A finance business
in crisis
When a financial services client lost its funding in August 2024, we immediately restructured its Google Ads accounts. The task was to cut spend while keeping qualifying applications coming in.
43% lower cost per qualifying lead on a smaller budget
Average monthly Google Ads spend fell by 59%, while the cost of a qualifying lead fell by 43%. The same qualifying-lead definition is used in both comparison periods.
What the brief actually was
- Reduce media spend quickly, without switching the pipeline off.
- Hold or improve lead quality, with fewer people left to work the leads.
- Reduce the cost of securing a sale agreed.
- Keep the account in a state that could be scaled back up on short notice.
The immediate priority was to make the smaller budget work while the client looked for new funding.
The job changed overnight
A large business in financial services lost its funding in August 2024. We restructured the advertising accounts immediately after the client told us it was in trouble. Headcount came down, sales capacity came down, and the media budget came down with them.
With less money available, we needed to review which searches we were paying for and which applications Google Ads was learning from.
What we inherited
The client had wanted to concentrate on a small set of expensive exact-match keywords. With less budget available, we needed to broaden the searches the account could reach.
We needed Google Ads to distinguish qualifying applications, and CRM records to show which progressed to a sale agreed.
What we solved for
The priority was to support profitable trading on a smaller budget. Lead quality mattered because the client had less capacity to work applications.
We tracked the cost of qualifying leads and the cost of sales agreed in the CRM, so we could assess performance beyond the initial application.
Account, application and measurement work
The work covered targeting, the application process and measurement of qualifying leads and sales agreed.
Expand beyond expensive exact-match keywords
We persuaded the client to expand targeting beyond the expensive exact-match keywords they had prioritised. We introduced phrase match to reach relevant longer-tail searches and reduce reliance on that narrow keyword set.
Improve the application form
We improved the application form and introduced qualification logic based on the answers applicants provided.
Measure lead quality properly, then optimise to it
We used the form logic to control which applications reached the success page used for conversion tracking. Only qualifying applications were included in the conversions used to optimise Google Ads. Other applications were passed to the panel without further interaction by the client.
This gave bidding a qualification signal rather than treating every completed application as equally valuable.
Assess outcomes in the CRM
We compared Google Ads spend with qualifying applications and sales agreed recorded in the client's CRM.
That let us assess the cost of a sale agreed alongside the cost of a qualifying application. A sale agreed was not a completed, funded loan.
The smaller budget needed to bring in qualifying leads at a lower cost.
What the numbers did
Cost per qualifying lead fell by 43% and cost per sale agreed fell by 40%, while average monthly Google Ads spend fell by 59%. These figures compare September-November 2024 with May-July 2024, using period totals and sales agreed recorded in the client's CRM. August is excluded as the restructure month.
Qualifying leads are counted on the same basis in both periods. A sale agreed is the stage recorded in the client's CRM; it does not mean a completed, funded loan.
- Cost per qualifying lead
- −43%
- Cost per sale agreed
- −40%
- Average monthly Google Ads spend
- −59%
Source: Google Ads combined with the client's own CRM records, September-November 2024 compared with May-July 2024. Absolute spend, lead volume, revenue and client identity withheld at the client's request.
Why we made these changes
Each change had a specific purpose. We measured the combined results of the restructure; the comparison does not isolate the contribution of each change.
| Change | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Wider keyword set | Phrase match opened targeting to relevant longer-tail searches |
| Application form improvements | Improved the application and introduced qualification logic |
| Lead quality tracking | Include only qualifying applications in the conversions used for optimisation |
| CRM outcome reporting | Compare acquisition costs against sales agreed, beyond the initial application |
What we are not claiming
The number of sales agreed was lower in September-November than in May-July, while spend and cost per sale agreed also fell. These are before-and-after results, not a controlled test of the individual changes.
The advertising figures cover the first three full months after the restructure. The longer-term business outcome below is reported separately: these results do not establish that advertising alone kept the business profitable or secured its new funding.
How it ended
The client reported that the business remained profitable throughout the roughly 16-month funding gap. That trading record helped the owner make the case to a new funder and secure funding again.
Client feedback
The client valued our tailored support in navigating changes in digital marketing, reaching new businesses and finding funding opportunities they might otherwise have missed.
Paraphrased from client feedback to help protect their identity.
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