Optimizing Facebook mobile app install ads to boost purchases.

Noonlight was originally created by college students to reduce campus crime. The mobile app helps people who feel unsafe, but are unsure about calling 911, by connecting them to local authorities through its 24/7 call center.


more mobile app purchases


lower cost per mobile app purchase


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Noonlight partnered with digital advertising agency MuteSix to run an optimized mobile app install ad campaign to encourage as many people as possible to download and use its app.

The Noonlight team first implemented a Facebook software development kit (SDK) to track and optimize the campaign for the “purchase” standard event. This ensured the ads were delivered to people who were most likely to make a purchase in the app.

The SDK revealed to Noonlight that most of the people purchasing its app were women aged 18–24 with interests including college sororities. To reach more people among this group, the team built a Custom Audience based on existing app subscribers and segmented it by frequency of use. It then targeted a lookalike audience based on these Custom Audience segments.

The mobile app install ad used video that featured darker lifestyle clips and brighter testimonial clips. To deliver an authentic feel, the team did not over-polish the videos.

Finally, the team tracked the campaign using the Facebook pixel on its website, and learned that optimizing for a specific app event significantly reduced its cost per app purchase.

"Facebook allows [Noonlight] to scale at the rate required to succeed in today’s market. It has helped us reach the right audiences, and provided immense value to real human life that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible."

- Zack Winkler, CEO, Noonlight
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