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46% lower cost per sign-up, in 6 weeks.

PepSense, a peptide research app, swapped slow and expensive human creators for weekly AI UGC ads on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. As they scaled spend from $12,000 to $18,400, their cost per sign-up fell from $6.84 to $3.70 and their ROAS nearly doubled.

Peptide research app  ·  AI UGC on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram  ·  Aug–Sep 2026 (6 weeks)

−46%Cost per sign-up

$6.84 → $3.70

2.8xMore sign-ups

as spend scaled to $18,400

2.6xLower creative cost

vs. their previous creators

0Rejections

across 25 launches, every script compliance-checked

"We were paying creators a premium and waiting weeks for ads that burned out in days. Selfrun had new ads live every week, every one cleared review, and our cost per sign-up nearly halved."
Issack Felna  ·  Founder, PepSense

The brand

PepSense is a research and education app for people exploring peptides. It offers cited AI answers linked to published studies, compound research summaries, personal tracking and vendor reviews.

Client ad
PepSense adTalking-head
The challenge

Expensive creators, tired ads, strict review.

  • Human UGC cost 2.6x more than what we now deliver
  • Each sign-up cost $6.84, with little return on spend
  • Late creator deliveries left the accounts running tired ads
  • Winners burned out faster than new ads could arrive
  • Peptide ads face heavy review on TikTok and Meta, so every ad had to pass compliance before launch
What we did

Research, three angles, 25 ads, weekly tests.

  1. 01ResearchAudited competitor ads on TikTok and in the Meta Ad Library for the longest-running angles and messaging that passed review.
  2. 02Three anglesVendor trust, real sources and organized tracking.
  3. 0325 AI UGC ads in 6 weeksTalking-head reads, hook tests and UGC-style ads in native 9:16. Every script passed our compliance check: no outcome claims, no first-person testimonials from AI presenters, and research-only disclaimers on screen.
  4. 04Launch and testNew batches every week, losing ads cut within a cycle and budget moved to the winners.

Hooks we tested

AngleHookCost per sign-up
Vendor trust"Most vendors won't show you their batch testing. Here's how to check."$2.91 · Winner
Real sources"Stop getting your research from random comment threads."$4.02
Organized tracking"Your notes app isn't a research log."$4.68

Results

Before
(6 weeks prior)		TikTokFacebook + InstagramTotal with Selfrun
Spend$12,000$7,900$10,500$18,400
Cost per sign-up$6.84$3.42$3.94$3.70
Click-through rate0.9%1.6%1.9%1.6–1.9%

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