How to Build a User Journey in an Ad Campaign in 2026

To attract a customer and convert them into a lead, you often need to show ads multiple times. How do you build a sequence of touchpoints (user journey) and improve ROI, CR, and CTR? Let’s break down the key principles.

What Is a User Journey and CJM

A user journey is the path a user takes from the first interaction with an ad to a target action such as registration, purchase, or installation. It is designed based on a customer journey map (CJM).

The journey includes channels, formats, and creatives that a user encounters at different stages. It is important to plan it in advance and regularly analyze it to understand which touchpoints actually work.

User Touchpoints at Different Funnel Stages

At the beginning of the user journey, users are not familiar with your product. The goal is to generate reach and spark interest. Then, you bring their attention back, build trust, and lead them to conversion.

First Touchpoint and Interest Generation

To introduce your brand, use formats with broad reach — push notifications and popunders.

Popunders allow you to reach a large audience at a low cost, while push notifications help remind users about your product if they have already interacted with your ads.

The main goal is to generate interest and get the first click.

Repeated Touchpoints and Audience Warming

When the audience becomes “warm,” add native advertising and retargeting.

Native ads on websites and blogs help build trust, while retargeting brings back users who have already interacted with your landing page but did not complete the target action.

Frequency and Attention Management

Effective advertising appears at the right time. Showing ads too frequently can раздражать users and reduce performance.

For the first touchpoint, the optimal pop ad frequency is:

1 impression every 8–12 hours (approximately 2–3 impressions per day) — for gaming and software
1–2 impressions per day — for fintech, betting, and e-commerce

For a warmed-up audience, 3–4 touchpoints per week with alternating formats are enough.

Frequency directly impacts CR, CTR, and overall campaign performance.
1–2 touchpoints build awareness, while 3–4 drive engagement. Beyond that, performance may decline due to audience fatigue.

Creative Sequencing

Ad content should change depending on the stage of the user journey.

Creative Logic by Funnel Stage

Top of Funnel
Emotional creatives focused on the user’s problem.

Middle of Funnel
Educational content, benefits, and social proof.

Bottom of Funnel
A clear offer with a strong CTA, bonuses, or discounts.

If a user does not engage immediately, they can be redirected via a smartlink to another offer.

Use automatic ML-based optimization of creative delivery and Auto Rules in the Kadam dashboard to prevent audience fatigue and improve conversion rates.

Audience Fatigue and Creative Burnout

If CR and CTR start to decline, it may be due to banner blindness.

In this case:

refresh creatives
change the messaging
add urgency or a strong CTA

Click Attribution in a Multichannel Strategy

To understand campaign effectiveness, it is important to track conversion sources.

Use trackers (Voluum, Binom, Keitaro) to see which channels and creatives drive results.

Be sure to set up S2S tracking and postback to receive accurate conversion data.

Campaign Optimization and Scaling

Run split tests for creatives and experiment with different format combinations.

Use Kadam tools — Auto Rules (for CPC campaigns) — to:

block underperforming placements
decrease bids on weak segments
increase bids on high-performing segments

👉 Want to build an effective user journey? Join Kadam and test different format combinations and strategies.

FAQ

What is a user journey in traffic arbitrage?
It is the path a user takes from the first ad interaction to a target action such as registration, deposit, purchase, or installation.

How many touchpoints are needed for conversion?
On average, users need 5–10 touchpoints before making a decision. These may include popunders, push notifications, native ads, and retargeting.

How to manage ad frequency?
For the first touchpoint, the optimal popunder frequency is approximately 2–3 impressions per day for gaming and software and 1–2 impressions per day for fintech and e-commerce.
For a warmed-up audience, 3–4 touchpoints per week are sufficient.

How to structure creative sequencing?
Start with broad reach for cold audiences, then warm them up and bring them back. Example: popunder → native ads → retargeting → push.

How to optimize the user journey for better ROI?
Test creatives, analyze data, and scale only effective combinations. Use Auto Rules (for CPC campaigns) and adjust your strategy if CPA increases.