Scaling a Reverse Mortgage Provider from $10k to $50k+ Monthly Ad Spend

The Challenge

South River Mortgage was a 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.

The Creekside Solution

We implemented a sophisticated multi-channel funnel to prove that digital could not only compete but win:

• Top-of-Funnel (TOF) Pmax: Utilized Performance Max campaigns to identify high-performing audiences and search terms.
• Demand Capture: Deployed standard Search campaigns to capitalize on the interest identified by Pmax.
• Retargeting & Awareness: Used Meta for heavy retargeting of leads who showed interest and TOF awareness campaigns to drive further demand down the funnel.
• 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.

The Results: A Scalable Digital Alternative

The transformation was rapid, proving digital’s viability for high-ticket financial services.

Performance Highlights (April 2025 - August 2025):

• Rapid Scaling: Launched with a $10,000 test budget and successfully scaled to $50,000+ per month in just 5 months.
• Lead Volume: Currently generating 20–30 qualified leads every single day.
• Efficiency: Google Ads delivered leads that convert 7–8x higher than direct mail at a 5x lower cost per customer.
• Profitability: Achieved a consistent return of >5x ROAS.

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.