Low Budget, Big Impact:
The Growth Case of the Channel “O Vingador do Passado”
How I Increased the Channel’s Subscribers With a Low-Budget Google Ads Campaign
The Challenge
With only $350 CAD available, the goal was to create real impact: grow the subscriber base, increase visibility, and build momentum around a retro-gaming livestream series.
Highlights:
From 370 to
(+450% growth)
(75% below industry benchmarks)
High engagement rate
and ~80% increase in average video watch time during live streams
(low budget campaign)
The Strategy
Context
To leverage the hype around the release of Final Fantasy Tactics – Ivalice Chronicles on September 30, 2025, we launched a series of livestreams on the channel.
A promotional trailer was created to advertise the lives both before and during the events using a Google Ads campaign.
Geographic Targeting
Portuguese-speaking countries:
Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Demographic Targeting
Audience aged 18–44, the segment with the highest engagement based on previous tests. Because the game has strong nostalgic appeal among millennials, this age group consistently showed the best engagement and conversion performance.
Keywords & Custom Audiences
Audience 1: Fans of strategy games, livestreams, and J-RPGs
Affinity:
Nintendo Consoles, Sony PlayStation, Xbox, Video Games, Game Streaming Services, Board Games, Gamers, Hardcore Gamers, Action Game Fans, Adventure & Strategy Game Fans, Role-Playing Game Fans, PC Gamers, Console Gamers, Fans of New & Upcoming Video Games.
In-Market:
Game releases, video game consoles, digital games.
Audience 2: People interested in the release of Ivalice Chronicles
To shape this audience, we analyzed Google Trends data to identify trending searches related to the franchise.
Keyword search examples:
final fantasy tactics ivalice, final fantasy tactics remake, pixel art rpg games, final fantasy tactics stream, narrative RPG livestreams, retro JRPG stream, tactical rpg retro, rpg japonês clássico, final fantasy tactics ps1/ps4/ps5/switch, final fantasy tactics lore, final fantasy tactics gameplay, and many more related variations.
A/B Testing and Optimization
To determine the best strategy, we ran two campaigns in parallel for the first days:
- Engagement-based campaign (focused on CTA clicks)
- View-based campaign (optimized for impressions and views)
The findings were clear:
The view-based campaign delivered 10× more impressions, but the engagement-based campaign produced much higher conversion and interaction levels at the same cost.
Because of this, we discontinued the view-based campaign and kept the engagement campaign active, optimizing it daily.
Performance
Through continuous optimization—refining the audience, improving CTR, and adjusting keyword clusters—the campaign achieved:
- Extremely low CPC,
- High click-through rate,
- Cost per conversion of only CAD 0.20, well below the typical CAD 0.30–1.50 range for YouTube demand-generation campaigns.
This performance was made possible by precise targeting, ongoing optimization, and creative assets tailored to nostalgic gaming fans.
In Conclusion…
The campaign achieved an average cost per conversion of just CAD 0.20 — approximately 75% lower than the industry benchmark for YouTube demand-generation campaigns.
This result highlights the effectiveness of the targeting, creative strategy, and optimization approach. It proves that even with a low budget, it’s possible to generate high-impact, measurable growth.