Better results for less: Paid advertising success with Cumberland

As a longstanding digital agency partner to Cumberland Building Society, we’ve been trusted to deliver Always-on marketing activity for their Mortgages and Savings products for several years. 

They approached us to say, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing’, but with an added challenge: to streamline their budget and services while maintaining the same level of booked appointments for our client. 

In short: do more, spend less, and don’t let performance slip.

It was a challenge that called for a smarter advertising strategy, sharper ad optimisation and a laser focus on results – so how did we do it?

To tackle the brief head-on, we stripped everything back to the essentials and rebuilt with precision. The objective: make every click count.

Search with intent

We began with a full audit of the Paid Search account to identify waste, duplication and underperformance. This allowed us to restructure the campaigns, sharpen targeting and simplify the keyword approach giving us greater control and efficiency.

Next, we implemented enhanced tracking via GA4 and Google Ads, empowering us to use first-party data more effectively. With better data and more accurate conversion tracking, we could let Google’s AI do what it does best optimise for high-quality conversions, not just volume.

Social, streamlined

Over on Meta, we revisited our Paid Social strategy to reduce inefficiencies and refine campaign objectives. Creative was a major focus: by introducing structured creative testing and a bank of varied assets, we reduced ad fatigue, improved engagement and improved click-through rates while keeping cost-per-click low.

Ad budgeting backed by insights & data

We wanted to make sure we were putting the budget where it mattered most. By using linear regression forecasting, we were able to strategically allocate budgets to avoid overspending and also target areas with the most potential for conversion growth. And, by leveraging data-driven insights, we made informed decisions that got the most out of every penny ensuring smart spending and strong ROI.

Despite a reduced media budget, the Cumberland campaigns delivered standout performance across both Paid Search and Paid Social.

On Paid Search, we reduced ad spend by over a third (33%) while conversions almost doubled, thanks to smarter campaign structures and AI-powered optimisation.

Meanwhile, on Meta, we delivered a 15% uplift in conversions while halving the spend, thanks to sharper targeting and more engaging creative.

By improving performance and increasing conversions while delivering significant savings across the board, these campaigns ultimately proved that with the right team, tools and data you can achieve more with less.

Key stats

📈 97% increase in Paid Search conversions

💰 -33% reduction in Paid Search spend

📈 15% increase in Paid Social conversions

💰 -48% reduction in Paid Social spend