43% lower
Cost per qualifying lead
An anonymised finance client, September–November 2024 compared with May–July 2024. August excluded.
Read the finance case studyFinancial services PPC agency
We help financial services businesses improve Google Ads and Meta campaigns by focusing on applications your team can actually use, and the outcomes recorded in your CRM.
- Qualifying applications
- Clearer acquisition costs
- CRM-informed decisions
Tell us where lead quality is falling short. We’ll discuss your current campaigns, application criteria and what to investigate next.
Results from our client work
40% lower
Cost per sale agreed
The same comparison period. A CRM sale-agreed stage, not a completed funded loan. Combined before-and-after results.
See the measurement contextStart with the applications your team can work
Your application criteria affect almost every part of the campaign. They influence the searches worth paying for, the information an advert needs to communicate and the questions someone should answer before your team gets involved.
Cheaper enquiries can cost more once you check who qualifies. Here’s an illustrative comparison, using the same qualification criteria.
Campaign A: cheaper enquiries
100 enquiries × £40 each
£4,000 advertising spend
20 meet the agreed criteria
£200per qualifying enquiry
Campaign B: more qualify
50 enquiries × £60 each
£3,000 advertising spend
30 meet the agreed criteria
£100per qualifying enquiry
Illustrative figures, not client results. Advertising spend only; management fees are excluded.
We work through that distinction with you. What makes an application suitable? Which stages can you measure reliably? Where are otherwise suitable people dropping out? Once those answers are clear, the campaign has a more useful objective.
Google Ads for financial services
Search can put your business in front of people actively looking for the service you provide. The difficulty is deciding which searches deserve your budget and whether the application journey matches what those people expect.
We review the account structure, search terms, advertising messages and conversion setup together. A keyword generating applications may still be poor value if those applications rarely progress. Equally, an expensive click can be worthwhile when it leads to a suitable customer at an acceptable acquisition cost.
The work can include restructuring campaigns, testing relevant keyword coverage and improving the information available before an application. We agree the scope around the account, rather than assuming every finance business needs the same changes.
Meta advertising when there is a reason to test it
Some finance businesses depend heavily on search. Adding another channel may help, but Meta needs to earn its place in the budget.
We consider whether the offer can be explained clearly to someone who was not actively searching for it. That includes the creative, the information on the landing page and the process used to qualify an enquiry. The test then needs to be judged against the outcomes your business actually values.
We would not recommend moving a large budget because social leads appear cheaper. A controlled test, with an agreed budget and a way to assess lead quality, provides a better basis for deciding whether to continue.
What changed for a finance business facing a funding gap
In August 2024, a financial services client told us it had lost its funding. We immediately restructured its Google Ads accounts to help the smaller budget keep producing qualifying applications.
The work included expanding beyond a narrow set of expensive exact-match keywords, improving application forms and using qualification logic to control which applications were counted in the conversions used for optimisation. We assessed results against qualifying applications and sales agreed in the client's CRM.
Comparing September to November 2024 with May to July 2024, cost per qualifying lead fell by 43% and cost per sale agreed fell by 40%. Average monthly Google Ads spend fell by 59%. August is excluded because it was the restructure month, and the same qualifying-lead definition is used in both periods.
These were combined before-and-after results. They do not isolate the effect of each change. A sale agreed was a CRM stage, not a completed funded loan, and the total number of sales agreed was lower on the reduced budget. The client's identity and absolute figures remain private.
Connect advertising with what happens in the CRM
An application is the beginning of a process. It may progress to a qualification check, a quote, a sale agreed or a completed transaction. Those stages should remain distinct in reporting.
We look at which outcomes you record consistently and how they can inform campaign decisions. Where the setup and data allow, Google Ads can receive information about later outcomes through offline conversion measurement. The implementation needs appropriate permissions, reliable matching and a clear definition of the event being recorded.
Your team also needs to know what the figures mean. If an application from last week is still being assessed, comparing it with a fully matured month can give a misleading impression of performance. We account for the time between the enquiry and the outcome when reviewing results.
Agree approvals before the campaign goes live
Financial services advertising needs a clear approval process. We agree who owns product information, eligibility wording, required disclosures and the final sign-off on advertising and landing pages.
Our role is to manage the advertising work within the agreed remit. Your responsible compliance contact remains involved in approving the financial promotion. An agency review should not be treated as a replacement for that approval.
What working together involves
- Understand the problemReview your advertising, application journey and the outcomes your team can show us.
- Agree the workSet priorities and responsibilities, including any website, sales or compliance input.
- Manage against qualityReview qualifying applications and later outcomes, using feedback from your team.
Campaign restructuring and ongoing management may be part of the agreed scope. Tracking implementation, creative production and website development are scoped explicitly, so you know what is included.
This works best when you have a proven offer, capacity to handle applications and someone who can share feedback on quality.
Questions about finance PPC management
Can you take over an existing account
Yes. We would first review its history, access, tracking and current performance. A handover should preserve useful data and working campaigns while identifying what needs attention. A new agency does not automatically require a new account.
Can you guarantee more funded business
No. Advertising influences who arrives and what they understand, but eligibility, product competitiveness, sales follow-up and funding decisions also affect the outcome. We agree measurable objectives without pretending the agency controls every stage.
How much budget do we need
The useful starting point is your current spend, the cost of acquiring a suitable customer and how much room there is to improve. Media spend and management fees are separate. We will discuss the scope before proposing a fee or a test budget.
Let us look at where the applications are going
Tell us what you advertise, what you currently spend and where the process is falling short. If you have CRM figures showing which applications qualify and progress, bring those too. They will make the conversation considerably more useful.