal: scale sales across the Russian-speaking world (Ukraine, the CIS, diaspora communities in the EU and the US) without losing conversion or ad payback.

Starting conditions:

• A finished product with proven value (internal NPS 8.7/10)
• The author's personal brand with 80K Instagram followers
• Budget: $5,000/month at launch, with growth potential to $15,000/month
• Main KPI: ROMI of at least 300%

Strategy: 3 channels + an automated funnel

The core principle we used: don't send traffic to a sales page; build a warm audience with a free lead magnet, then warm it up automatically. In education and online courses, this works 3-5 times better than direct sales.

Channel 1. Facebook + Instagram Ads (65% of the budget)

The most important channel. We used 4 audience types:

1. Lookalike of course buyers 1-3%: the best result, at $0.22-0.30 per sign-up
2. Self-development interests: Tony Robbins, Esther Perel, psychology, spiritual growth
3. The author's Instagram followers: warm retargeting, 14% purchase conversion vs 4% for cold audiences
4. Lookalike of Instagram followers 1%: scaled the worst but brought the customers with the most spending power

Channel 2. YouTube Ads (25% of the budget)

We used YouTube to warm up cold audiences. A long video by the author (12 minutes) ran as a TrueView ad that users could skip after 5 seconds. The video didn't ask people to buy; it delivered value: “The 3 biggest mistakes people make in self-development.” At the end came a soft call to sign up for a free challenge.

The result: a YouTube sign-up cost $0.42, 20% more than from Facebook. But purchase conversion was 1.8 times higher because the audience arrived already warmed up by the long video.

Channel 3. Google Ads (10% of the budget)

We used it to capture hot demand on searches like “self-development course”, “how to change your life” and “21-day program”. The budget was small, but these sign-ups delivered a 700%+ ROMI.

The automated funnel: what happens after sign-up

The most important part of the case. Without the right automated funnel, even perfect traffic goes to waste.

Day 0. Sign-up

The user leaves their email and Telegram on the landing page and immediately receives:

• A welcome email with access to the first lesson of the challenge
• A message from the Telegram chatbot
• A WhatsApp message (for those who left a phone number)

Days 1-7. Free challenge

Every day, a new 30-45 minute lesson. Topics: “Why you're stuck”, “How to hear yourself”, “Energy and habits”. Each lesson ends with a soft mention of the paid course.

Days 7-9. Sales window

The paid course opens with a 40% discount for 48 hours. A series of 6 emails goes out, plus chatbot messages and Facebook retargeting of those who haven't bought.

“The real secret of a 490% ROMI isn't the ads but how everything works together. The best ads in the world won't save a product without an automated funnel. But bad ads will kill even a perfect funnel.” — Natalia Maslakova, founder of MAS Project

Days 10-30. Long-term nurturing

Those who don't buy move into a long nurture flow: 2-3 emails a week with valuable content and no selling. Every 2 months there's another sales window with a discount. In our data, 40% of purchases happen 2+ months after sign-up.

Creatives: what worked and what didn't

What worked

• Video testimonials from graduates: the main format. Real people, no actors. +60% sign-up conversion compared with static posts
• Transformation stories: “I was a burned-out accountant; now I run my own blog and earn 3 times more”
• Posts written by the author: long texts with a personal story. CPM was 30% higher, but conversion to the paid course was the best of all formats

What didn't work

• Quotes on pretty backgrounds, i.e. typical “Instagram” content: CTR 40% below average
• Selling the course directly to cold audiences: cost per click 5-8 times higher than with the challenge funnel
• Audiences built on “success” and “money” interests brought people with different expectations, and purchase conversion was low

Key takeaways for your online course

1. Never sell a course directly from cold ads. Create a lead magnet (challenge, guide, webinar) and build an automated funnel
2. A lookalike of buyers always beats a lookalike of leads. Paying customers share patterns that the algorithm picks up very well
3. 40% of sales happen 2+ months after sign-up. Don't throw away your “cold” list; nurture it for the long term
4. YouTube Ads is an underrated channel for online courses. Long videos warm people up better than any social ad
5. A Telegram chatbot is a must. 80%+ open rates vs 20% for email