Percentage of High-Quality MQLs Increased 22% (Enabled by CRM Data Integration)

Overview

This case study delves into a strategic approach implemented by Avid Demand to help our client, a leading B2B SaaS provider, improve the quality of the leads driven by their paid media investment.  

The Challenge

As with many B2B businesses, this company has a long sales cycle and is experiencing rising lead generation costs. While existing advertising strategies were effective at capturing a high volume of conversions (form fills), our client found that many of these leads moved through the funnel slowly, and sometimes fell outside their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Our challenge was to improve the overall quality of delivered leads, and to focus media dollars where they were the most impactful to the sales funnel. 

Our Strategy

To determine which activities drove the most qualified leads, Avid Demand moved beyond ad platform metrics and also analyzed data collected and stored within the client’s CRM system.   We assessed the value of every campaign based on a combination of ad channel metrics and CRM data, and restructured the paid media marketing plan to maximize pipeline results.

Process

Over a 120-day period, we looked at all leads collected within the CRM with associated paid media parameters and began the following steps:

1. INTEGRATE all data sources into one insightful Performance Dashboard: Using Looker Studio we married the clients CRM pipeline progression data with paid media platform data; creating a more complete picture of attribution and individual campaign contributions to lead lifecycles.
2. IDENTIFY which campaigns drove the highest rate of “high quality” MQLs per conversion event: Using UTMs attached to the CRM leads we identified which campaigns drove the most qualified events in accordance with the customer’s proprietary lead scoring system.
3. IDENTIFY campaigns that had the poorest rates of quality MQLs per conversion event: Following the same process, we identified which campaigns were associated with a high number of conversion events and lower lead scores. This allowed us to identify and eliminate wasted media spend.
4. REBALANCE paid media mix & optimize campaigns based on findings: Avid Demand then took a look at historical media spend on each paid media campaign across all platforms in order to rebalance monthly budgets towards the most effective campaigns. We optimized account structures to capitalize on the findings.

The Results

The percentage of paid media MQLs deemed “HIGH QUALITY” by the client’s sales team, increased 22% over a 4-month period.

Performance Metrics

Improvement was measured based on the client’s lead qualification labels and sales pipeline progression data.

• Percentage of Paid Media Leads that fall within the sales qualified categories of  “Strike Zone” or “Sweet Spot” increased from 24.8%  to 47.4%.
• Percentage of Leads labeled unqualified, or “Out of Play”, decreased from 75.2%  to 52.6%

Key Findings

• GOOGLE DISPLAY campaigns drove large numbers of conversions, but poor quality leads: The program initially used several TOFU Google Display campaigns that drove large numbers of conversions each month. While platform data showed them to be performing with high efficiency, the CRM data showed that more than 80% of the leads they were driving fell “Out of Play”.
• LINKEDIN ADS were effective for asset downloads, but these leads often failed to progress in the pipeline: LinkedIn Ads was successful at driving leads that were qualified, however, these leads tended to linger for longer periods of time without advancing or falling out of the funnel.
• PAID SEARCH delivered the highest quality leads that ended in sales: Paid Search played a critical role in delivering highly qualified leads, and these leads were more likely to end in sales. 
• REFINING MEDIA MIX.  By shifting investment away from LinkedIn Ads & Display campaigns towards robust, well-structured search campaigns we were able to positively impact the quality of conversions.

CRM Data Integration Enabled Improved Impact on the Sales Pipeline

By integrating CRM data with ad platform metrics, we were successful in identifying opportunities to increase the quality of paid media leads, and eliminate wasted media spend. By rebalancing the monthly media budgets towards the most effective campaigns, the client also realized an improved ROAS.

Avid Demand Can Improve Your Paid Media Results Too!

Contact us today to learn how our team of senior-level Paid Media Specialists can help you achieve and exceed your digital advertising goals.