Impetus arranges secured and unsecured corporate loans for MSMEs. Over a six-month engagement we moved their paid engine off broad awareness and expensive InMail into product-led lead generation cost per lead fell from ₹1,006 to ₹82.
NPR Design, a performance marketing agency in Mumbai, runs paid media for Impetus, an Indian lending business arranging secured and unsecured corporate loans for MSMEs. Across a six-month engagement we restructured roughly ₹1.83 lakh of media spend on Meta, LinkedIn and Google Ads. Monthly leads went from 22 to 322, 790 in total, and blended cost per lead fell from ₹1,006 to ₹82.
Lending is a considered purchase with a long list of intermediaries. Impetus needed qualified loan enquiries from MSME owners, and referral flow from the Chartered Accountants and financial advisors those owners trust.
In the opening months LinkedIn absorbed ₹58,736 of spend and returned 20 leads. Cost per lead on the campaign group ran past ₹2,000.
A Google Display campaign delivered 244,770 impressions and 21,804 clicks at ₹0.26 CPC, and no leads at all.
Campaigns were built around the brand rather than the product, so one creative set had to speak to MSME owners, CAs, doctors and wealth advisors at once.
Business loan, MSME loan and personal loan were split into separate campaigns with their own creative and copy, instead of a single brand message. Narrow targeting by industry and product beat broad reach on every metric.
Clear single-message statics and document carousels carried lead generation. Short-form video ran alongside for engagement and reach, with regular creative refresh to hold off ad fatigue.
Site visitors and engagers were retargeted separately, and an Instagram-plus-WhatsApp CTA route opened a direct conversation for MSME owners not ready to fill a form. 304 messaging contacts came through that way.
| Month | Spend | Leads | Blended CPL | Where the budget sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | ₹22,132 | 22 | ₹1,006 | 79% on LinkedIn InMail and brand awareness |
| Month 2 | ₹29,436 | 33 | ₹892 | LinkedIn scaled; first Meta lead gen forms live |
| Month 3 | ₹32,759 | 47 | ₹697 | Meta share raised; webinar and event campaigns tested |
| Month 4 | ₹40,416 | 96 | ₹421 | Campaigns split by loan product; display cut back |
| Month 5 | ₹31,860 | 270 | ₹118 | Retargeting layer permanent; static and carousel led |
| Month 6 | ₹26,404 | 322 | ₹82 | All-in on product-led Meta lead gen plus retargeting |
Figures from the monthly Impetus ad performance reports across the six-month engagement. Blended CPL is total media spend across channels divided by total leads, including LinkedIn Lead Gen Form submissions.
10,762 impressions, 506 clicks, ₹3,552 spent, 144 leads at ₹24.67 CPL. The lowest cost per lead of the engagement, from the narrowest audience.
5,436 impressions, 170 clicks, ₹2,868 spent, 50 leads at ₹57.36 CPL. Industry-specific messaging outperformed the generic MSME set.
59,006 impressions, 1,246 clicks, ₹15,351 spent, 118 leads at ₹130.10 CPL. More expensive per lead, but the reach engine that fed retargeting.
One message per frame. The eligibility number and the turnaround time sit in the first line, the objection gets answered in the second. Creative was refreshed monthly to hold off ad fatigue.
Three frames, one objection each: how long it takes, how much paperwork it needs, and what can be used as security. Carousels ran alongside statics in the Business Loan set that closed the engagement at ₹24.67 per lead.
A separate visual system, darker and more formal, for the referral audience. These ran on LinkedIn InMail and Meta alongside the webinar and event campaigns aimed at Chartered Accountants and financial advisors.
Younger audiences (25–35) engaged more; decision-makers (35–50) converted better. Budget followed the converters.
Retargeting consistently beat cold audiences, so a retargeting layer became permanent rather than seasonal.
LinkedIn leads carried higher intent but needed nurturing, and metro CPCs ran high. LinkedIn stayed in the mix for CA and financial-advisor referral flow, not for volume.
Display drove cheap clicks and no leads. It was cut back in favour of channels with a form or a chat at the end of the click.
