Society Mortgage
How we cut cost per qualified lead by 62%, outranked national lenders, and turned a struggling Google Ads account into a high-performing acquisition engine.
About Society Mortgage
Society Mortgage is a fast-growing mortgage lender operating across multiple U.S. states, specializing in home purchase loans, refinancing, and non-traditional borrower programs. Their mission is to help borrowers confidently navigate the mortgage process through personalized service and technology-driven efficiency.
Visit Society MortgageHear it from Molly
Molly Kauffman, Director of Marketing at Society Mortgage, on working with Echo 27.
The Challenge
When Society Mortgage came to us, their Google Ads campaigns were struggling to generate profitable results. They faced several key issues:
High Cost Per Lead
CPL averaging $47 — nearly double industry benchmarks for mortgage leads.
Low Conversion Rates
Few ad clicks were converting into actual loan applications.
No Data Segmentation
No differentiation between qualified leads and unqualified inquiries.
Low Visibility
Struggling to compete with Rocket Mortgage, CrossCountry, and Fairway on search.
Their goal was to not only reduce cost per lead but also consistently appear alongside — and above — major national lenders to capture high-intent local buyers.
Three phases to dominate search
Account Audit & Data Structuring
Our first step was to perform a complete audit of the account and rebuild it from the ground up for accuracy and control.
Findings
- Campaigns organized by loan type but lacked state and audience segmentation.
- No differentiation between branded, generic, and competitor keywords.
- Conversion tracking only counted form submissions, not qualified leads.
Actions
- Implemented CRM-integrated tracking via Google Tag Manager to measure only qualified leads (loan-ready, verified contacts).
- Rebuilt the account structure by intent, state, and audience.
- Created a dedicated competitor conquesting campaign to appear when users searched for top lenders by name.
Campaign Redevelopment, Competitor Positioning & Optimization
Once accurate data was in place, we rebuilt Society's campaigns for precision, efficiency, and market visibility.
Keyword & Competitor Strategy
We designed a three-tier keyword structure:
"mortgage pre-approval near me," "FHA mortgage Florida," "home loan with 10% down"
"mortgage for self-employed," "investment property refinance"
"Rocket Mortgage alternatives," "better than Fairway Mortgage," "CrossCountry refinance rates"
By bidding strategically on competitor keywords and creating ad copy that directly contrasted Society's advantages — faster approvals, lower rates, and personal service — we captured high-converting intent traffic at a fraction of competitor CPCs.
Ad Copy & Extensions
We developed new, performance-driven ad copy emphasizing trust, speed, and accessibility:
"Skip the big banks — Get pre-approved in 5 minutes with Society Mortgage."
We implemented sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets to improve CTR and visibility, achieving higher ad rank than much larger lenders on several high-value searches.
Landing Page Optimization
- Aligned every ad with a dedicated landing page that reflected the searcher's intent and location.
- Each page included loan-type specific messaging, local credibility cues, and instant pre-approval CTAs.
- Reduced form fields by 40% and improved mobile usability.
Bid Strategy
We transitioned to Target CPA bidding, optimized around qualified lead conversions, and trained Google's algorithm on the CRM data to prioritize high-quality leads over cheap clicks.
Scaling & Continuous Improvement
After optimizing campaigns to profitability, we focused on scaling while maintaining cost efficiency.
Data-Driven Scaling
We increased budgets only in campaigns that consistently delivered sub-$20 qualified leads, maintaining performance across multiple states.
Competitor Benchmarking
Using Auction Insights, we monitored impression share against top lenders weekly. Society's ads began outranking Rocket Mortgage and Fairway on non-branded and competitor queries in core states like Florida and Texas.
Continuous Testing
We ran ongoing A/B tests on ad headlines, CTA language, and landing page layouts — improving conversion rates by over 30%.
Negative Keyword Expansion
We added over 250 negative keywords to eliminate low-intent traffic and further improve lead quality.
From struggling to scaling
Ready to grow without guessing?
We're currently taking on a limited number of new clients. If you think we might be a fit, get in touch.