How We Boosted a SaaS Startup's ROI by 215% with PPC Marketing

Written by:

Stephanie Ashcroft

The Challenge

Our client, a growing B2B SaaS startup in the project management space, came to us after disappointing results with their previous PPC agency. They were spending £12,000 monthly on Google Ads but weren't seeing the returns they needed.

Their main issues:

Cost per acquisition (CPA) had climbed to £215
Click-through rates hovered around 1.2% (well below industry average)
Ad spend was increasing, but conversions remained flat
They lacked clear insights into which keywords actually drove paying customers

The startup needed to reduce customer acquisition costs while scaling their PPC efforts to fuel their growth targets. They had a solid product with excellent retention rates, but couldn't affordably bring new users into their funnel.

‍

Our Solution

After a thorough audit of their PPC account, we developed a data-driven strategy focused on quality over quantity. Here's exactly what we did:
‍

1. Keywords Restructuring

We completely rebuilt their keyword strategy based on search intent rather than just volume. Using our proprietary keyword clustering tool, we:

Cut their keyword list from 1,200 to 350 high-intent terms
Grouped keywords into tightly-themed ad groups
Added negative keywords to prevent wasted spend on irrelevant searches
Focused on long-tail keywords with clear buying intent

‍

2. Landing Page Optimisation

We noticed their ads were sending all traffic to their homepage. We created:

7 custom landing pages aligned with specific search intents
A/B tested headlines, CTAs and form fields
Improved page load speed by 42%
Added social proof relevant to each landing page's audience segment

‍

3. Ad Copy Refinement

Their existing ads lacked compelling unique selling propositions. We:

Crafted benefit-driven headlines using the exact language from customer testimonials
Implemented responsive search ads with 15 headline variations
Added site link extensions to increase ad real estate
Created countdown timers for limited-time offers

‍

4. Budget Reallocation

We shifted budget away from broad match keywords and:

Implemented dayparting to focus spend during high-conversion hours
Adjusted bids based on device performance
Created separate campaigns for different buyer personas
Increased bids for high-converting geographic regions

The Results

Within 90 days, we transformed their PPC performance:

ROI increased by 215%
CPA decreased from £215 to £86
Conversion rate improved from 2.7% to 7.9%
Click-through rates jumped from 1.2% to 4.5%
Overall lead quality score (measured by their sales team) improved by 68%

Despite reducing their monthly ad spend by 15%, we actually increased their total number of conversions by 112%.

‍

Key Takeaways

This case study really highlights several critical lessons for SaaS companies running PPC campaigns:

Quality trumps quantity with keywords - Focus on high-intent searches rather than high-volume broad terms
Landing page relevance is crucial - Match your landing pages directly to search intent
Regular testing yields compounding returns - Our weekly testing cycle created continuous improvement
Data should drive every decision - We let performance metrics, not assumptions, guide our strategy

‍

As a dedicated SaaS PPC agency, we specialise in transforming underperforming campaigns into profitable growth engines.

Want similar PPC results for your SaaS business? Get in touch today for a free PPC audit.

‍

Stephanie Ashcroft

Stephanie serves as a growth strategist at Fruity Llama, where she combines operational excellence with forward-thinking approaches. She partners with businesses to align their goals with practical solutions, managing projects efficiently while developing effective strategies. Stephanie's professional focus is on delivering measurable results that help companies advance and succeed in their markets.