About the Client
Tradu is a multi-asset trading platform offering equities, forex, crypto, CFDs, commodities and indices. Part of Stratos Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE: JEF), Tradu launched its crypto offering with a regulated, institutional-grade product and decades of TradFi infrastructure behind it. With everything in place on the product side but no web3 expertise or market presence, Tradu came to LKI to identify the right market entry point, fix the product experience, and build a user base from the ground up.
Challenge
Tradu had a regulated, institutional-grade crypto product but no Web3 expertise, no market footprint, and acquisition engine, and needed to identify a viable entry point into one of crypto's most saturated markets and build a user base from the ground up.
Solution
We executed the campaign in three focused stages.
Stage 1
PMF and market entry: You cannot outperform the top exchanges on budget. You can outperform them on a specific, underserved problem they are too large to care about. We found that problem in Argentina.
With inflation hitting 211% in 2023, there was urgent and unmet demand for peso-to-USDT conversion among millions of users trying to protect their savings. Competitor research across the top exchanges confirmed no player was running localized product messaging or campaigns targeting this specific demand.
With the gap confirmed, we built Spanish-language creatives around the peso-to-USDT problem directly. CPC dropped from $0.28 to $0.20 which was a 29% reduction.
Stage 2
Onboarding optimization: Good PMF means nothing if users drop off before they reach the product. We audited Tradu's onboarding and found it required 12 steps before a user could access the platform, including government ID upload front and back, selfie verification, proof of address, and source of funds declaration upfront.
We rebuilt the path to 6 steps, deferring deeper KYC to higher transaction thresholds. Reducing onboarding by 50% cut the drop-off rate by 26%.
In parallel, Tradu's homepage and key product pages carried a Web2 visual language that eroded trust with a crypto-native audience before a word was read. We rebuilt the homepage, staking, and perpetual trading pages from scratch. Session time increased by 40% and signup conversion from redesigned landing pages increased by 25%.
Stage 3
Distribution: Before running paid acquisition, we built brand awareness through SocialFi campaigns, editorial content, and PR placements, so by the time users saw a paid ad, Tradu was already a name they recognized. PR placements in Entrepreneur, CoinMarketCap, and IBTimes generated 5M+ combined reach ahead of paid spend. With the awareness foundation in place, we ran targeted paid campaigns across the highest performing crypto channels, prioritizing Spanish-language creatives across Argentina and broader LATAM.
Key findings:
SocialFi campaigns generated a 20% signup uplift, bringing 5,200+ users to the platform.
AdsGram delivered Telegram acquisition at $0.16 per member, 4x cheaper than the $0.60 industry benchmark.
Cointraffic drove consistent quality web traffic at $0.28 CPC across Argentina and broader LATAM, confirmed via Google Analytics.
Results
42,000+ users acquired in 10 months
5M+ combined PR reach across Entrepreneur, CoinMarketCap and IBTimes
4x cheaper user acquisition on AdsGram vs the industry benchmark
29% reduction in CPC through Spanish language creatives in LATAM
