// Case Studies

Fairstone

Fairstone, one of the UK’s largest chartered financial planning firms, partnered with The Digital Lighthouse (TDL) to elevate its paid media strategy. The primary focus was on high net worth lead generation campaigns promoting Fairstone’s wealth advisory services

Client

Faistone

Website

www.fairstone.co.uk

The challenge

Fairstone sought to improve lead quality and quantity while ensuring efficient budget allocation. Achieving this required implementing advanced tracking, strategic bidding, and data-driven targeting to align paid media activity with business objectives.

The approach

Offline Conversion Tracking:

  • Implemented offline tracking to link Google Ads leads directly to business outcomes, enabling real-time value assignment at keyword and account levels.

  • Optimised for lead quality, reducing CPCs by 34% and improving conversion rates by 22% YoY.

Value-Based Bidding:

  • Used first-party data to prioritise high-value audiences, adapting bidding strategies to focus on quality leads while scaling effectively.

Strategic Location Targeting:

  • Developed granular targeting based on socio-economic factors, such as house prices, to optimise budget deployment.

  • Aligned acquisition costs with data correlations between customer value and location for the highest ROI.

Programmatic Display for Brand Awareness:

  • Shifted from Google Display Network to programmatic platforms, eliminating low-quality inventory and reducing bot traffic.

  • Targeted premium publications, increasing brand reach and credibility, with a 70% uplift in post-impression online traffic driving organic and direct growth.

Conclusion

By combining advanced tracking, value-based bidding, and data-led targeting, TDL delivered measurable growth while improving cost efficiency. This approach aligns marketing performance with commercial goals, helping to generate high-quality leads and build a scalable foundation for long-term success.

How This Strategy Can Be Applied

The same principles can be tailored to suit any client looking to improve marketing efficiency and lead quality:

  • Offline Conversion Tracking:

    Connect paid media activity to real business outcomes (e.g. high-value leads, premium sign-ups), enabling more accurate optimisation and clearer ROI measurement.

  • Value-Based Bidding:

    Use first-party data to prioritise top-performing audiences, sectors, or regions – ensuring media budgets are focused on high-impact opportunities.

  • Granular Location Targeting:

    Apply location and socio-economic insights to prioritise acquisition spend in markets with the highest potential for revenue and retention.

  • High-Quality Display Placements:

    Transition display activity towards programmatic and premium inventory, improving reach and trust while reducing inefficiencies tied to low-quality placements.

This strategy offers a scalable, data-driven framework to improve lead quality, reduce waste, and drive sustainable growth across any performance-driven marketing programme.

↑72%

Increase in lead generation

↑80%

Increase in resultant meetings

↓38%

Reduction in cost-per-lead (CPL)

↓41%

Reduction in cost-per-meeting (CPM)