A structured user acquisition experiment using Reddit for user acquisition
As mobile apps scale, growth eventually slows.
Core channels like Meta, Google, and TikTok become more competitive, CPIs stabilize, and incremental gains get harder to unlock. At that stage, expanding into new user acquisition channels becomes necessary, but also risky.
The real question isn’t which channel to try next.
It’s how to test new user acquisition channels without damaging efficiency or breaking an acquisition system that already works.
At REPLUG, we don’t treat new channels as quick wins. We plug them into an existing user acquisition system, test them in phases, and only scale what proves real business impact.
This is the same framework we use when helping mobile apps scale beyond Meta, Google, and TikTok without sacrificing ROAS.
This article breaks down how we tested Reddit for a dating app. Not as a channel deep dive, but as a real-world example of disciplined, system-level experimentation.
Reddit is often mentioned as a promising acquisition channel, but rarely tested with real business constraints in mind
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The app was already performing efficiently on its core paid UA channels. The goal wasn’t to replace what worked, but to explore a bigger scale without sacrificing profitability.
The team wanted to understand:
This is where many app teams go wrong.
They judge success too early (based on installs or CPI alone) and scale before understanding real business impact.
We didn’t.
Instead of jumping to conclusions, we followed a phased testing framework for Reddit as a new channel to protect the acquisition system.
We started by optimizing for installs to understand how users moved from click → install → early engagement.
The goal at this stage wasn’t revenue.
It was signal quality.
Over a multi-week test, we evaluated:
At this stage, Reddit showed healthy upper-funnel performance, with CPI aligning closely with expectations for a controlled test. On the surface, the channel looked promising.
But surface metrics are not enough.
Next, we tested whether intent quality could be improved.
Targeting was split into two approaches:
The difference was immediate and material.
Community-based targeting delivered multiple times higher click-to-install conversion compared to keyword targeting. This confirmed a core principle of scalable user acquisition:
Intent-driven environments outperform broad reach, even at similar scale.
At this point, Reddit was showing CPI efficiency comparable to major channels.
Still, we didn’t scale.
Once install behavior was validated, we moved deeper into the funnel.
We shifted optimization toward purchase events and extended the test window to evaluate:
This phase delivered meaningful improvements.
Purchase optimization reduced CPI materially and increased install-to-purchase conversion by several multiples compared to the install-optimized phase. ROAS improved substantially as well.
However, despite these gains, the channel did not cross internal profitability thresholds when compared to core platforms, where positive ROAS is consistently achievable.
That distinction matters.
Creatives were tested in parallel across formats.
A clear pattern emerged when we were testing Reddit for app marketing:
This reinforced another system-level rule:
Creative performance is contextual. A creative that wins on one channel can fail entirely on another.
Creative fit matters more than creative reuse.
After testing across funnel stages, the conclusion was clear:
So we paused.
Because Reddit hadn’t yet achieved scale within the acquisition system.
Scaling further would have increased spend without improving profitability.
That’s how acquisition systems break.
For apps testing new user acquisition channels, this kind of structured evaluation prevents wasted spend and protects long-term ROAS.
A channel like Reddit can look healthy on CPI and installs while still failing at the business level.
The takeaway isn’t “Don’t test new channels.”
It’s “Test them properly, long enough, and with the right success criteria.”
That means:
At REPLUG, channels are modules, not strategies.
We don’t sell traffic.
We design and protect user acquisition systems.
That means:
This discipline is what allows apps to scale beyond their core channels without sacrificing efficiency.
Testing new user acquisition channels isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about knowing:
That judgment is what keeps growth scalable.
👉 Thinking about expanding beyond Meta, Google, or TikTok?
We help mobile apps test and scale new user acquisition channels inside systems that protect ROAS and long-term growth. Let’s talk.