Case study · Techpresso
DigitalOcean: 1M+ impressions on Techpresso at $1.70 CPC
DigitalOcean ran a sustained 8-placement campaign on Techpresso to build awareness with developers and indie founders. The combination of Primary and Spotlight placements delivered 1M+ unique impressions and a $1.70 CPC, well below the benchmark for developer-targeted display advertising.
1M+
Unique impressions
$1.70
CPC
$13.50
CPM
8
Placements
The goal
DigitalOcean wanted to reach developers and early-stage founders evaluating cloud infrastructure alternatives to AWS, GCP, and Azure. The target profile overlaps heavily with the Techpresso audience: 27% individual contributors in tech & engineering, 25% working at startups of 1-10 people, and 84% US-based.
The campaign
- 4 Primary Ads at $3,500 each, spread over 4 weeks to build repeat exposure.
- 4 Spotlight Ads at $1,100 each, running in the alternating issues to maintain presence.
- Native editorial copy written by the Dupple team, focused on specific DigitalOcean products (Droplets, App Platform, Managed Databases).
- Trackable UTM links to dedicated landing pages per placement.
The numbers
The sustained cadence drove 1M+ unique impressions across the campaign. The effective CPM landed at $13.50 and the CPC at $1.70. For context, developer-targeted LinkedIn CPCs typically range from $8-15, and Google Display Network CPMs for tech audiences start around $5 but suffer from 50-70% non-human traffic. The Techpresso delivery is 100% human-verified by email open events.
Corporate domains that clicked
Alongside the traffic report, DigitalOcean received a list of corporate domains (hundreds of companies) that clicked through. That list fed directly into their ABM and outbound programs, with sales following up on warm accounts within 48 hours.
Why the campaign worked
Three factors drove the result: (1) repeat exposure from 8 placements created recognition by the third impression; (2) native editorial copy felt like a recommendation rather than an ad; (3) Techpresso's 38-40% open rate meant each issue reached ~220K inboxes, compounding reach quickly.
If your product targets developers, founders, or tech decision-makers, a sustained Primary + Spotlight cadence on Techpresso typically delivers the lowest effective CPC available in B2B email sponsorship.
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