Case Study: Meta Ads for Archimedes
They way we found success running Instagram and Facebook (Meta) ads for Archimedes Jiu-Jitsu was by shifting from broad local awareness campaigns to highly targeted, interest-based ads, focusing on people already following fitness, grappling, and MMA pages within a five-mile radius. Instead of pushing generic “Try a free class” offers, we showcased real clips from our training sessions — authentic, sweat-on-the-mat footage that reflected the gym’s energy and community. Those visuals outperformed stock images by a wide margin, driving strong engagement and a steady flow of leads through Meta’s native lead form feature.
We also tightened our ad spend by running short, two-week campaigns with multiple creatives and letting Meta’s algorithm favor the top performer. Tracking was done through Meta’s Events Manager and Google Business follow-ups, letting us see which ads led to booked trials. Over time, this iterative approach cut our cost per lead nearly in half and helped maintain a consistent trickle of motivated new students — people already interested in Jiu-Jitsu, not just casual browsers.
The Challenge
Local awareness was low, with inconsistent class attendance and word-of-mouth marketing plateauing.
Previous Meta ads were too broad, attracting unqualified leads who never showed up.
Limited photo/video assets made it hard to stand out against polished competitors.
Tracking and attribution were unclear, making it difficult to know which campaigns worked.
Our Solution
Refocused targeting on people interested in BJJ, MMA, and fitness within a 5-mile radius.
Used authentic training footage and student testimonials instead of generic ad creatives.
Implemented short, data-driven ad cycles to test multiple creatives and audiences.
Integrated Meta lead forms with Google Business follow-ups to track conversions and refine performance.
Tech Stack:
Results
Cut cost per qualified lead by nearly 50% compared to previous campaigns.
Increased trial sign-ups and first-month memberships by over 30% within the first quarter.
Built consistent weekly inquiries from motivated prospects who already knew what BJJ was.
Strengthened the gym’s local brand presence through authentic, community-driven content.