Converting Cash Relief’s Investment Strategy
Organic x Conversion Optimisation = High Returns
Cash Relief general manager Darryl Godwin knows all too well how competitive the personal finance market is. In the fierce world of online advertising, being seen and being clicked are their two biggest challenges, and in the domain of finance the bids are high.
When he took over Cash Relief in 2018, his predecessor had already engaged Sprocket to increase their success. Inheriting the relationship, Darryl was open minded and keen to see if Sprocket could live up to the ambitious goals we set.
Read on to discover how we turned his marketing investment strategy around, and created long-lasting success for Cash Relief.
Costly marketing ventures
Although Darryl has two unique offerings in the market — one business for low end, payday loans, and another for larger long-duration loans — the challenges are the same when it comes to advertising online.
“It’s a very competitive market, specifically in Google Ads where the cost per click is very high. My wife has an online business selling clothes, and when I compare my costs to hers ... she’s paying 20c per click on average, where I’m paying $2 plus.”
- Darryl Godwin, Cash Relief
When more is invested, consistent and worthwhile returns are necessary to warrant the continuation of the campaign. In this case, the returns were sparse and poor. The cost per conversion was high, and eating into the business’ budget.
Cash Relief needed a different approach to find success in this competitive market. They needed to reduce costs while increasing visibility, clickthrough, and ultimately conversion.
Our Senior Growth Advisor Dan took on the mission.
A long-term investment in
organic and conversion optimisation
Dan recommended a shift away from dependency on paid advertising, and instead proposed an investment into organic strategies. Organic growth strategies focus on the business’ existing resources — such as their website — as opposed to relying on paid promotions on third party sites.
The double-pronged plan of attack combined Conversion Rate Optimisation with Search Engine Optimisation to generate cost-effective organic results that would continue to grow over time.
“One of the major things Sprocket did in the first couple of months was look at the website, look at the CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation), and say ‘how we can make it easier?’ They came up with ideas and we implemented most of them … the results now speak for themselves.”
- Darryl Godwin, Cash Relief
With organic optimisation, it’s about investing for the long run. SEO doesn’t always pay off quickly, but you can think of it like compound interest — the longer you regularly invest into it, the better your returns will be.
“It’s really important to understand that they’re future investing — if they invest for 12 months, they’ll reap the reward in 12 months’ time. Darryl understood that and had the patience to wait it out, and now he’s seeing the difference.”
- Dan Rack, Senior Growth Advisor
While organic optimisation provided the backbone of the growth — attracting people to the website and increasing visibility — conversion optimisation allowed visitors to easily find and complete the application form to receive a loan.
This dual attack has led to enormous growth in the past year, and continues to build.
Rich rewards for Cash Relief
The Cash Relief results speak for themselves:
We’re stoked to say their bottom line isn’t the only thing that’s grown positively over the past year — our relationship with Darryl at Cash Relief has gone from strength to strength as we’ve proven our value and continued to provide reliable advice.
Sprocket continues to implement Cash Relief’s organic and conversion optimisation strategy, and keep an eye on their ads on the side. We want to ensure our client is getting the best results for their investment, and is happy with the direction their campaign is going — both in organic and paid reach.
Cash Relief recently moved their head office from Auckland to Wellington but that hasn’t changed our relationship. Instead of popping into the office once a month, our regular meetings are done via phone call and online. Geography isn’t an issue with online businesses.
Organic growth continues to increase, as the investments made a year ago kick in. We can’t wait to see how the returns continue to flow for Cash Relief.
“What I enjoy about Dan is that he seems to genuinely care, and some of the advice he gives me is not for his own benefit at all, but it helps. These guys have changed my business … not only that, they take an intimate interest in my business.”
- Darryl Godwin, Cash Relief
