How Carolina Trust Drove a 343.7% Increase in Loan Production

Challenge

Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union had a lending solution that could help members consolidate high-interest debt, but the product was being marketed primarily as a personal loan.

The challenge was simple: consumers searching for financial relief weren’t necessarily searching for “personal loans.” They were searching for “debt consolidation,” “how to consolidate debt,” and ways to lower or simplify their monthly payments.

Carolina Trust needed to bridge the gap between what the credit union called the product and how consumers searched for the solution.

That’s where Carolina Trust partnered with FI GROW Solutions to develop a paid advertising product campaign focused not just on promoting a personal loan, but on positioning the loan around the consumer’s actual financial need, which was debt consolidation.

“FI GROW has been a great partner in helping us strengthen our paid advertising strategy. They bring a thoughtful approach to targeting, messaging, and optimization that helps us reach the right audience with the right message.”

Jessica Wilson
Chief Development Officer at Carolina Trust Credit Union

The Solution

Reposition the Product Around the Consumer

Carolina Trust introduced a dedicated Debt Consolidation Loan campaign. While the loan remained operationally exactly the same as their existing  a personal loan, giving it a distinct name and message allowed the credit union to speak directly to consumers looking for a solution to multiple debts and high-interest payments.

FI GROW worked alongside the Carolina Trust marketing team to build the campaign around three key principles:

Be easier to find.
Align messaging and paid search strategy with the language consumers were actually using when looking for debt consolidation solutions.

Be easier to understand.
Create educational content that helped consumers understand how debt consolidation works and whether it could benefit their financial situation.

Make it easier to take action.
Build a dedicated product landing page that gave consumers a focused path from interest to application, rather than sending paid traffic to a general loan page.

A Custom Product Page Built for Conversion

FI GROW helped create and optimize a dedicated Debt Consolidation Loan landing page designed specifically around the campaign. The page clearly communicated the value of debt consolidation and provided a direct path to apply online. The custom page also created a measurable destination for the campaign, allowing the team to evaluate and proactively manage traffic, engagement, calls-to-action, and conversions on an ongoing basis.

Paid Advertising Designed Around Search Intent

FI GROW developed and managed paid digital advertising across Google Search, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Google PPC captured consumers actively searching for debt consolidation and related solutions, while paid social and YouTube expanded awareness and introduced the concept to consumers who may not have been actively searching yet.

The campaigns directed traffic to the dedicated landing page, creating a connected journey from ad → product page → application.

Continuous Optimization

The campaign was treated as more than a traditional advertising push. Performance data was used to evaluate what was driving engagement and where opportunities existed to improve the consumer journey. By combining paid media performance with landing-page engagement and campaign results, FI GROW and Carolina Trust could continually refine the messaging, targeting, and conversion experience.

Content That Educated and Supported the Campaign

Educational blog content reinforced the campaign by answering common questions around debt consolidation, explaining how it works, and helping consumers determine whether consolidation could make sense for them. This content served multiple purposes: supporting organic search visibility, educating consumers, and providing additional content that could be promoted through email and social channels.

An Integrated Local Campaign

Digital efforts were supported by Carolina Trust's owned and traditional marketing channels, including email, social media, and local billboard placements.

Together, the campaign created consistent messaging across the consumer journey—from discovering debt consolidation to learning about the solution to taking the next step.

The Results

The campaign produced a significant increase in personal loan production during the first quarter of 2025.

Social Media Ads:

Google PPC Ads:

 Q1 2024 
Debt Consolidation Loan Production $149,672

Q1 2025
Debt Consolidation Loan Production $664,121

Year-over-Year Increase: 343.7%

The campaign generated $514,449 in additional loan volume compared with the same period the previous year.

More Than a Campaign—A Better Path to Conversion

The success of the campaign demonstrated the impact of connecting consumer intent, product positioning, paid advertising, and conversion-focused digital experiences.

Rather than simply advertising a personal loan, Carolina Trust positioned its existing lending solution around the problem consumers were actively trying to solve.

FI GROW's partnership helped bring that strategy to life through paid media, custom product-page development, campaign optimization, and a coordinated digital strategy designed to move consumers from search to solution.

The result was a campaign that didn't just generate clicks—it helped turn consumer demand for debt relief into $664,121 in loan production in a single quarter.


The FI GROW Difference

Consumer-Centered Strategy
Position the product around the language and needs of the consumer—not just the financial institution's product structure.

Custom Digital Experiences
Create focused product pages that give paid traffic a clear, compelling path to conversion.

Paid Media Expertise
Reach consumers at the moments that matter, from high-intent Google searches to awareness-building social and video campaigns.

Optimization That Connects the Dots
Use campaign and website performance to continually improve targeting, messaging, and the path to application.

You can do this for your Financial Institution as well.

  Learn more about our Social Media Management and Training Services Here.

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