The situation
A workflow software vendor spends steadily on search and LinkedIn. Dashboards show plenty of conversions, yet sales say many leads are poor and finance cannot link spending to revenue.
Sales cycles run for months, so most of the signals an ad platform optimises for arrive long before anyone knows whether a lead was any good.
The challenge
Optimising to the wrong event
Campaigns chase form fills, including many that would never buy.
Long sales cycles
Revenue data arrives months after the click that created it.
Budget spread too thin
Too many small campaigns produce too little data to learn from.
The approach
- 1
Audit and baselineWeeks 1–2
Review spend, search terms and tracking, then agree definitions of a qualified lead with sales.
- 2
Fix the dataWeeks 3–5
Import CRM stages as offline conversions and connect deals back to their source.
- 3
Rebuild by intentWeeks 6–10
Consolidate campaigns, pause waste and create landing pages that match the message.
- 4
Test and scaleMonths 3–6
Run a monthly creative testing plan and move budget towards proven pipeline.
Key decisions and trade-offs
Optimise to qualified opportunities
Why: Platforms deliver what they are told to find, so they need better instructions.
Trade-off: Reported conversion volume falls at first.
Consolidate into fewer campaigns
Why: More data per campaign gives bidding systems a stronger signal.
Trade-off: Less granular budget control.
Report from the CRM, not the ad platform
Why: One agreed source of truth ends arguments between marketing and sales.
Trade-off: Reporting lags the platforms by a few days.
How success is measured
| Measure | Baseline | Target | How it’s measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per opportunity | Set in audit | 30% lower | CRM-sourced reporting |
| Pipeline to spend | Set in audit | 3× spend | Monthly revenue dashboard |
| Attribution coverage | Partial | 100% of deals traced | CRM source field audit |
| Creative testing | Ad hoc | 4 tests per month | Testing roadmap |
Key takeaways
- Agree on what a good lead is before optimising for one.
- Expect reported conversions to fall when quality rises.
- Marketing and sales should read from the same dashboard.