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Case Study · Financial Services / Banking PPC
20+ Location Regional Bank
How Hop2TheTop helped a major northeast regional bank grow online lead generation by 55% year-over-year — while simultaneously reducing cost-per-click by 23% — through revised campaign strategies across 20+ branch locations.
Conversions YoY
+55.7%
3,378 vs. 2,169
CPC reduction
-22.9%
$2.14 vs. $2.78
Clicks YoY
+201%
47,797 vs. 15,854
Background
A major northeast regional bank with 20+ locations
Hop2TheTop partnered with a large regional bank operating across more than 20 branch locations in the northeast United States. The goal was to improve the efficiency and volume of online lead generation through paid search — driving more applications, inquiries, and account openings from Google Ads without simply inflating spend.
Objective
More leads, lower cost — not just more spend
The engagement was focused on improving year-over-year conversion volume through smarter campaign strategy — not just by increasing budget. The benchmark for success was growing qualified leads while keeping cost-per-click flat or declining, proving that the improvement was driven by optimization, not spend inflation.
Year-Over-Year Performance
Full metrics comparison — current year vs. prior year
| Metric | Prior Year | Current Year | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impressions | 1,846,883 | 4,840,073 | +162% |
| Clicks | 15,854 | 47,797 | +201% |
| Total Cost | $44,028 | $102,301 | +132% |
| Avg. Daily Cost | $1,467.60 | $3,410.03 | +132% |
| Cost Per Click (CPC) | $2.78 | $2.14 | -22.9% |
| Conversions | 2,169 | 3,378 | +55.7% |
Results
What the numbers mean
-
✓
55.7% more conversions year-over-year — growing from 2,169 to 3,378 total leads and applications. -
✓
CPC dropped 22.9% from $2.78 to $2.14 — meaning every dollar of ad spend worked harder in the current year. -
✓
Clicks more than tripled (+201%) while spend increased only 132% — a clear sign of improved targeting and quality score gains. -
✓
Impressions grew 162% — dramatically expanding the bank’s visibility across its regional markets. -
✓
Conversion growth outpaced spend growth — confirming the improvement was driven by strategy, not simply by increasing budget.
Why the numbers tell a strong story
Clicks grew 2x faster than spend
The most telling signal in this dataset is the gap between spend growth (+132%) and click growth (+201%). That gap — nearly 70 percentage points — reflects a genuine improvement in campaign efficiency, not just budget scaling. Combined with a 22.9% drop in CPC and a 55.7% lift in conversions, the data shows that the revised strategy unlocked significantly more output per dollar invested.
What drove the results
Revised campaign strategies across all 20+ locations — including improved geo-targeting, tighter keyword structure, better match type management, and bid strategy refinements — compounded into a significantly more efficient and higher-volume account year-over-year.
Scale & complexity
Managing paid search for a 20+ location regional bank requires coordinating campaigns across multiple geographies simultaneously — each with its own competitive landscape, product priorities, and audience segments. Getting this right at scale is where specialized PPC management delivers outsized returns.
Financial Services
Banking
Multi-Location
Lead Generation
CPC Reduction
Northeast US
YoY Growth