Demand and intent mapping
Category, competitor, problem-aware and jobs-to-be-done searches are separated, each with its own message, page and acceptable cost.
B2B SaaS PPC · Google Ads + Meta
B2B SaaS PPC specialist, measured against pipeline rather than signups
A free trial is not revenue, and a deal that closes months later may never be linked back to the ad. I target the stage that predicts revenue, such as a qualified opportunity, and structure spend around payback rather than cost per lead.
Management starts at US$1,700/month per channel. A defined project is quoted at a fixed price before work starts. The initial project review is free.
Start Free ReviewSee how I work with SaaS teams ↓
Available as an account and measurement audit, a rebuild around pipeline stages, or ongoing management.
What a SaaS account has to account for
- Conversion targets set at the stage that predicts revenue in your funnel
- Offline conversions imported from the CRM so bidding optimises toward pipeline
- Category, competitor and problem-aware demand bought separately
- CAC payback and cost per qualified opportunity as the reported numbers
When B2B SaaS PPC is the right spend
- You sell B2B software and want qualified pipeline, not more trial signups.
- The CRM can tell me which enquiries became opportunities and which closed.
- You know roughly what a customer is worth and how long payback should take.
When this is not the right fit
- Success is defined as cost per MQL with no view of what happens afterwards.
- There is no CRM data available to feed back into the account.
- The product has no repeatable buyer yet, so there is nothing consistent to target.
Why SaaS accounts optimise toward the wrong thing
The platform can only optimise toward what it is told about. In B2B, the thing worth optimising toward happens weeks after the click and outside the ad platform.
The signal arrives too late
Bidding sees a trial signup on day one and a closed deal never. So it buys more trial signups, including the ones from students and competitors. Importing CRM stages back into the platform is what changes the behaviour.
Not all demand is the same purchase
Someone searching your category is comparing. Someone searching a competitor is switching. Someone searching the problem has not decided a tool is the answer. One campaign and one landing page cannot serve all three, and each has a different acceptable cost.
What B2B SaaS PPC work covers
Six areas, in the order they usually need attention.
Funnel-stage conversion targets
The stage that predicts revenue in your funnel is identified, and campaigns optimise toward that instead of toward whatever fires first.
CRM and offline conversion import
Qualified opportunities and closed-won deals are imported back into Google Ads and Meta, so bidding learns from pipeline rather than from form fills.
Channel roles across search and social
Search can capture existing demand, while Meta can introduce the offer to relevant buyers. We agree each channel’s role and how to measure it.
Landing pages and trial flow
The page, the form length, the demo request and the first-run experience are reviewed, because a strong click into a weak trial produces churn, not revenue.
Payback and pipeline reporting
Reporting shows cost per qualified opportunity, pipeline created, and CAC payback period by channel and campaign.
How SaaS accounts are run here
- Bidding is fed CRM stages, so it optimises toward pipeline instead of signups.
- Long sales cycles are planned for, rather than being treated as an attribution excuse.
- Competitor, category and problem-aware demand are bought and measured separately.
- Trial-to-paid rates are watched, because cheap signups that never convert cost more than they save.
- Acceptable acquisition cost is derived from contract value and payback, not from a benchmark.
Common questions from SaaS teams
How much does B2B SaaS PPC management cost?
Management starts at US$1,700/month per channel, or US$3,400 for Google Ads and Meta Ads together. An additional 3% applies only to spend above the channel threshold agreed in your proposal, typically US$24,000/month. Spend is not pooled across channels. Ad spend and development are separate. You approve the scope, threshold and fees before work begins. The initial project review is free.
We get plenty of trial signups but few customers. What changes?
First check the conversion signal and the path from signup to opportunity. Where data volume and platform rules support it, feed qualified opportunities back into bidding. Evaluate opportunity quality and cost over a test period that fits the sales cycle.
Our sales cycle is six months. How is that measured?
Choose a stage early enough to have volume and late enough to predict revenue, usually a qualified opportunity. Then measure cohorts by the month the click happened rather than the month the deal closed.
Should we bid on competitor names?
Often yes, in a campaign of its own with its own budget and its own comparison page. Those searches convert differently to category terms and the cost per opportunity is usually different too. Mixed into a category campaign, the numbers become unreadable.
Is LinkedIn worth the cost per click?
It depends on contract value. LinkedIn can reach the buying committee before anyone searches, but the click costs are high and need a deal size that supports them. Judge it on pipeline created, not cost per click.
Can you work with our existing marketing team?
Yes. I take the paid acquisition and measurement side and work to the definitions your team already uses for MQL, SQL and opportunity, rather than introducing a parallel set of numbers.
What decides CAC payback on paid
The CRM stage fed back to bidding, the offer, and the page after the click decide whether paid spend pays back at all.
Show me the account and CRM stages
Share your website, current channels and how your team defines a qualified opportunity. I’ll suggest what to investigate first and what data a full review would need.