The Client
The client is a data platform leader for security and observability. Their SIEM software (Security Information and Event Management) helps thousands of security teams reduce vulnerabilities, monitor for malicious behavior, investigate and shut down attacks, and automate routine tasks.
The Challenge
This particular client had very informative, downloadable reports and whitepapers in PDF format. These were accessible to visitors on the website once they had completed a form, filling in their information. These reports and whitepapers were a product of extensive research the client had conducted, which they were providing for free for everyone who had subscribed to their mailing list.
They were already using Google Ads to acquire leads. However, we felt LinkedIn could achieve better results through the many targeting options it has. Google Ads had some limitations:
- It was difficult to target people who were their specific buyer personas interested in this specific topic, and were also the decision-makers who had the authority for their company to become a potential future customer.
- Cost-per-conversion actions weren’t ideal at almost $1085 per lead. The security analytics market is a very competitive niche with high cost-per-clicks (CPCs). Some of the highest CPCs across any industry, in fact, as many CPCs were more than $40 per click, with many minimum first page bids more than $30 per click. As a result, opportunities to reach their ideal target audience were limited because of budget constraints.
- The website had a low conversion rate (CR) and the conversion tracking was not properly in place.
Services Provided
- Tracking conversions implementation.
- Audience research and ABM list.
- Copywriting and creatives design.
- LinkedIn ads Campaign Management and optimization.
- Real time report with Looker Studio (Google Data Studio).
The Solution
Step 1: Targeting by Criteria
To make sure we connect with the right decision-makers at the right companies, during our lead generation campaign our LinkedIn ads agency came up with a system that still used LinkedIn Search to filter prospects. In particular, we leveraged:
- Location filters.
- Job position search.
- Company size filters.
- Company industry filters.
LinkedIn lead generation ads allowed us to target the following:
- Location: we targeted specific European and North American countries where our client had identified the best leads opportunities.
- Company size: we targeted companies which had over 1000 employees.
- Job titles: we chose specific senior roles, as our prospects were likely to have authority, such as “Director of infrastructure” and “Head of information security” roles.
- Industries: we chose to target some specific industries as e-commerce. In addition, we also excluded various industries not relevant for our client’s.
You can see some of the job titles we’ve targeted on the image below
Step 2: Account Targeting List
This feature lets us reach end decision-makers more easily by running targeted ABM (account-based marketing) campaigns that match our client’s target companies against millions of LinkedIn pages. This is done through curated lists on LinkedIn that can include the company name, industry, country, email, contact, etc. Account targeting was then activated based on campaigns and unique audiences. LinkedIn’s account list targeting is one of the best targeting option for large, detailed B2B accounts. It is highly customized and one of the most advanced features LinkedIn offers for ABM.
With both audiences options, we were able to really laser in on key decision-makers struggling with the problems that our client’s solution solve.
Step 2: Mix of Campaigns
We opted for two different types of LinkedIn campaigns formats: sponsored content ads and text ads, which allowed us to promote our client’s solution in the target audience’s feed. The ads would only show whilst they were connected on LinkedIn, as we were only using the LinkedIn lead gen forms.
In order to ensure brand exposure at all funnel stages of our buyer persona, both gated and downloadable content were implemented.
Step 3: Creative & Copy
We worked closely with our client to ensure the ad copy would resonate with their buyer persona. We ran a total of five campaigns and for each campaign, with four different ad variations (problem-focused, benefits, and social trust). Each creative version had different copy (headline + text), which would allow us to test and decide, based on performance, what was working and what was not.
Step 4: Real Time Reporting
Data Studio is a business intelligence tool provided by Google, along with its cloud platform. It can be used to explore, visualize, and create dashboards based on various data sources. Having access to such tools spare organizations of the effort in implementing their own reporting dashboards.
In order to be able to analyze campaign performance, we’ve created a customized Google data studio report for our client to get access to all relevant data and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Results
LinkedIn ads proved to be a very effective strategy for online B2B lead generation and lead nurturing, allowing our client to reach their perfect customer profile at a lower cost-per-lead and close more deals with their SQLs. This, combined with different ad goals (demo, case study, & webinar) was extremely effective. Additionally, the utilization of digital content assets like reports, webinars, and eBooks was a much more effective way of getting online leads than just focusing on “demo” form completions.
- Revenue increased 32%.
- Pipeline increased 72%.
- In two months, LinkedIn Ads surpassed the lead volume that the previous 11 months of Google Ads PPC had produced.
- In four months, LinkedIn Ads delivered 77% more leads than what the previous 11 months of Google Ads PPC produced — for 79% less budget.
The quality of prospects generated was ideal, and the client was happy with the CPL. This is a small selection of job titles demographics, which show that the majority of clicks were targeted at the correct audience.
If you’d like to learn more about how our LinkedIn ads agency helps B2B SaaS and Tech companies grow their MRR through LinkedIn advertising, contact us online or send us an email today at info@getuplead.com to speak with someone on our team.
