La Dee Da Gourmet Sauces
3,044 Email Subscribers at $1.73 Each — Building an Owned Audience With Social Media Advertising
Client Overview
Founded in 2015 by three self-proclaimed “Sauce Queens” — Mary, Jo Anne and Marlow — La Dee Da is a gourmet sauce business that was looking for new ways to expand its online reach and introduce its line of sauces to an entirely new audience of foodies.
One option was a monthly newsletter: an intimate platform for sharing news, showcasing new products and giving exclusive discounts to an ever-growing list of subscribers. But long before the first newsletter could be drafted, there needed to be someone to send it to. The goal was a brand-new audience of potential customers, fans and brand evangelists who would willingly share their email address with the Sauce Queens.
The Challenge
Quality subscribers are hard to find. A “Join our mailing list” banner or pop-up on a website will only get you so far — to capture the email address of most internet browsers, you have to offer something of value in exchange.
A mailing list sign-up form is a must-have option for the small subset of website visitors who are eager enough to share their email address without asking for much in return. It does not build an audience of thousands.
And every additional step between seeing an offer and completing it — a click to a landing page, a form to fill in, a tab to switch — is another place where interest quietly dies.
Core Problems
- A website sign-up form only converts visitors already eager enough to subscribe
- The brand needed an entirely new audience, not more of the existing one
- Something of real value had to be offered in exchange for an email address
- Every extra step between the ad and the form loses potential subscribers
- The newsletter could not launch until there was a list to send it to
The question was never “how do we ask more people?” It was “what is worth an email address to someone who has never heard of this brand?”
The Solution
Merged Media built a lead generation campaign around a genuinely valuable free offer, delivered inside the feed where the audience already was, with the number of steps between interest and subscription reduced to almost nothing.
Build the Carrot
In exchange for their email address, the campaign would offer potential newsletter subscribers something gated behind a form, high-value, and free of charge. Which brings us to the whitepaper.
Make the Whitepaper Worth Having
On a seasonal basis, Merged Media’s copywriters and graphic designers collaborated with La Dee Da’s recipe-writing team to produce attractive, professional 4-to-6-page PDF recipes that amateur chefs and cooks could prepare in their own kitchen — including Rosé Spaghetti with Heart of Palm “Scallops”, Savoury Mushroom Basil Crostini Bites, and Garden Fresh Gazpacho.
Meet Them Where They Already Are
Rather than adding a step by trying to get users onto a specific website, landing page or online form, the campaign leveraged social media advertising to offer the whitepapers to users directly in their feed — because unlike a unique webpage, people are already scrolling through Facebook and Instagram.
Build the Campaign for Lead Generation
The campaign was built in Meta Ads Manager and optimised for lead generation. The audience was Facebook and Instagram users living anywhere in Canada who show an interest in cooking, recipes, “foodies” and more. The advertisements were dynamic to test copy and creative, optimised for mobile, and linked to an Instant Form via a call-to-action button.
Remove Every Step Between Interest and Subscription
A user sees the targeted ad in their feed and taps the call-to-action. An Instant Form opens without them leaving the app, with fields like Name and Email autofilled from information already given to Facebook or Instagram. They become a subscriber in the client’s database, an automated email sequence instantly delivers the whitepaper PDF to their inbox, and the next newsletter goes to them automatically. The user journey was:
- A targeted advertisement appears in the user’s feed
- The call-to-action opens an Instant Form without leaving the app
- Name and email autofill from existing Facebook or Instagram details
- An automated sequence delivers the whitepaper and adds them to the newsletter
Results & Impact
Over 15 months of ad delivery:
3,044 new subscribers.
$1.73 cost per new subscriber.
$5,260.91 total ad spend budget.
3 unique whitepapers produced across the seasons.
What This Means:
$5,260.91 bought La Dee Da an owned audience of 3,044 people — a list the brand controls, that receives every new product announcement and exclusive discount, and that keeps paying out long after the ad spend stops. That is a fundamentally different asset than 3,044 clicks.
Client Testimonial
“La Dee Da Gourmet Sauces has been working with the team at Merged Media for some time now and we can honestly say they are fantastic to work with. They are always ready and willing to help in anyway to help grow our brand. As a CPG brand things are so competitive and you really need a team behind you in helping you stand out on shelves, get your message across through social channels and propel you to becoming a household name. Merged Media does just that and we are so happy to continue working with them as we grow our brand nation wide.”
— Mary Marino, Co-Founder / Owner, La Dee Da Gourmet Sauces
Why It Worked
The Exchange Was Fair
A professionally produced seasonal recipe book is worth an email address. A “subscribe to our newsletter” box is not.
Zero Friction Between Ad and Subscriber
Instant Forms with autofill removed the landing page, the typing and the tab switch — the three places where interest usually dies.
The Whitepapers Were On-Brand, Not Generic
Recipes written by La Dee Da’s own team meant the lead magnet attracted exactly the people who would later buy the sauce.
Seasonal Content Kept It Fresh
Three whitepapers across 15 months meant the offer never went stale and the campaign could keep running rather than burning out.
It Was Built to Compound
Every subscriber fed an automated sequence and then the ongoing newsletter — the audience keeps earning after the ad budget stops.
Key Metrics:
- 3,044 new email subscribers
- $1.73 cost per new subscriber
- $5,260.91 total ad spend over 15 months
- 3 unique seasonal recipe whitepapers
Working with Merged Media
Contact Merged Media today to start your journey toward business growth and success:
La Dee Da’s campaign shows what social advertising is genuinely good at when it is pointed at the right objective: not chasing one-off sales, but buying a permanent, owned audience at a price per person that makes every future campaign cheaper.
Phone: +1 866-798-7954
Email: info@merged.ca
Services in this case study: Meta (Facebook and Instagram) advertising, lead magnet design and email list growth for CPG and food brands.
