Transforming Profitability Through Marketing In Tribal Lending

Late in 2023 through strategic partners, we were approached by a tribal lender for an engagement with our Lender Marketing Services division. They were an established tribal lender with an active portfolio. However, they were facing several key challenges that were dramatically reducing the overall profitability of their portfolio. 

After analyzing their loan portfolio and loan acquisition metrics, we identified five key areas of opportunity. By addressing these areas of opportunity, we projected that the profitability of the portfolio could increase by over 100%. Little did we know, we would far exceed that benchmark. Keep reading to find out exactly how big of an impact we had on their profitability and how we pulled it off. To start, the areas of opportunity we identified were:

• Lower Cost Per Funded Loan
• Increase Repeat Borrower Rates,
• Increase Application Conversion Rates 
• Fund Previously Approved But Unconverted Leads
• Improve Overall Marketing Spend ROI

With our strategic partners at Fintech Servicing managing the lender's portfolio we were highly confident that by addressing these areas of opportunity, the lender would have a thriving,  loan portfolio that was perfectly positioned to scale.  

Our Strategy 

With a long list of opportunities, we started building our strategy. Our focus was on efficiency and impact. The areas of opportunity we were addressing touched on nearly every aspect of the loan lifecycle. How could we improve all of them with just a few key services? 

Our solution was to implement a single piece of technology that could help us optimize performance of the entire loan lifecycle by unifying all of our marketing platforms with the lender's loan origination system and loan management system to generate end-to-end marketing data that could then be actioned through our marketing platforms.

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Customer Data Platform Integration: A customer data platform (CDP) consolidates data from multiple sources and unifies that data so that it can be analyzed and actioned across other platforms. Specifically, this allows us to create highly-targeted segments of borrowers to whom we can deliver orchestrated advertising across multiple platforms. For the lender, implementing a CDP was the first step so that we could hyper-target high-quality borrowers, unconverted leads, and active applicants and specific moments within the lending funnel. 

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Google Paid Search Advertising & Display Advertising: Using our CDP, we used rich data to create detailed audiences for Google Search and Display advertising campaigns. Because these audiences were powered by our CDP, they were dynamic, allowing us to seamlessly move borrowers in and out of the hyper-targeted campaigns. Each campaign was fed back-end conversion data to improve performance and track ROI.  

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Email Marketing: Email marketing is always one of the best ways for lenders to generate new loans, whether from new borrowers, previously unconverted leads, or repeat borrowers. Using the data generated through our CDP and its connection with the lender's LOS and LMS, we were able to send out highly targeted, personalized email marketing campaigns that dramatically increased a number of key metrics for the tribal lender. 

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Orchestrated Email & SMS Automation: Beyond sending out email campaigns, we also implemented a series of email & SMS marketing automations that helped retain applicants, convert more loan applications, and drive repeat borrower rates. By utilizing our CDP, we were also able to orchestrate our Google campaigns and marketing automations.   

Results 

Within just 30 days, we made a positive impact on every area of opportunity we identified for the lender. That initial success was just the beginning. As the months went on and we continued to optimize and scale the marketing efforts, we saw transformative results for the lending portfolio.

Repeat Borrower Results 

By utilizing our custom dynamic audiences to deliver target ads, we were able to significantly increase the number of applications from repeat borrowers that were initiated from paid media channels. In addition, timely email marketing and well-calibrated, personalized marketing automations were able to get many borrowers to request a new loan within days of their first loan closing. Most importantly, the ROI from these repeat borrowers was extremely high. Using our CDP, we were able to identify the highest potential borrowers and market to them efficiently. 

• 132.34% increase in repeat borrower applications 
• 140.35% increase in funded repeat borrower loans 
• 159.60% increase in repeat borrower loan origination 

Loan Origination Results 

In addition to increasing repeat borrower rates, we were also able to convert more active applications and generate new applications from leads whose applications had expired without funding. These “unconverted leads” were an extremely valuable cohort because they had already been approved through underwriting. In addition to the previously mentioned marketing activities, we also optimized the entire borrower experience to simplify the process for repeat borrowers and unconverted leads in order to increase total conversion rates.   

• 76.92% Reduction in cost per funded loan 
• 15.1% Increase in total loan origination 
• 25.06% Increase in conversion rate

Summarized Performance 

• 546.86% NET ROI 

By developing a hyper-efficient marketing strategy that addressed several areas of opportunity at once, we were able to deliver exceptional ROI for the lender. Every dollar spent on marketing delivered a 546.86% net ROI. This effectiveness was only possible through our collaboration with FinTech Servicing, who ran the lender's underwriting, management, and servicing efforts. 

Beyond transforming the profitability of the lending portfolio, we set a foundation for future scale and success. By implementing a customer data platform to connect every element of the the lender's loan ecosystem, we created a scalable structure for optimizing lending cohorts, driving more loan origination, and unlocking deeper portfolio profitability through data analytics and actionable marketing. 

Lender Marketing

Business Warrior Lender Marketing is a highly-specialized division of Business Warrior that excel at transforming lending portfolios by increasing loan origination, reducing the cost of origination, improving portfolio profitability, and scaling results.

For a free consultation with on your loan portfolio, please visit our contact page.

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