SaaS Platform: Building a Scalable B2B Lead Engine
From Scratch
A fast-growing SaaS company spending ₹12L per month on ads with poor lead quality and no attribution model. We rebuilt their entire demand generation system — delivering 1,840 qualified leads per month at ₹380 CPL.
The Challenge
When this HR SaaS platform approached us, they had a genuine product-market fit problem masquerading as a marketing problem. Their ads were generating plenty of sign-ups — but the quality was terrible. Sales was overwhelmed with leads that had no budget, no decision-making authority, and no genuine need.
The core issues we identified in our initial audit:
- Running broad Google Search campaigns targeting generic HR software keywords — attracting SMB job seekers instead of enterprise HR decision-makers
- LinkedIn campaigns with zero audience layering — targeting anyone with "HR" in their title regardless of company size or seniority
- No lead scoring system — every form fill went directly to sales regardless of qualification
- No attribution model — no way to know which channels were driving actual pipeline
- Landing pages with 2.1% conversion rate — industry average for enterprise SaaS is 6–9%
"They were spending ₹12 lakh per month and generating 3,200 leads. But only 4% were becoming sales-qualified. That's 128 useful leads from a massive budget — a catastrophic inefficiency."
Our Strategy
The solution wasn't to spend more. It was to get dramatically more precise about who we were targeting and what we were offering them at each stage of the buying journey.
Phase 1: ICP Definition & Audience Architecture (Weeks 1–2)
Ideal Customer Profile Analysis
Analysed their top 50 existing customers by LTV, contract value, and sales cycle length. Identified three distinct ICP segments: enterprise CHRO (500+ employees), mid-market HR Director (100–499), and fast-growth startup People Lead (50–99).
LinkedIn Audience Architecture
Built 9 distinct LinkedIn audiences using job title + company size + industry + seniority combinations. Created separate campaigns for each ICP segment with tailored messaging addressing their specific pain points.
Lead Scoring Framework
Implemented a 100-point lead scoring model in HubSpot. Demographic score (company size, role, industry) + behavioural score (pages visited, content downloaded, email engagement). Only leads scoring 65+ were passed to sales.
Phase 2: LinkedIn Campaign Build (Weeks 3–6)
LinkedIn became the primary acquisition channel. We built a full-funnel LinkedIn strategy across three campaign objectives:
- Awareness: Thought leadership content — HR trends reports, benchmark data, industry insights — building brand familiarity before asking for anything
- Consideration: Lead Gen Forms offering high-value content (ROI calculator, buyer's guide) — low friction, high intent signal
- Decision: Conversation Ads directly targeting senior decision-makers at target accounts with personalised demo invitations
Phase 3: Google Search Overhaul (Weeks 4–8)
We completely rebuilt the Google Ads account with enterprise intent in mind. Instead of broad "HR software" terms, we targeted:
- Solution-aware keywords: "HR software for large companies", "enterprise HRMS India"
- Competitor comparison terms: "[Competitor] alternative", "[Competitor] vs [Client brand]"
- Problem-aware keywords: "reduce HR admin time", "automate payroll enterprise"
- Implementation and migration terms: "HRMS implementation", "switch HR software"
Phase 4: Attribution & Reporting (Weeks 2–4)
We implemented multi-touch attribution using Google Analytics 4 + LinkedIn Insight Tag + HubSpot integration. Every lead was now tracked from first touch through to closed-won, giving the sales team and leadership complete pipeline visibility.
Month-by-Month Results
| Month | Total Leads | MQLs | SQLs | CPL | Pipeline Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 420 | 168 (40%) | 47 | ₹1,240 | ₹18.8L |
| Month 2 | 890 | 356 (40%) | 114 | ₹710 | ₹45.6L |
| Month 3 | 1,380 | 580 (42%) | 203 | ₹480 | ₹81.2L |
| Month 4 | 1,840 | 626 (34%) | 219 | ₹380 | ₹1.24Cr |
The Results
Key Learnings
- B2B lead generation is about quality over quantity — 128 SQLs from 3,200 leads is a broken system. 219 SQLs from 1,840 leads is a scalable machine
- LinkedIn's targeting is uniquely powerful for enterprise B2B but requires layering — job title alone is not enough
- Lead scoring transforms sales efficiency — the team went from overwhelmed to focused
- Multi-touch attribution is non-negotiable for B2B — the sales cycle is too long to fly blind
- Thought leadership content at the awareness stage dramatically improves conversion at every downstream stage
"Before Marketing Marque, our sales team was drowning in low-quality leads and our CAC was through the roof. Four months later, we have a predictable pipeline machine. The lead scoring framework alone saved us hundreds of hours of wasted sales time every month."