paid social audience restructure

Paid Social Audience Restructure Doubled MQLs and Reduced CPL by 30%

Bill Sebald
Founder & Managing Partner


March 22, 2024

The Challenge

Renofi is a home renovation loan company. They originally partnered with Greenlane for SEO support but quickly found they also needed paid advertising improvements as they worked to land marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and opportunities from their paid social campaigns.

After exploring the renovation loan company’s previous campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, it was clear they were wasting spending on the wrong homeowners by relying too heavily on the social platforms themselves to determine the loan company’s audience instead of leveraging their own strategic targeting. For example, the company leaned way too much on Facebook’s Interest options and didn’t have proper exclusions in the campaign.

The Goal

Our goal was to drive higher-converting leads and reduce wasted spending on unqualified homeowners by overhauling the audiences our client was using across their Facebook and Instagram paid advertising campaigns. 

The Strategy

The Greenlane team began by refining campaigns across Facebook and Instagram to rely less on platform-curated lists and more on lists created from the company’s own first-party data. We requested the client put together email lists of their 4-5-star customers — the company’s ideal homeowners — which we used to create lookalike targets in our advertising campaigns. We also took lists of the 1-2-star homeowners — their unwanted leads — and created a lookalike for paid campaign exclusions.

Our team went to market with three campaigns, each targeting audiences aligning to the sales funnel, including Top of Funnel (TOFU), Middle of Funnel (MOFU), and Bottom of Funnel (BOFU). Budgets were apportioned to each based on lead volume and lead quality. Each campaign also contained unique creative tailored to the call-to-action we were asking of each audience based on their buyer’s stage, such as “Learn More” for TOFU, “Get a Quote” for BOFU, etc. 

Greenlane’s Paid Media team also employed ad creative testing to understand which imagery best resonated with the new audiences. They also tested different types of paid content, such as before-and-after videos, testimonials, etc., to determine which performed best.

The Results

All the strategic revisions and testing paid off. The client enjoyed a +113% lift in leads and a +137% increase in opportunities, while cost per lead and cost per opportunity decreased -30% each over a 3-month span. The percentage of MQLs increased by +14%, while unwanted leads decreased by -35%. The client was able to raise their Paid Media budget from $20K a month to $60K to grow their lead volume further.

As a result of their partnership with Greenlane Search Marketing, paid social became one of the strongest drivers of qualified sales leads for the business.

Lauren McFalls Perez
Head Of Marketing
RenoFi
Bill Sebald headshot.

Bill Sebald

Founder & Managing Partner

Bill is a digital marketer in the Philadelphia area who began working in SEO in 1996. He is a pioneer in the space, introducing SEO concepts and approaches still used today.

Bill led the first group of SEOs at GSI Commerce in Philadelphia, working with clients like the NFL, Toys R Us, Dick’s Sporting Goods, PetSmart, Calvin Klein, and dozens more. Since then, he has supported over 100 brands with SEO consulting.

In 2005, he began offering digital marketing consulting services under the Greenlane banner. In 2012, he relaunched Greenlane into the agency we are today (with the partnership of Keith Urban).

Bill is a speaker and writer who has contributed to Practical Ecommerce, Moz and our blog. If you would like Bill to speak or write for you, you can contact him through this form.

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Greenlane Marketing is a highly experienced PPC and SEO agency trusted by leading Lead Generation, E-commerce, and Media brands. We align SEO, paid media, and analytics to turn search demand into revenue growth. From day one, you’re paired with a dedicated strategist focused on your goals. Choose one-time projects or monthly retainers — whatever fits your needs. Whether it’s E-commerce, B2B, or B2C, you’ll have direct access to our strategy experts every step of the way.

Greenlane Marketing is a highly experienced PPC and SEO agency trusted by leading Lead Generation, E-commerce, and Media brands. We align SEO, paid media, and analytics to turn search demand into revenue growth. From day one, you’re paired with a dedicated strategist focused on your goals. Choose one-time projects or monthly retainers — whatever fits your needs. Whether it’s E-commerce, B2B, or B2C, you’ll have direct access to our strategy experts every step of the way.