Case Study – DITKI
Fixing What Matters: The DITKI Optimization Story
CSG was genuinely eager for our success. The team was extremely intelligent and thoughtful.
— Adam Fisch, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Draw It to Know It
Communications Strategy Group (CSG®) is an EdTech marketing and PR agency that builds sustainable growth by strengthening marketing infrastructure from the ground up.
See What We Did for Draw It to Know It
Opportunity
CSG Reverses Multi-Year Subscription Decline Through Strategic Optimization
Draw It to Know It (DITKI) had been experiencing declining platform subscriptions since 2020, a troubling multi-year trend that threatened long-term viability. While the platform remained strong and continued serving students effectively, the subscription funnel wasn’t converting at the necessary rates.
The core problem wasn’t about running more ads or spending more budget. DITKI’s digital marketing infrastructure had significant gaps:
- Attribution reporting was unreliable.
- GA4 wasn’t properly optimized.
- Platform analytics weren’t providing clean data needed to make informed targeting decisions.
Without accurate visibility into what was driving conversions, the team couldn’t confidently invest in paid media or optimize toward users most likely to subscribe.
DITKI faced three critical challenges:
- Couldn’t track which ads led to paying customers
- Payment and analytics systems weren’t talking to each other
- The data was too shallow to find the right students
These weren’t just technical nuisances. They were strategic blockers preventing data-driven decisions about marketing investments.
solution
From Broken Attribution to Data-Driven Decisions
We didn’t start by launching campaigns. We started by fixing what was broken in a phased approach.
Phase 1: Comprehensive Platform Audit
We conducted a full audit of DITKI’s Meta and Google Ads accounts, identifying immediate optimization opportunities while mapping out a longer-term strategy. The audit revealed campaign-level inefficiencies and systemic gaps in tracking that needed addressing first.
Phase 2: Data Infrastructure Overhaul
We worked directly with DITKI’s team to integrate GA4 with Stripe, ensuring clean, reliable conversion data flowed into both analytics platforms and paid media accounts. This gave us the foundation to optimize campaigns toward real business outcomes—subscriptions—rather than vanity metrics.
Phase 3: Strategic Media Planning and Execution
With clean data in place, we developed and launched targeted campaigns across Search (SEM), Performance Max and Meta. Our media plan was built specifically for DITKI’s audience: medical students with high intent to purchase study tools during critical periods in their academic calendar.
We optimized campaigns daily, testing messaging, creative, audience targeting and bidding strategies to identify what resonated with students preparing for high-stakes exams like the USMLE.
Phase 4: Ongoing Strategic Consulting
Beyond paid media execution, we acted as a strategic partner to DITKI’s leadership team. We consulted on landing page copy, user journey improvements, and even business model adjustments, including recommending a shift from monthly to yearly subscription pricing that aligned better with students’ academic timelines and improved customer lifetime value.
impact
Fix the Foundation, Unlock Growth
CSG helped DITKI reverse years of declining subscriptions by combining data infrastructure fixes, strategic campaign optimization and business model consulting.
Most importantly, we gave DITKI confidence in their marketing data, enabling strategic decisions based on evidence, not guesswork.
3x
increase in paid media investment
Scaled monthly spend after establishing reliable conversion data.
50%
lower CPC with 6x more clicks
Utilized budget efficiently to reduce the cost per click while dramatically increasing high-intent traffic.
32%
reduction in trial acquisition cost
Lowered cost per trial through improved targeting and funnel optimization.
10x
increase in new accounts
Drove 383 new accounts compared to 42 from the prior year over year period.
4x
4x increase in free trial conversions
Increased trial conversions, reversing a multi-year decline in subscriptions.
The result was a scalable, data-driven growth engine built on infrastructure that could support long-term demand, not just short-term wins.
Why This Work Matters
Most agencies would have jumped straight into running ads. We knew better.
Infrastructure enables optimization
You can’t optimize what you can’t measure. When subscription trends decline year-over-year, the problem usually isn’t creative or targeting, it’s infrastructure.
Data clarity drives confident investment
Clean attribution and proper integrations create visibility into what actually drives revenue, enabling strategic budget allocation instead of guesswork.
This work reflects our belief that sustainable growth starts with solid infrastructure.
