Volvo Digital Challenge (hackathon): 371 confirmed applications at $1.78, 550 registrations, $662 budget

The task

Collect participant registrations for the Volvo Digital Challenge hackathon. The hackathon audience is narrow: developers and IT specialists willing to spend personal time on a competition. Because of this, leads in the niche are usually more expensive than in mass segments, and the main risk is “dead souls”: registrations that never turn into real participants. The organizer needs confirmed applications, not a long list.

What we did

Ad campaigns on VK and Instagram with traffic to registration; participants then confirmed their participation by filling in an application form.

Results

• Budget — $646
• Funnel: 550 registrations → 371 confirmed applications
• Cost per registration — $1.17 (intermediate metric)
• Cost per confirmed application — $1.74 — the campaign’s target metric

Insights

• 67% of registrations (371 of 550) reached a confirmed application — a high completion rate for a two-step funnel: the traffic hit the target audience rather than collecting random clicks.
• $1.74 per confirmed participant is a low price for a niche with such a narrow target audience, where selection goes by profession and motivation at the same time.
• The VK + Instagram combo closed recruitment for a branded hackathon for under $662 of budget — event marketing does not always need six-figure estimates.