One of the most common questions we get from new clients — and prospective clients who are still evaluating — is 'where do the leads actually come from?' It's a fair question. If you're paying £10-£100 per lead, you deserve to know how those leads are generated, how they're qualified, and why they cost what they do.

Most lead generation companies are vague about their methods. We'd rather be transparent, because informed clients make better decisions and set more realistic expectations. Here's how it actually works behind the scenes at Lurvo Digital.

Our Advertising Platforms

We generate leads through paid advertising across multiple platforms. Each platform has different strengths, and using several channels simultaneously gives us stability and volume that wouldn't be possible from a single source.

Facebook and Instagram (Meta): This is our largest channel by volume. We run campaigns across Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, Stories, and Reels. Financial services advertising on Meta falls under the Special Ad Category, which limits targeting options — so we rely heavily on creative quality to attract the right consumers. We test dozens of ad variations each month, including video ads, carousel ads, and static image ads. We typically have 15-20 active campaigns running at any time across different financial services categories.

Google Search: Our second-largest channel. When someone searches for terms like 'mortgage adviser near me,' 'life insurance quote,' or 'remortgage advice,' our ads appear at the top of the search results. Google leads tend to convert at higher rates than social media leads because the consumer is actively searching for help — they have clear intent. The trade-off is that Google clicks are more expensive, which is reflected in the lead price for Google-sourced leads.

Our owned websites: We operate 18 consumer-facing websites across the financial services sector. These include mortgage comparison tools, insurance advice guides, and financial planning resources. Consumers find these sites through organic search (SEO) and sometimes through our paid advertising. When a consumer uses one of our tools or reads an article and decides they want to speak to an adviser, they complete a form on the site. These organic leads tend to be particularly high quality because the consumer found us through their own research.

YouTube: We run video campaigns on YouTube, typically targeting consumers who are watching content related to property, finance, or life events (moving house, having a baby, retiring). YouTube ads work well for building awareness and generating leads at a reasonable cost, particularly for protection and pension products where consumers need more education before they're ready to enquire.

TikTok: A newer channel for us, but growing. Short-form video content explaining financial concepts in plain English performs well on TikTok, particularly for first-time buyer mortgage leads and younger demographics. The platform's audience skews younger, which aligns well with first-time buyer and early-career financial planning audiences.

The Qualification Process

When a consumer clicks one of our ads or finds one of our websites, they don't just submit a name and phone number. They go through a multi-step qualifying form that's specific to the type of lead.

For a mortgage lead, for example, the form typically asks:

  • What type of mortgage they need (purchase, remortgage, or moving home)
  • The approximate property value
  • Their deposit or equity amount
  • Employment status
  • Whether they're a first-time buyer
  • Their timeline
  • Full name, email, and phone number

The form is deliberately multi-step, meaning the consumer answers 3-4 questions on separate screens before reaching the contact details page. This design serves two purposes. First, it filters out casual browsers — someone who's genuinely looking for mortgage help will take 60-90 seconds to complete the form, while someone who clicked out of idle curiosity will drop off after the first step. Second, it provides useful qualifying information that helps you prepare for the call.

We continuously test our forms to find the right balance between capturing enough information to qualify the lead and keeping the process simple enough that genuine consumers complete it. Adding too many questions reduces completion rates. Too few questions leads to poorly qualified enquiries.

SMS Verification

This is the step that most differentiates our leads from many competitors, and it's central to our quality proposition.

After the consumer submits their details, they receive an SMS with a verification code. They must enter this code back on the form to confirm that (a) the phone number they entered is correct, and (b) they have access to that phone, meaning they're a real person who genuinely made the enquiry.

This step eliminates several categories of bad leads:

  • Mistyped phone numbers — if someone accidentally enters 07700 900123 instead of 07700 900132, the SMS goes to the wrong number and they can't verify
  • Fake numbers — people who enter a random phone number to 'see what happens' without intending to speak to anyone
  • Bot submissions — automated form fills that generate fake contact details

SMS verification reduces our raw lead volume by approximately 15-25% compared to what we'd generate without it. We accept that trade-off because the leads that do make it through are significantly more likely to be genuine, contactable consumers. This is the primary reason our refund rate sits below 4% — the verification step catches most invalid leads before they ever reach our clients.

Exclusivity and Real-Time Delivery

Every lead we generate is sold to one buyer only. We never sell the same lead to two, three, or four brokers competing for the same consumer. The consumer expects to hear from one adviser — and when they receive calls from multiple people, their experience is poor and everyone's conversion rate suffers.

Exclusivity means our leads cost more than shared leads from other providers. A shared lead might cost £5-£10, while our exclusive leads range from £10-£100 depending on the type. But the economics consistently favour exclusivity: if an exclusive lead converts at 3-4x the rate of a shared lead, the cost per acquisition is lower even though the cost per lead is higher.

Delivery happens in real-time. The moment a lead completes SMS verification, their details are sent to the assigned broker — typically within 30-60 seconds of submission. We deliver via API integration into your CRM, email, or SMS, whichever suits your workflow. Real-time delivery is critical because it enables that fast first contact that we know drives conversion rates.

Compliance and Data Protection

We take compliance seriously because we operate in a regulated sector and because our reputation depends on doing things properly.

GDPR: Every consumer provides explicit, informed consent to be contacted by a financial adviser about their enquiry. Our forms include clear consent language that specifies what data is collected, why, and who it will be shared with. We maintain full audit trails — timestamp, IP address, form version, and exact consent wording — for every lead. If a consumer or regulator ever asks, we can produce the complete consent record.

FCA compliance: While we are not an FCA-authorised firm (we generate enquiries, we don't provide advice), we ensure that all our advertising complies with financial promotion rules. Our ads and websites do not provide advice, make recommendations, or guarantee outcomes. We present information to help consumers understand their options and connect them with qualified advisers.

ICO registration: We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller and processor. We process consumer data lawfully, securely, and only for the stated purpose of connecting them with a relevant financial adviser.

Data security: Lead data is transmitted via encrypted connections (SSL/TLS). We don't store lead data longer than necessary — once delivered and confirmed, data is retained only for compliance audit purposes with appropriate access controls.

Quality Control

Beyond SMS verification, we run ongoing quality checks across our lead flow:

Duplicate detection: Our system checks each new submission against recent leads to prevent the same consumer from being sold as a new lead to the same or different client within a defined period.

Phone number validation: Before delivery, phone numbers are checked against HLR (Home Location Register) data to confirm the number is active and valid. This catches numbers that are disconnected, invalid formats, or landline numbers submitted as mobiles.

Feedback loops: We actively collect outcome data from our clients. When a broker reports a lead as uncontactable or not genuine, we investigate the source campaign and make adjustments. If a particular ad set or landing page is generating higher-than-normal complaint rates, we pause it and fix the issue before restarting.

Refund process: If a lead genuinely doesn't meet specification — wrong number despite passing verification, consumer doesn't recall enquiring, or the consumer already has a broker and wasn't looking — we replace it free of charge. Our refund rate is consistently below 4%, which we track and report on monthly.

What This All Costs Us

Running this operation isn't cheap. Between advertising spend across five platforms, SMS verification costs, technology infrastructure, landing page development, creative production, compliance management, and the team that keeps everything running — our cost to generate and deliver a single lead is significant. The price you pay reflects the genuine cost of producing a verified, exclusive, compliant lead.

We could generate cheaper leads by removing SMS verification, selling to multiple buyers, or using lower-quality traffic sources. We choose not to because cheaper leads ultimately cost both you and us more — in wasted time, poor conversion, and damaged trust.

That's the trade-off we've made, and it's one our clients consistently tell us they value. Transparency about how we operate means you can make an informed decision about whether our leads are right for your business.