Trials
The first payment is the real conversion
A free trial is cheap to start and easy to forget. Campaigns optimised for trial sign-ups can fill the funnel with people who never pay, so we bid and report on paying subscribers.
Streaming, TV & news subscriptions · Lithuania · Latvia · Estonia
Streaming and media marketing agency for subscriptions in the Baltics
APG Media runs Google Ads, Meta ads, SEO and AI search visibility for video streaming services, TV platforms and digital news publishers selling subscriptions in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. We plan every market around EU subscription rules, content rights and language, and we measure paying subscribers, not just sign-ups.
- Google Premier Partner
- Offers checked against EU subscription rules
- From €990/month excl. VAT, ad spend separate
- Ad accounts and data stay in your name
In short
APG Media is a performance marketing agency in Vilnius that grows video streaming services, TV platforms and digital news publishers selling subscriptions in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It runs Google Ads (Search, YouTube and Performance Max), Meta ads, SEO for Google Search, Discover and News, and AI search visibility work (GEO, AEO and ChatGPT ads). It checks offers and cancel flows against EU consumer rules and measures paying subscribers in each market.
Work starts from €990 per month excluding VAT, and ad spend is paid directly to the platforms. APG Media is a Google Premier Partner, part of All Digital Group, and the organiser of EcomExpo, an e-commerce conference in Vilnius. For mobile apps and games, see app marketing in the Baltics.
Updated 28 October 2026
Why subscriptions need their own plan
Subscriptions are won at the first payment and lost at the cancel button.
A streaming service or news site in the Baltics sells one product in three languages to people who switch easily. Four things decide whether marketing pays.
Cancellation
Leaving has to be easy
From 19 June 2026, online contracts with a right of withdrawal need a visible withdrawal function under EU law, and consumer authorities treat trials that become monthly charges without informed consent as subscription traps.
Rights
Content sells only where you hold the rights
Films, series and live sport drive sign-ups around premieres and fixtures. Google asks for copyright certification and Meta for prior permission, so ads must be cleared before the date.
Search and AI
Publishers depend on Google, and now on AI answers
News sites rely on Google Search, Top stories and Discover, and Google says Discover traffic is less predictable than keyword search. Blocking the wrong crawler can remove a site from ChatGPT search answers.
Launching a service or a paywall in more than one Baltic country? We'll check the offer, the cancel flow and tracking before you spend.
Ask for a launch reviewRules and compliance
Offers, trials and cancel buttons built to EU rules.
The same EU consumer rules apply in all three countries and cover the ad, offer page, checkout and cancel flow. Google and Meta add rules for copyrighted content and political news. We check the full path before the first ad runs.
Dir. 2011/83/EU Art. 8(2) · Dir. (EU) 2023/2673
Sign-up and withdrawal
Before the order, show the price per billing period, contract length and how to end it, and label the button “order with obligation to pay” or similar. From 19 June 2026, where a right of withdrawal applies, a “withdraw from contract here” function is required.
Dir. 2005/29/EC Annex I No 20 · Google Ads policy
Free trials
“Free” is allowed only if the customer pays nothing beyond the unavoidable cost of responding. Google doesn't allow ads that fail to disclose the payment model or full cost, so ads and landing pages say when the trial ends and what follows.
Google Ads Copyrights · Meta Advertising Standards
Films, series and sport in ads
Google requires certification to use copyrighted content in ads, separately for each domain, including country domains. Meta allows ads for movie trailers and TV shows only with its prior written permission and only to people aged 18 and over.
Reg. (EU) 2024/900 · Google and Meta policies
Political news in paid promotion
Editorial content is not political advertising in itself, but paid promotion of it can be. Since October 2025 Meta no longer delivers social issue, election or political ads in the EU, and Google restricts EU ads featuring a party, officeholder or candidate.
We are a marketing agency, not a law firm. Contract terms, withdrawal rules for your plans and content licences go to your lawyer before launch.
Before you spend
What to know about each Baltic country before you advertise a subscription.
EU consumer law is the same in all three countries. Language rules, authorities and audiences are not. This is the short version we check for every new market.
| Country | Consumer authority | Language rule we follow | Language supervisor | Russian-speaking audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithuania | VVTAT (State Consumer Rights Protection Authority) | Information on goods and services sold in Lithuanian (State Language Law, Art. 17, from 2026) | VKI (State Language Inspectorate) | Russians 5% of residents; 60.6% know Russian as a non-native language (2021) |
| Latvia | PTAC (Consumer Rights Protection Centre) | Official Language Law covers companies where communication affects the public interest | VVC (State Language Centre) | 34.6% use Russian at home (ages 18–69, 2021–2022) |
| Estonia | TTJA (Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority) | Outdoor ads in Estonian; a translation may be added (Language Act, § 16) | Keeleamet (language authority) | 29% Russian mother tongue; 40% of Russians speak no other language (2021) |
Checked on e-seimas.lrs.lt, vvc.gov.lv, riigiteataja.ee and the national statistics offices on 28 October 2026. Confirm with your lawyer before running creative that is not in the state language.
What we do
Search, social and AI answers, planned around paying subscribers.
Many subscription businesses split Meta and Google between partners and leave SEO and AI answers to chance. We plan the channels together, from one offer sheet and one set of subscriber numbers.
Google Ads and YouTube
Capture searches for titles, sports, channels and your brand.
- Search, YouTube, Performance Max and Demand Gen
- Copyright certification checked per domain
- Brand campaigns against resellers and competitors
Meta ads
Facebook and Instagram for premieres and win-back.
- Creative tests by argument: title, sport, price or bundle
- Permission and 18+ targeting for trailer ads
- Win-back audiences where consent allows
SEO for streaming and news
Rank title and article pages in Search, Discover and Top stories.
- Paywall markup, so locked articles are not seen as cloaking
- Discover-ready images, 1200 px wide
- Keyword map per market and language
AI search visibility
Improve how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews describe and cite you.
- GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot set separately
- Monthly prompt tracking per market
- ChatGPT ads where the numbers support it
Measurement
Numbers that separate trials from paying subscribers.
- Events for trial, first payment, renewal and cancellation
- Server-side tracking and Consent Mode v2
- Cost per paying subscriber by market
Offer and cancel-flow check
A sign-up path that converts and stays inside the rules.
- Trial wording, price and order button reviewed
- Cancel flow tested on desktop and mobile
- Ad, offer page and checkout aligned per language
What we don't do
We don't give legal advice, clear content rights, run TikTok ads, Apple Search Ads or app store optimisation, send retention emails or SMS, run influencer PR or produce trailers at volume. For these, we work with your lawyer and partners.
How we work
From a clear offer to subscribers who stay.
A subscriber is won once and kept every month. We work through five steps in this order for every market, and judge campaigns by paying subscribers and retention, not by trial sign-ups.
Check offers, rights and flows
We list your plans, trial terms, prices and the content you want to advertise in each country, then sign up and cancel as a customer would.
Outcome: an offer sheet per market and creative cleared to run.
Fix measurement
We audit GA4, Meta Pixel and Conversions API, Google tags and consent, and add events for trial start, first payment, renewal and cancellation.
Outcome: cost per paying subscriber, not per sign-up.
Map demand and the calendar
We pull search volumes per language, including Russian where it matters, map premieres, season starts and news peaks, and check what Google and AI assistants show.
Outcome: a priority list by market, channel and date.
Build and test
Always-on search and brand campaigns run per market, with launch campaigns around key dates. Meta tests one argument at a time. SEO starts with the pages that bring subscribers.
Outcome: live campaigns and a dated testing plan.
Read, decide, reallocate
Each month we review cost per paying subscriber, trial-to-paid rate, cancellations and AI answer presence per market, then move budget to what works.
Outcome: written decisions for the next month.
Want this plan for your service? Bring your site, plans and markets to a 30-minute call.
Results
Related results, with dates and limits.
We publish only results our clients have approved. We have no public case study from a streaming or media client, so neither result below comes from that industry. Each figure is platform-reported, with its period and limits.
+19.3%conversions
Ad spend +0.5%Cost per conversion −15.8%Conversion value +21.8%
RatePunk is a digital product for travel deals. Google conversions rose 19.3% while ad spend changed by only 0.5%.
Period: April 2026 vs the March period, as stated in the case study.
Limits: one month-on-month comparison; conversions are not paying subscribers.
One brand, three Baltic markets
| Market | Conversion value | Cost per conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Lithuania | +188.8% | −57.6% |
| Latvia | +219.2% | −54.8% |
| Estonia | +318.6% | −54.9% |
Period: the January and August 2026 periods, as stated in the case studies.
Limits: promotions, seasonality and attribution are not separated, and in Latvia Google ROAS fell over the same comparison.
Conversion value is the value an ad platform attributes to ads, not revenue confirmed in your accounts. All 14 client and market stories
Choosing an agency
Choosing a streaming and media marketing agency for the Baltics
Subscription businesses here usually compare three kinds of agency. This is how they tend to differ on the points that matter in these markets.
| What to check | International streaming or subscription specialist | Local generalist agency | APG Media |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltic languages and Russian speakers | Usually translated from English | Strong in one market | Campaigns per market in LT, LV and EE, with Russian where it fits |
| EU subscription rules | Often built on US or UK practice | Varies | Trial wording, order button and withdrawal function checked |
| Film and sport in ads | Strong, often close to studios and leagues | Varies | Google certification and Meta permission checked per domain |
| Google Search, YouTube, SEO and Discover | Often app-store and social-first | Usually covered | Google Premier Partner; SEO and link building in-house |
| AI answers | Rarely offered | Rarely offered | Monthly prompt tracking, GEO and AEO, ChatGPT ads |
| Subscriber measurement | Usually strong | Often stops at sign-ups | Trials, first payments and cancellations per market |
| Prices | Rarely published | Sometimes published | From €990/month, published |
International specialists are often stronger in app-store and connected-TV campaigns and in producing trailers at volume. If you need those, we'll plan the work with your partners.
Price and fit
What it costs, and who it suits.
From €990 / month, excl. VAT
Ad spend is paid directly to Google, Meta or OpenAI and is not part of the fee.
- A senior specialist leads strategy and decisions
- Management of the agreed channels and markets
- Measurement checks and a monthly written review
- Static and carousel creative as set in the proposal
The fee depends on the number of markets and languages, channels, the size of your catalogue or newsroom, creative volume and tracking work.
A good fit
- Video streaming services and TV platforms selling subscriptions in the Baltics
- Digital news publishers with a paywall or membership
- International streaming and media brands entering the Baltics
- Teams whose trials don't turn into paying subscribers
Not a fit
- Unlicensed streaming, IPTV resale or anything that infringes content rights
- Political or election advertising, which Meta no longer delivers in the EU
- Anyone who wants guaranteed subscribers or guaranteed AI mentions
- Google Premier Partner
- Part of All Digital Group
- 15+ years, 200+ brands
- Organiser of EcomExpo, Vilnius
- Lithuanian AI Visibility Study 2026
FAQ
Streaming and media marketing in the Baltics, answered.
What changes for online subscriptions in the EU from 19 June 2026?
Directive (EU) 2023/2673 added Article 11a to the Consumer Rights Directive. Where a contract concluded online carries a right of withdrawal, the trader must offer a function labelled “withdraw from contract here” or similar, keep it visible for the whole withdrawal period and confirm receipt on a durable medium such as email. The Commission's planned Digital Fairness Act had not been proposed as of 28 October 2026.
Can we advertise a free trial?
Yes, if it is genuinely free and the terms are clear. Calling something free when the customer must pay more than the unavoidable cost of responding is always unfair under EU law. Before the order, the customer must see the price per billing period, the contract length and how to end it, and Google doesn't allow ads that hide the payment model or full cost.
Can we use film, series or sports footage in our ads?
Only with the rights to it and the platforms' approval. Google requires copyright certification for copyrighted content in ads, separately for each domain. Meta allows ads for movie trailers and TV shows only with its prior written permission and only to people aged 18 and over. We check both before launch dates.
Can a news publisher promote political stories on Meta or Google?
In the EU, mostly not through paid ads. Since October 2025 Meta no longer delivers social issue, election or political ads in the EU, and Google restricts EU ads featuring a party, officeholder or candidate. We promote the subscription and sections instead, and let political coverage reach readers through search and organic channels.
Should we advertise in Russian in Latvia and Estonia?
Usually alongside the state language, not instead of it. In Latvia, 34.6% of people aged 18–69 use Russian at home; in Estonia, 29% have Russian as their mother tongue. Lithuanian law requires information on goods and services sold to be in Lithuanian, and Estonia's Language Act puts Estonian first in outdoor ads. We plan copy per audience and check the rules with you.
How can a news site get more traffic from Google Discover and Google News?
Indexed content that meets Discover's content policies is eligible automatically. Google recommends titles without clickbait and images at least 1200 px wide with max-image-preview:large. Top stories considers publishers that follow Google News policies, including clear dates and bylines. Paywall structured data helps Google tell subscriber-only content apart from cloaking.
How do we get cited by ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews?
For Google, a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet; no special AI files are needed. OpenAI says sites that block OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, while GPTBot, its training crawler, is a separate setting. We review those settings, track prompts monthly and make your pages easier to cite. Nobody can guarantee a mention.
How much does streaming and media marketing cost in the Baltics?
APG Media's work starts from €990 per month excluding VAT. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to the platforms. The fee depends on markets, languages and channels, the size of your catalogue or newsroom, creative volume and tracking work. You get a scoped proposal after a short review.
How do you measure churn and subscriber value?
GA4 and server-side tracking record trial starts, first payments, renewals and cancellations separately in each market. We report cost per paying subscriber and retention by channel, so campaigns that bring loyal subscribers are not cut for looking expensive. SEO and AI visibility work usually needs three to six months to show a clear trend.
Next step
See where you are losing subscribers, market by market.
Send us your site, plans and markets. Within 24 hours we'll reply with what we'd check first: the offer and cancel flow, Google and Meta accounts, subscriber tracking and how AI assistants describe you in each market.
- Your site or app URL and the markets you sell in
- Your plans, trial terms and prices per market
- The content or sections you want to promote next
- Monthly ad spend by channel for the last three months