How South River Mortgage Replaced $500k/mo in Direct Mail with Digital at 5x Lower Cost
From a $10k test budget to $50k+/month in just 5 months — generating 20-30 qualified leads daily through precision digital targeting.
A $500k/Month Direct Mail Machine Losing Steam
South River Mortgage was an established player, spending over $500,000 a month on direct mail ads for over five years. However, they began to see a significant drop in performance and feared they were stuck in a downward trend. They were skeptical that any digital channel could outcompete their massive direct mail results.
Multi-Channel Digital Funnel
We implemented a sophisticated multi-channel funnel to prove that digital could not only compete but win. Performance Max campaigns identified high-performing audiences and search terms at the top of the funnel. Standard Search campaigns captured the interest Pmax generated. Meta handled heavy retargeting of interested leads and top-of-funnel awareness.
The key differentiator was advanced lead qualification — we set up tracking optimized specifically for high-quality leads, defined as prospects who spoke with a loan officer for 3+ minutes or completed qualifying form questions.
A Scalable Digital Alternative
The transformation was rapid, proving digital's viability for high-ticket financial services. Starting with a $10,000 test budget, we generated 90 qualified leads in the first week alone. Performance Max campaigns achieved a $28 cost per lead in the initial 14-day period. As confidence grew, the budget scaled to over $55,000 per month — with Google Ads cost per lead dropping below $50.
Return on Ad Spend
By focusing on lead quality rather than just volume, Creekside provided South River Mortgage with a scalable, high-efficiency alternative to their traditional $500,000/month mail spend. Google Ads delivered leads that convert 7-8x higher than direct mail at a 5x lower cost per customer.