When a leading credit repair info-marketing company faced obstacles growing through ads, they knew they needed an experienced agency to guide them through compliance headaches and help them scale their spend.
They weren’t breaking even on their ad campaigns despite spending thousands of dollars per month on Facebook and Instagram, but that was complicated by an even bigger challenge: ad disapprovals and account bans. Because this brand focused on credit repair, they faced immense hurdles to staying compliant with the terms of service on ad platforms. And by the time they came to us, they had completely lost their account on Facebook and had stopped advertising altogether.
They needed expert help – fast.
During the sales and discovery process, they recognized that Tier 11 did more than create and run converting ads on Facebook (Meta). We also run ads on Google – including Google’s new Performance Max campaign type– as well as on YouTube and TikTok. They liked that Tier 11’s team included strategists who would be a partner in optimization, rather than merely order takers, and so they brought us in to help turn the ship around.
In 2021, our expert team dove in using our in-depth Strategic Growth Plan process. We also performed an A-Z tracking review and validated the setup of Wicked Reports, Facebook, and Clickfunnels, examining every pixel, script, and tag in detail.
Our analysis found several strategic and technical issues impeding their growth.
Weak messaging & lack of audiences
Their ad creatives and audiences lacked variety. We found their audiences weren’t segmented by level, which meant that retargeting was basically non-existent. Finally, their messaging wasn’t tailored to specific audiences or awareness levels.
Inaccurate Tracking
We quickly learned that the numbers inside of Facebook and Wicked Reports were inaccurate. We identified errors in the "Purchase" and "Complete Registration" Events, in Google Analytics tagging, and more.
Post-Click Waste
In our analysis, we also discovered that an average of 27.6% ($15,392) of spend was being wasted per quarter due to a poor post-click experience such as slow page speeds and unoptimized mobile pages.
Despite these obstacles, they also had some good points going for them which laid the foundation for the brand building, full-funnel marketing approach we eventually adopted.
For one thing, they had lots of organic content through social posts, blog articles, podcast episodes, and YouTube videos. Secondly, they had an audience of people who loved their brand, system, and impact, and these advocates regularly commented on ads and social posts—leaving positive reviews.
Finally, they had the best asset of all: a great brand led by an engaged founder selling a valuable product.
The work we did over the next year leading up to the latest brand-building push can be described in three phases: recovery, optimization, and expansion.
The first step was to get their ad account back. We worked closely with our Meta Partner Manager to correctly categorize our client and get them back online.
Once we got their ad account restored, we quickly worked to get Wicked Reports. We removed redundant purchase events that fired on pages where they shouldn't have fired, and added the Wicked Reports tracking code to critical pages where it was missing.
Then we got to work. Over the first handful of months together, we continued to scale their advertising efforts, testing new hooks, formats, and audiences. Each new test enforcing (or disproving ) hypotheses, leading to creative and media buying efficiency.
Our foray into brand building activities happened organically as the account grew. We monitored the data across the platforms with an eye for new opportunities.
It can take anywhere from 8-20 touchpoints for someone to convert. And while the predominant percentage of ad spend was directed toward cold traffic, with the goal of getting customers to buy, we knew it could be beneficial to place educational content in front of these prospects as well.
Every prospective customer is at a different point in their buyer's journey. It may take more time or more touchpoints for some to buy compared to others, and the more we can respect that, the more profitable brands will be over time.
Google Performance Max identified that certain blog posts on this client’s site were gaining traction organically, so we decided to create campaigns around those posts and other top of funnel (TOFU) content.
In our initial tests, the top of funnel content consisted of:
We also leveraged customer testimonials, boosted user-generated content (UGC), and utilized webinars and challenges to grow their list of leads and nurture them into buyers, all while the client continued to grow their podcast, YouTube channel, and social media accounts.
After we started “brand building” campaigns, some interesting data came to light.
Compared to before, the brand building push decreased overall ROAS by 6%. This would normally be seen as a bad result when viewed in isolation. But, in light of the bigger picture, it’s clear that it’s not at all bad.
That’s because even though we shifted the ad budget to the top of the funnel—increasing it by 55%... we increased the leads generated on Facebook by 40%...resulting in 11,113 leads generated... an incredible increase of over 2,221 more leads than before the brand-building push! These leads are now in their email list, where they can be nurtured and remarketed to until they purchase.
But that’s not all!
Despite shifting the budget to top of funnel campaigns (that other media buyers claim “don’t work”), this client still saw an additional $1.4 million dollars in revenue in just one quarter. This was across all their ad channels, including a 16X ROAS on Google. And therein lies the secret measure for brand building advertising on Meta... Google Ads performance gets better. More people learn about your brand on Meta, but they search for it on Google.
All this goes to show that brand building works when you stick with it.
At Tier 11, our mission is simple:
We help purpose-driven companies achieve their vision through full-funnel digital marketing.
This client’s big "Why" is to help Americans transform their lives by improving their credit, while also gaining the opportunity to earn a great living and become entrepreneurs in the process.
This means our efforts didn’t just improve ROAS and generate more leads, customers, and revenue. Each and every new customer acquired by this business was another person’s credit improved, another chance at financial freedom gained, and another business started.
At Tier 11, we’re doing more than running ads; we’re enabling great businesses to achieve their purpose, and for this client, it means changing lives one credit report at a time.
Ready to explore how we can help your team achieve your brand’s purpose through a brand building, full-funnel marketing approach? Apply to speak with us today.