$8 CPA | 40% Conversion Rate | Credit Union Success Story

The Challenge

Personal loan advertising on Google Ads is one of the most competitive verticals in paid search. Credit unions compete with national banks, fintech lenders, and aggregators, all bidding on similar keywords. This fierce competition drives up Costs Per Click (CPCs) and inflates overall Cost Per Acquisition (CPAs), meaning campaigns require highly optimized conversion rates just to maintain profitability.

A credit union in the Greater Philadelphia Area needed a strategic approach to compete in this high-stakes landscape, scale loan application volume, maintain an efficient CPA, and maximize overall ROI.

Aggressive Auction Competition

Credit unions go head-to-head against national banks, fintech lenders, and digital aggregators, all bidding on the exact same keywords. This makes it difficult for regional institutions to capture visibility efficiently without risking inflated acquisition costs.

Mid-Funnel Conversion Friction

In a crowded digital market, standard ad creatives and rigid landing pages often fail to sustain user interest. Without prominently highlighting clear competitive advantages, lenders struggle to turn initial clicks into completed applications.

Capturing Both Awareness and Intent

Most credit unions run Search or Demand Gen in isolation, missing the lift each generates for the other.

The Strategy:

Search and Demand Gen as One System

Rather than running Search and Demand Gen as separate efforts, we built them into a unified system designed to capture users at different stages of the funnel.

Demand Gen builds awareness and consideration at the top, scaling reach across Google's premium feeds: YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. While these visual placements spark initial interest and intent, Search captures those users the exact moment they are ready to convert.

This cross-campaign synergy ensures that the audience engagement generated on non-search inventory translates directly into higher conversion volume and lower CPAs on Search.

$8
Search Campaign CPA
Cost per acquisition for personal loan completions through the Search campaign. 80% below the $40 industry benchmark.
40%
Search Conversion Rate
Conversion rate for personal loan completions is more than 3x the 13% industry benchmark.
$14
Demand Gen CPA
Cost per acquisition through the Demand Gen campaign, primarily driven by Gmail placements leading to the same landing page as the Search ads.
5x
Better Than Benchmark
Search campaign CPA was approximately 5x more efficient than the $40 industry benchmark for personal loan advertising.

What Worked

Featuring the credit union’s highly competitive rates prominently in both ad copy and on the landing page was a primary driver of strong Click-Through Rates and Conversion Rates. Users responded to the rate hook, then engaged further with customization and flexible loan options also featured on the landing page, helping transform initial interest into completed applications.

The Demand Gen campaign added a second layer of lift. By building awareness across top and mid-funnel placements, particularly through Gmail inventory, it primed users to convert when they later encountered Search ads. That awareness translated directly into stronger Search performance, while Demand Gen itself also drove direct conversions at a $14 CPA, an impressive ROI for a lower intent campaign type.

Solutions Implemented

Ran Search and Demand Gen as a Unified System
Rather than treating these as separate campaigns, we deployed them together to capture users at different stages of the funnel: Demand Gen for awareness, Search for intent, with each amplifying the other.
Led with Competitive Rates in Ad Copy and Landing Pages
The credit union’s competitive personal loan rates were featured prominently in both ad copy and on the landing page, driving strong Click-Through Rates and immediate user engagement.
Reinforced Rates with Customization and Flexible Options
Once users landed on the page, customization and flexible loan options sustained engagement and moved users from interest to completed application.
Implemented Rigorous Search Term Auditing
We applied a proactive auditing process to regularly negate high-cost, low-converting, and irrelevant search terms, preventing wasted spend and ensuring every dollar was directed toward the highest-value users.
Leveraged Gmail as a High-Performing Demand Gen Placement
Within the Demand Gen campaign, Gmail placements drove strong direct conversion performance at a $14 CPA and fed awareness back into the Search campaign.

Key Takeaways for Credit Unions

→ Run Search and Demand Gen together, not in isolation.
Awareness from Demand Gen creates measurable conversion lift on Search once users are ready to act.

→ Lead with your strongest competitive advantage in creative.
When rates are competitive, putting them front and center in ad copy and on the landing page may drive stronger CTR and CVR together.

→ Auditing search terms isn’t optional.
Regularly negating high-cost, low-converting, and irrelevant terms helps keep a CPA below benchmark over the long run.

→ Gmail can be a high-value Demand Gen placement.
When tied to a strong landing page experience, Gmail can drive direct conversions, not just upper-funnel awareness.

Why Geear & Unified Search + Demand Gen

Personal loan advertising on Google is unforgiving: high competition, expensive keywords, and conversion rate ceilings that most lenders never break through.

At Geear, we combine a unified Search + Demand Gen strategy with rigorous search term management and credit union expertise to deliver outperformance against industry benchmarks.

For a credit union in the Greater Philadelphia area, that meant a Search CPA roughly 5x more efficient than the industry average, and a conversion rate more than triple the benchmark.

Interested in learning more?

$8 CPA. 40% Conversion Rate.

Search and Demand Gen as One System

The Results

What Worked

Solutions Implemented

Key Takeaways for Credit Unions

Why Geear & Unified Search + Demand Gen

Ready for marketing that actually delivers?