2023-2024 Google Ads Campaign

My strategy for generating low-cost and high-quality leads was to create two different ad groups - one targeting general mortgage terms and one going after specific loan products that are popular in this economy, such as 203k renovation loans and construction loans. This strategy was based on the popularity of these products due to low real estate inventory. Using competitive research and Google's Keyword Planner, I identified a wide range of low-cost keywords whose overall search volume could compete with high-cost, high-volume keywords.

The keywords used for the campaign were divided into two groups for the ad groups: general and specific. The general keywords focused on terms related to purchases and refinances, while the specific keywords targeted particular products such as FHA and USDA loans. Additionally, I employed a high volume of keywords with a fairly low cost per click and incorporated location-based keywords to further optimize the campaign.​

Awareness:

The ads ran in specific areas such as Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and North Carolina where the company has branches. The demographic that was targeted was broad and included men and women over the age of 18, the ad ran only during the day and was shut off from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am in order to receive the highest quality of clicks. 

Qualifying Leads:

Leads were brought to a custom landing page where we tracked the exact ads that they came in through using UTMs. The landing page had approximately 6 questions most of which were for the purpose of qualifying the lead. The number of questions to qualify the lead was limited to increase the number of leads.

Nurturing Leads:

I managed a group of 15 loan officers and trained them to use an in-house CRM that I helped to build. This CRM enabled the sales team to monitor and track their conversations with assigned leads. I also created a lead nurturing workflow that notified loan officers when a lead came in and provided follow-up notifications that lasted for six months, utilizing a flag notification system to ensure accountability. Additionally, I developed several one-to-one drip campaigns based on the initial call outcome.

Results:

Budget:

-$6,000/month

Average Cost Per Click:

- $0.43

Cost Per Lead:

- $18

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Our strategy allowed us to generate leads at a fraction of the cost of the one-to-one leads we received from industry leaders such as LendingTree and Bankrate.