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Proving Advertising ROI with Matchback Measurement for Listerhill Credit Union

Listerhill Credit Union, a 1 billion credit union based in Alabama, partnered with Geear to run a credit card campaign on El Toro’s addressable advertising platform. Matchback measurement connected 44 approved credit cards directly to ad exposure at a $39 average cost per acquisition, and Listerhill Credit Union more than doubled its El Toro media budget as a result.

 

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The Challenge

Like most credit unions, Listerhill Credit Union faced familiar measurement obstacles. Traditional reporting could show traffic and upper-funnel conversions like phone calls and application engagement, but only if users acted right after clicking an ad. It often couldn’t show whether advertising actually influenced real member behavior. Marketing teams could see the impact, but they lacked the data to back it up and make confident decisions.

Offline & Delayed Conversions

Conversions often happen offline, or even days or weeks after ad exposure, making traditional attribution insufficient.

Offline & Delayed Conversions

Cross-Device Member Journey

Members interact across many devices and channels, breaking the straight line from ad to conversion.

Cross-Device Member Journeys

No Defensible Proof for Leadership

Leadership wanted to know what was actually driving growth, and marketing needed evidence beyond engagement metrics to justify media investment.

No Defensible Proof for Leadership

How El Toro Works

El Toro is an addressable advertising platform. It links digital ad exposure to real-world results using matchback measurement. The platform doesn’t just deliver ads; it aims to answer a single key question: did advertising affect what members did?


What is matchback measurement?

Matchback measurement compares people who were served an ad with people who were not, then checks which of them completed a real outcome, such as opening an account or being approved for a credit card. It shows whether advertising changed member behavior, not just whether someone clicked.


El Toro securely matches devices to household addresses, so ads reach every device in a targeted home across digital channels. The match uses Mobile Advertising IDs (MAIDs), the anonymous identifiers tied to each phone or tablet. Later, it matches ad exposure to actual results, like account openings and funded loans. The output is a matchback analysis: a clear view of whether people who saw the ads took meaningful action compared to those who didn’t.


For credit unions, this gives what traditional analytics often miss: a clear link between digital ads and real member behavior.

The Results

Matchback analysis for a Credit Card campaign showed strong performance and clear influence on member behavior. These results do not count phone calls, application starts, or completed applications. Each one is an approved credit card matched directly to El Toro ad exposure.

44

Approved Credit Cards

Fully approved credit cards directly connected to ad exposure through matchback analysis.

$39

Average CPA

Average cost per acquisition on approved credit cards, much lower than typical industry benchmarks for this conversion type, even for higher-funnel conversions.

x2+

Budget Expansion

Listerhill Credit Union more than doubled their El Toro media budget after seeing matchback-verified results.

What Worked

From Proof to Reinvestment

Listerhill Credit Union’s team said their experience with El Toro was very positive. They felt confident in the results, and that confidence translated into action. Shortly after the matchback analysis, the client more than doubled their El Toro media budget.
This is an important distinction. Surface-level metrics didn’t drive the decision. It was driven by proof. Leadership could see exactly how advertising linked to outcomes, which made it easier to invest more in areas with clear results.

Solutions Implemented

  • Defined Outcome-Focused Campaign Objectives

    Before deploying any media, we worked with Listerhill Credit Union to clearly define the campaign objective, in this case, approved credit cards, so every downstream decision could be grounded in the outcome that mattered.

  • Deployed El Toro Addressable Advertising

    Ads reached every device in targeted households across digital channels, expanding reach beyond single-device targeting. This expanded reach beyond single-device targeting.

  • Implemented Matchback Tracking from Day One

    We built matchback measurement into the campaign from launch, ensuring we could tie ad exposure to real outcomes, not just clicks, impressions, or upper-funnel actions.

  • Analyzed Lift, Influence, and Audience Patterns

    Using matchback reporting, we analyzed which audiences and exposures actually influenced member behavior, then used those insights to guide investment decisions and identify what deserved more spend.

Where Matchback Measurement Works

Listerhill’s results are only one of the success cases from our El Toro partnership. Matchback measurement is proving valuable across a range of credit union goals:

Lending Campaigns: connecting ad exposure to loan inquiries and funded loans.

Deposit Growth: tying advertising to new account openings.

Credit Card Campaigns: tying advertising to approved cards and early usage.

Awareness Initiatives: require longer consideration cycles.

Key Takeaways for Credit Unions

→ Start with the outcome you want to measure, not the channel.

Matchback works best when the goal is clearly defined from the beginning.

→ Use matchback to validate real impact, not just engagement.

Clicks and early actions, like starting an application, rarely show the whole picture.

→ Let data guide investment decisions.

Confidence grows when results are visible and defensible.

→ Work with partners who translate matchback insights into strategy.

The value isn’t just in the report; it’s in how it informs next steps.

Why Geear & El Toro

Platforms like El Toro help credit unions link online actions to real member results. But the real value comes from how they use that data. At Geear, we combine matchback measurement with a strong strategy, helping clients like Listerhill gain clarity, build confidence, and create momentum. If your credit union wants to grasp the real effects of digital advertising, matchback could be the key.

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